Having recently had the experience of spraying 11 raised panel doors and 2 louvers doors on-site, I am evaluating what I can do to improve throughput/productivity. I was using a smallish compressor with a Spray-it 33000 LVLP gun (I know those are not the tools best suited to the task, but they are the tools I have). Overall the biggest issues that I had were throughput related, not the results. For a door or two at a time, you might not notice the overall time; when there are 13 doors lined up, and needing a prime coat and then top-coat on 26 sides, then the rate makes a bigger difference.
Aside from a few runs in places where I went too thick, the results were OK; not perfect, just acceptable.
Question is - if this type of project happens again, what might I do to improve throughput? Seems like there are 3 areas.
1. Product choice - I know that spraying a tinted water based 'lacquer' product might have been a better choice, although getting the right tint is not an easy local option. I have used Target products, and so would have had to special order tinted product there. If faced with this type of project again, I know I would prefer to spray a Target lacquer (lower viscosity and easier to spray). A latex, even on 'meant' to spray product like SW ProClassic, is simply harder for my equipment to handle.
2. Additive - does Floetrol additive, which I do not have experience with, lower viscosity enough to make spraying easier? When I thinned the product with too much with water, runs became too prevalent. Does Floetrol really do more than an equivalent amount of water to reduce viscosity and still prevent runs?
I am certainly willing to try this but I'm not really confident this is my answer.
3. Equipment - Given that I am not likely to spend $1000 on an airless sprayer, are there turbine products, or other compressor guns that handle latex well?
Equipment Background - My only other foray into spraying was when I lost a control knob on my Spray-It gun and so I tried an inexpensive HF gun (LVLP or HVLP I think I have read both descriptions) that stated it in product literature that it could spray latex. My attempts to use that gun confirmed that it could spray the approx 10% water thinned SW ProClassic latex, but that it was very inconsistent in rate.
NOTE that I did not filter this paint for use in the HF gun, as my DeKups fitted gun has a filter in the cup. I do not have a means to filter the paint before adding it to the gun. Therefore the inconsistent spraying MAY have resulted from this unfiltered paint (lumpy? I did not notice that). I can not think of any other way to explain the way this gun produced spray at such an inconsistent rate.
Advice?
Aside from a few runs in places where I went too thick, the results were OK; not perfect, just acceptable.
Question is - if this type of project happens again, what might I do to improve throughput? Seems like there are 3 areas.
1. Product choice - I know that spraying a tinted water based 'lacquer' product might have been a better choice, although getting the right tint is not an easy local option. I have used Target products, and so would have had to special order tinted product there. If faced with this type of project again, I know I would prefer to spray a Target lacquer (lower viscosity and easier to spray). A latex, even on 'meant' to spray product like SW ProClassic, is simply harder for my equipment to handle.
2. Additive - does Floetrol additive, which I do not have experience with, lower viscosity enough to make spraying easier? When I thinned the product with too much with water, runs became too prevalent. Does Floetrol really do more than an equivalent amount of water to reduce viscosity and still prevent runs?
I am certainly willing to try this but I'm not really confident this is my answer.
3. Equipment - Given that I am not likely to spend $1000 on an airless sprayer, are there turbine products, or other compressor guns that handle latex well?
Equipment Background - My only other foray into spraying was when I lost a control knob on my Spray-It gun and so I tried an inexpensive HF gun (LVLP or HVLP I think I have read both descriptions) that stated it in product literature that it could spray latex. My attempts to use that gun confirmed that it could spray the approx 10% water thinned SW ProClassic latex, but that it was very inconsistent in rate.
NOTE that I did not filter this paint for use in the HF gun, as my DeKups fitted gun has a filter in the cup. I do not have a means to filter the paint before adding it to the gun. Therefore the inconsistent spraying MAY have resulted from this unfiltered paint (lumpy? I did not notice that). I can not think of any other way to explain the way this gun produced spray at such an inconsistent rate.
Advice?