I need advise: Spray gunning?

[Reuben Strangelove]

Ok, So I am trying to finish profiles made of MDF. They range of size is 8" x 8" to 24" x 24". Stuff like, stars, moons, pistols, elephants, clovers, beer mugs, abstract, etc. So some are quite complicated with tight inner pockets around the edges.

The end goal is to have a nice glossy black finished with a deep clear coat. After using rattle cans, with a poor result, I decided to try a cheap gun. Using a $10 spray gun and my dinky compressor the quality shot up!

So, now I am in the market for a spray setup that will provide professional results. My production goal is 100 units a month and I will be selling them part of a high end wall art piece.

Options:

Cheap: Harbor Freight compressor, gun, in line filter. $200ish

And we all know HF means the bottom cheap cheap junk. I decided not to go this route.


Better: Higher end compressor and gun (stuff at lowes) $550ish

I could use a nice compressor for other things so a decent value for me. And I can forgo the lowes guns and get the DevilBliss guns.


Alt: Graco spray system at lowes $300-800.

I am unsure how advanced the guns are and my impression is they are for basic spraying house walls and alike.


Best?: Mini-Mite 4 turbine HVLP spray system. $679 http://www.hvlp.net/webstore.htm

The videos look great! The spray patterns are adjustable. Rather loud but not any more than my CNC so I basically wear hearing protection anyways.



So far I am leaning towards the mini-mite 4 but want to explore all options. All opinions wanted!

Thanks

[Leo Graywacz]

If you are really serious about getting a good spray system you should look into a Kremlin 10:14. It is a professional spray system and has a pro price to it to. I make the plunge when I had some profit from a kitchen job that I was doing. I basically made the money back on that one job.

[Frederick Rowe]

The Fuji HVLP spray guns/turbines are excellent quality and will, with the proper needle/nozzel/cap, spray a variety of products. Apollo and Capspray also offer excellent systems.

An HVLP gun running from a compressor requires a compressor capable of producing sufficient CFM for the gun. For many HVLP guns, this is anywhere from 10-18 CFM. That exceeds the capacity of most compressors in the sub $750 catagory. There are HVLP guns that are designed for lower CFM, and LVLP (low pressure low volume) guns which can run from 4 - 8 CFM.

It is possible to run an HVLP gun from a 6 gallon pancake compressor, but as soon as the compressed air in the tank is consumed (and that'll happen fast), you'll have to pause until the compressor catches up. That unexpected drop in pressure might result in drips or spitting from the gun.

Here is a recent thread addressing this choice: http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=137679

[Reuben Strangelove]

Kremlin 10:14 looks interesting, but I am not quite to the point where spending 4k is in the cards.

Ok, so I read up that link.

I will forgo the compressor route, it's costly, large and non mobile, many parts, etc.

The airless I really like, but the clean up seems quite involved as well as the general maintance. There is a used Graco xr-7 on CL for $180, but I digress.


My thinking is no matter which system I go with, as long as it's quality, the results will be what I want, so I am still leaning towards the turbine system for it's size and quick cleanup.

[Leo Graywacz]

$4K??? Where did you get that number? I got mine for under $2K, still not cheap. But I bought some gaskets a hose and a few other maintenance parts to have on hand. It is a great system and it is an efficient system at that. Like I said, if you are in it for the long haul all these things add up. Using a HVLP needs a lot of air and has an efficiency of about 65% on large sheet goods. Creating that amount of pressurized air cost money. You can operate the Kremlin on a 2 CFM compresser. That is saved money. The Kremlin with the AirMix gun uses about 5-6 CFM of air. It has an 80%+ transfer ratio. So you save on electrical costs and on material costs. Clean up is a breeze. Usually takes less than 5 minutes. Setup from the night befores clean up takes about 5 minutes also. You can mix larger quantities of material and spray right out of the can. I use to mix up 20 oz at a time for my cup gun. Now I usually mix up 80 oz. So I have eliminated 3 of those mixing sessions which saves me more time.

Like I said. On one kitchen spray job, just because of the times savings by being able to spray the assembled box instead of flat parts, assemble, mask and spray and then unmask, it paid for itself in that one job.

Because you do smaller stuff I would imagine it would take longer to recoup your money. But right at the beginning you will notice the savings in time. It puts out a lot of material very efficiently. It gives a great finish. You can thin your materials at the minimums so you you can spray less coats and get a faster build.

I know I sound like a salesman. But it is a great product. If you were closer I would give you a demonstration. Or if you happen to pass through I would do the same.

[Reuben Strangelove]

$4K??? Where did you get that number?

From a quick google search, but it appears too quick. I am going to take the time to fully look into this option.

Thanks for the encouragement.

[Phil Phelps]

Ruben, I've been making "art" objects" over 40 years. If I have to use MDF with a gloss finish, I will first try to match the color with a laminate. If I can't match a laminate, I'll use white gloss and paint it. If the returns, (edges), are over 3/8", you have to fill them or edge band them with vertical grade laminate to get a pretty, glossy finish. You won't find a better substrate to paint than gloss laminate. As to your spraying needs, a HVLP turbine is a wonderful gun. Check out "swap meets" or pawn shops occasionally.