Need recommendation(s) for a paint sprayer

[BOB OLINGER]

We need to spray paint a good number (close to 40) plantation shutters constructed out of poplar. A lot of the work is similar to Norms episode on making plantation shutters. These are for interior application. I believe Norm used a high volume/low pressure (or was it low volume/high pressure) - regardless, can any of you provide some more detailed recommendations. I don't want to get carried away with super high priced equipment as I'm only a hobbyest (appears some of this equipment, like at Sherwin Williams gets pricey). We will be applying a primer, then the needed coats of finish coat. Finish coat will be semi-gloss. All paint will be latex. I have the air compressor, hoses, now just need to get the correct spray gun. I will appreciate any recommendations. Thanks in advance.

[frank shic]

did you glue up the plantation shutters yet? i tried spraying a plantation shutter earlier this year and it turned into a disaster but that was probably due to a number of factors including using oil based latex, spraying vertically and of course inexperience. the trickiest part is doing the slats... if you watch the youtube videos of pro's spraying it you have to open the slats in varying degrees while spraying it to ensure good coverage. the next time i build a plantation shutter I'm going to pre finish all the parts prior to glueing up. airless is one of the fastest ways to lay down latex but if you want to use help you'll need a conversion gun assuming your compressor is large enough to handle it. you do not want the compressor recharging on you in the middle of a spray run! you'll also need a tip sized for latex otherwise your gun will clog up pretty quickly unless you thin the latex out really really well with floetrol and some water. good luck!

[Todd Burch]

Your best bet for spraying latex is an airless rig. Spraying latex with a conventional compressor is a painful proposition. Latex has to be thinned so much you'll kill yourself putting on all the coats, and for a semi-gloss finish - rotsa ruck.

Sherwin Williams does sell a handheld airless gun with a 1 quart cup. I have one. It works, and at around $400-$450, you could spray your shutters and still have plenty of life left in the gun. It's designed to spray about 50 gallons and then you throw it away. It works best spraying horizontally, as the pickup tube is rigid and doesn't quite reach the bottom of the cup. (This aspect could be designed better.) They sell 2 versions of a handheld gun (not considering the cordless/corded aspect) - latex only (the one I bought, with a cord) and a "hot" fluids gun for about $700. (hot = flammable finishes). With the latex version, the smallest tip is on the verge of being a bit too big for what I would prefer to spray shutters with (it's a 311 if that means anything to you), but with some practice, and finesse, and backing off a bit, it would work fine.

[Bob Lloyd]

I have no experience with spraying but I had bookmarked this thread a while back in case I needed to.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?110181-Low-cost-finish-sprayer

[scott vroom]

I sprayed a house full of these shutters using a Fuji HVLP and General Finishes Enduro Poly (tinted base). It was easy and they came out great. The trick, and what the HVLP allows you to do, is dial down the amount of paint to a fine mist....this allows you to get the nooks & crannies without runs. The Poly dries in less than an hour, shorter on hot days....You can apply several coats in a single day including light sanding between coats.

I would not want to spray shutters with latex paint, however if that were my only choice I'd thin it down 10-15% with water or one of the latex conditioners/extenders such as Floetrol or XIM. If you do end up using latex, make sure you've scuffed up the underlying paint with sandpaper otherwise the newly applied latex will not adhere sufficiently (you'll know it when you go to sand it and it peels off).

[frank shic]

scott, what was your process of spraying the plantation shutters? i asked a professional painter a few months ago and he replied: i never do them because of the liability and all the moving parts! go figure - you've got one up on the pro's! :)

[scott vroom]

Frank, we painted the shutters in our shop using a FUJI 4-stage HVLP. As I mentioned above, this sprayer allows you to dial down the spray to a fine mist which enables you to spray into the nooks and crannies without excess buildup or runs.

With the shutter unit standing vertically and leaning against the back wall of the spray booth, we'd begin with the shutters set about halfway between horizontal and vertical (about have closed/opened as it were). We carefully sprayed the individual shutter slats on their ends and also sprayed the inside stiles, ya know where the individual slats are attached via pins to the stiles. With each pass we'd open the blinds a bit to uncover the unpainted areas....know what I mean? Once the individual slat ends and stiles were dry we'd go back and spray the faces of the slats, tilting them more or less with each pass to allow full coverage...this part goes very quickly.

It's really a lot easier than you would imagine as long as you're using the proper spray equipment and can avoid latex paint. I don't know why your painter was averse to painting plantation shutters; I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It is time consuming to sand the slats, and it takes multiple light coats, so maybe the painter you spoke to didn't think he could make money painting slats. The 'liability' part I don't get.

[David Hostetler]

I have recently started playing around with spraying, and I agree, HVLP and Latex are NOT friends.... I had to thin the paint, add Floetrol and test, test test to get the consistency anywhere near sprayable. It's a losing proposition

The Ryobi RAP200B Airless Paint Sprayer Station is the least expensive that I know of that is meant for, and reportedly works well spraying latex, but it's still $200.00 + tax.

If you are only going to do this one job, you might want to either rent, or look for an airless sprayer on the used market, use it, and resell it.

[Carroll Courtney]

Where I'm at, each and every week on CLs there is always used paint sprayers for sale(ask for demostration).HD and Lowes both sell airless (cheaper than Paint Supply Houses)which is the only way to spray latex w/out thinning.Latex is just to thick to spray with anything else other than an airless,with all the time that you have spent building all these shutters don't scremp on what everyone will see.Airless owner----Carroll

[BOB OLINGER]

Frank,

Thanks for the comments. We started with a set of 3 as protocols and we painted the parts first, then glued them up. We had done this with 30 or so made from red oak which were stained and varnished. Those went good. So we started with the same process with these made from poplar and painted. But when the parts are prepainted, the joints don't look as good, the parts scratch easily during assembly, and painting the parts takes a long, long time compared to varnishing.

Now, concerning paint, I'm not hung up on semi-gloss latex. I need some advice on paint and sprayer combinations.

[BOB OLINGER]

Scott,

Thanks for the comments. Is General Finishes Enduro Poly a paint? I'm not hung up on latex, just need the right combination of paint and sprayer. Who sells the Fuji HVLP gun you referred to?

[Igor Petrenko]

I highly recommend cheap Harbor Freight HVLP gravity gun. One of those "best $15 I've spend this year". Works well with my tiny compressor, just had to take small breaks to pump it up. HF Linky (http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high-volume-low-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-47016.html)

[Kurt Cady]

I highly recommend cheap Harbor Freight HVLP gravity gun. One of those "best $15 I've spend this year". Works well with my tiny compressor, just had to take small breaks to pump it up. HF Linky (http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high-volume-low-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-47016.html)

How "tiny" is this compressor?

[frank shic]

Frank, we painted the shutters in our shop using a FUJI 4-stage HVLP. As I mentioned above, this sprayer allows you to dial down the spray to a fine mist which enables you to spray into the nooks and crannies without excess buildup or runs.

With the shutter unit standing vertically and leaning against the back wall of the spray booth, we'd begin with the shutters set about halfway between horizontal and vertical (about have closed/opened as it were). We carefully sprayed the individual shutter slats on their ends and also sprayed the inside stiles, ya know where the individual slats are attached via pins to the stiles. With each pass we'd open the blinds a bit to uncover the unpainted areas....know what I mean? Once the individual slat ends and stiles were dry we'd go back and spray the faces of the slats, tilting them more or less with each pass to allow full coverage...this part goes very quickly.

It's really a lot easier than you would imagine as long as you're using the proper spray equipment and can avoid latex paint. I don't know why your painter was averse to painting plantation shutters; I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It is time consuming to sand the slats, and it takes multiple light coats, so maybe the painter you spoke to didn't think he could make money painting slats. The 'liability' part I don't get.

sure would love to see a video of that process... i'm so gun shy now after totally botching up a perfectly decent plantation shutter!

[scott vroom]

Scott,

Thanks for the comments. Is General Finishes Enduro Poly a paint? I'm not hung up on latex, just need the right combination of paint and sprayer. Who sells the Fuji HVLP gun you referred to?

Bob, here's the link to GF pigmented poly. It's water based, comes in black (shown in the pic) and white which can be custom mixed to match most popular paints. You can only order the custom colors through GF Wisconsin HQ and it ain't cheap. Including shipping, I payed about $75/gal for my last batch....of which shipping was about 20 bucks for 2 cans. http://www.generalfinishes.com/professional-products/water-base-paints-glazes-and-pigmented-topcoats/pigmented-acryilic-high-solids-finish

I purchased my Fuji HVLP 4 from Homestead Finishing: http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/hvlp_spray.htm There are much less expensive HLVP setups on the market but I've never used them so I can't comment. I will say that for just under $1,000, the Fuji 4 stage is a great setup. If you plan to do a lot of spraying in the future you might consider investing in top quality equipment; if this is a one time deal then perhaps one of the lower cost setups will get you through.

[frank shic]

I highly recommend cheap Harbor Freight HVLP gravity gun. One of those "best $15 I've spend this year". Works well with my tiny compressor, just had to take small breaks to pump it up. HF Linky (http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high-volume-low-pressure-gravity-feed-spray-gun-47016.html)

back when i used a conversion gun with my dinky PC pancake compressor, waiting for the recharge was torture...

[John Piwaron]

I've been using a Wagner Finecoat for years. After some looking around a few months ago it was apparent to me that a British company named Earlex may have been the actual manufacturer. I looked at what Earlex had to offer and liked what I saw. They've got 3 or 4 levels of sprayers. They also offer varying orifice sizes and needles. They're capable of spraying very thin liquids to very thick ones. While I haven't done it, they certainly look capable of spraying latex.

I got one of their guns and have connected it to my original Finecoat turbine. It works like a champ. The thickest material I've sprayed so far is unthinned oil based Polyurethane. It's done that with no trouble whatsoever. I'd be willing to give them a try.

Rockler sells the Earlex rigs.

[trevor adair]

I suggest you try the Earlex Spray Station 5500 and Target EM600 water based Lacquer?.. I have used this combination on built-ins, trim etc.. works real well and the sprayer can be dialed down to a fine mist.. I am very happy with this combination and you can pick up the sprayer for $319 new at Amazon

[johnny means]

Bob, I've sprayed latex with excellent results out of just about every type of set up you can think of. The key for me has been a 4 to 1 mixture of paint and Floetrol. Water should not be used to thin latex for this purpose. The water doesn't have the proper viscosity or drying properties to set up properly on vertical surfaces.

As far as equipment recommendations, I would say the Devilbliss Finish Line is an excellent all purpose gun with the adjustments necessary for finishing complex forms like shutters. Also not terribly expensive.

[scott vroom]

Frank, what equipment and finish were you using?


sure would love to see a video of that process... i'm so gun shy now after totally botching up a perfectly decent plantation shutter!

[Harry Hagan]

Frank, we painted the shutters in our shop using a FUJI 4-stage HVLP. As I mentioned above, this sprayer allows you to dial down the spray to a fine mist which enables you to spray into the nooks and crannies without excess buildup or runs.

With the shutter unit standing vertically and leaning against the back wall of the spray booth, we'd begin with the shutters set about halfway between horizontal and vertical (about have closed/opened as it were). We carefully sprayed the individual shutter slats on their ends and also sprayed the inside stiles, ya know where the individual slats are attached via pins to the stiles. With each pass we'd open the blinds a bit to uncover the unpainted areas....know what I mean? Once the individual slat ends and stiles were dry we'd go back and spray the faces of the slats, tilting them more or less with each pass to allow full coverage...this part goes very quickly.

It's really a lot easier than you would imagine as long as you're using the proper spray equipment and can avoid latex paint. I don't know why your painter was averse to painting plantation shutters; I wouldn't hesitate to do it again. It is time consuming to sand the slats, and it takes multiple light coats, so maybe the painter you spoke to didn't think he could make money painting slats. The 'liability' part I don't get.

Good advice.

[frank shic]

well i was using the wagner 404 plus with alkyd oil latex paint but i hadn't cleaned the pump consistently so it was spitting all over the place and i started panicking and spraying inconsistently. now that i cleaned out the pump thoroughly and got a grace airless gun to use with it, it seems to work a lot better. after your advice, i'm willing to give it another go at it once i figure out whether to cut the door apart and salvage the slats and either the rails or stiles or continue trying to strip the paint off.

[Igor Petrenko]

It was 5gal Rigid on wheels.

How "tiny" is this compressor?

[Curt Harms]

I had good luck with 'latex' (whatever Sherwin Williams was selling that day) in an Earlex 5000 w/ 2 mm tip. I was faced with the door in the pic. Some sort of pine - made in Vietnam so who knows - the slats are fixed. I started out with a light coat of Zinsser SealCoat to help with grain raising, wasn't enthusiastic about sanding those slats. Sprayed the shellac, let it dry a couple hours. Strained the 'paint' through a medium mesh filter, added some distilled water to reach TLAR (that looks about right) viscosity, maybe 5-10%. Floetrol would have been better but I didn't have any and didn't want to take the time to go get some. One coat in the afternoon, a second coat the next morning. As others have said, don't try to spray too thick a coat at one time. I was spraying in a garage with the door open when spraying. It dried quick enough I probably could have recoated in an hour or two. I've sprayed 'paint' on outdoor porch posts and flower trellises as well using the Earlex. They've stood up well so far, 4-5 years and counting. I certainly wouldn' try spraying out of the can like you can with an airless but it seems a little diluent goes a long way. As always, try on scrap first.
230465

[Mark Roderick]

The key is that you don't have to, and probably shouldn't, spray "paint." Instead, spray a water-based sprayable finish tinted to the color you want with an HVLP spray gun. It will turn out better than you ever thought imaginable.

[frank shic]

The key is that you don't have to, and probably shouldn't, spray "paint." Instead, spray a water-based sprayable finish tinted to the color you want with an HVLP spray gun. It will turn out better than you ever thought imaginable.

i'm willing to give this a shot. having a thinner product would make it less likely to run. what products would you guys recommend? i'd prefer something that i can purchase at either my local rockler's or home depot or ace hardware.

[Tom Willoughby]

If you don't mind getting used spray equipment, I purchased a used Fuji turbine and G-X2 gun from Roger Phelps (www.phelpsrefinishing.com (http://www.phelpsrefinishing.com)). He seems to know the Fuji line quite well.

Tom

[frank shic]

i meant the finish product sorry for not being unclear. i actually have a fuji q4 that i bought off of craigslist a few years ago but thanks for the recommendation, tom!

[Sam Murdoch]

If you don't mind getting used spray equipment, I purchased a used Fuji turbine and G-X2 gun from Roger Phelps (www.phelpsrefinishing.com (http://www.phelpsrefinishing.com)). He seems to know the Fuji line quite well.

Tom


This is a great contact Tom. Thanks. I didn't know he was out there - didn't come up on the Google. I'm getting ready to bite down on one of these. 230484 :eek: :rolleyes:

Still getting used to the idea. Any words of encouragement?

Sam

[Tom Willoughby]

I had a 5 gallon Ridgid compressor with a Wagner HVLP conversion gun that was rated well but I struggled a bit with it. I didn't have an in-line water filter and the compressor couldn't quite keep up. Long story short, I invested in the Fuji spray set up and am very pleased with it. Although I am still learning, I can get a much better finish spraying than I could with a brush.

My next project will be to set up a garage heater so that I can spray in the winter.