sprayers

[Dan Gaylin]

Does anyone have experience with sprayers that don't put the material through the gun, but rather blow air across the opening of a tube inserted into a mason jar? Lee Valley sells one like this and I am intrigued. I don't do any spraying because I mostly work on smaller pieces (bowls) and the cleanup is a PITA. But one of the benefits of this type of sprayer is the quick and easy clean-up. Curious if you can get decent results with them.

Thanks,

-dan

[Tom M King]

Is they gave decent results, everyone would be using them. There are multiple reasons why pros use the high end equipment. Almost everyone starts with a cheap setup, expecting to be able to get good results. None do. If you want to lay down glass, that you don't have to touch, it takes good equipment. You can always sand out, and buff almost anything.

[Michael Schuch]

I have not heard of this type of sprayer. Can you post a link to what you are referring to?

[Jim Becker]

The "Critter" spray gun setup you describe has been around for a very long time. It works with reasonably thin products and can spray finish on stuff. There's very little control, however, and it's not going to perform for really viscous products.

Honestly, for small projects like turnings, boxes, etc., I use rattle can finishes rather than pull out the big gun.

[David Bassett]

I'm so far from an expert you shouldn't believe me without doing your own research, but it occurs to me artists and model makers have used airbrushes with wonderful results on small projects, or small details of large projects, for a long long time. I imagine all take some cleaning, but would guess some are easier than others. A long time ago I remember Joe Fleming's website being recommended as a good resource on the subject. (I think he has posted here too.)

[Curt Harms]

As Jim says, the material should be pretty thin. My experience is that there's quite a bit of overspray compared to an HVLP setup. A positive aspect is that they don't require a lot of air, I've used mine with a hotdog compressor. I used mine for painting house trim and such. I didn't expect a furniture grade result. It's also kind of handy to keep small amounts of finish in a mason jar. Stir, attach to the gun and you're in business. Cleanup is equally easy. A tip - put teflon tape or wax on the threads of the jar or getting the lid off can be a job.

[Dan Gaylin]

Thanks for all the replies. I may get one (they are pretty cheap at $50) and experiment. Here is the link:

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/shop/tools/supplies/finishing/applicators/20048-critter-air-powered-spray-gun?item=03K0301&utm_source=free_google_shopping&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=shopping_feed&gclid=CjwKCAiAksyNBhAPEiwAlDBeLBnEhhHy5B1a2JdOEIJ7 E-YKoTz899lZxDZ-BY1IrXvLB7THCv2Z9hoCiRAQAvD_BwE

David, I have, in fact, used an airbrush to spray thinned shellac on turned pieces. It actually works quite well. The problem for me was the disassembly and cleaning of the airbrush. Man those are some tiny parts and getting the airbrush back together again required dexterity and finesse that I apparently mostly lack. There are Youtube videos on how to put the airbrush back together (I have one of the better Paasches) and people admit its kind of a challenge. Maybe an Iwata airbrush would be less finicky. But it was enough trouble that now if I want to finish a bowl with shellac I either pad it on and buff it out, or I use a rattle can as Jim noted.

[Mark Bolton]

Does anyone have experience with sprayers that don't put the material through the gun, but rather blow air across the opening of a tube inserted into a mason jar? Lee Valley sells one like this and I am intrigued. I don't do any spraying because I mostly work on smaller pieces (bowls) and the cleanup is a PITA. But one of the benefits of this type of sprayer is the quick and easy clean-up. Curious if you can get decent results with them.

Thanks,

-dan

To many they are not considered cheap at the on-set but they are acutally dirt cheap... if your issue is the misery of cleanup buy a 3M accuspray setup. Inexpensive gun, you can swap out the tips for whatever viscosity material at will. The cups have filters/liners built in so thats all taken care of. If you buy a few extra hard shells you can store a half dozen of your most common finishes right in the cup. Pick one up, shake the heck out of it, clip it on the gun and spray. You can either throw away the tips or you can wash just the tip out with only a few ounces of whatever material needed and save the tips.

I have 3 of them in the shop and they are invaluable. Bulk of spraying is done with pressure pot and Graco Finex guns or CA tech gun but these things are super handy.

https://www.jbtools.com/3m-16580-accuspray-spray-gun-system-with-standard-pps/?wi=off&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc-shop&msclkid=daf45d82356d117651833c31a18242b4

[Dan Gaylin]

Mark thanks for the link. That looks really great and not all that expensive in the broad scheme of things. BUT: 13 cfm at 20 PSI, seems like that is a pretty powerful/expensive compressor, no?

[Jim Becker]

You can also get a very usable gun at Harbor freight that's a regular HPLV conversion gun.

[Allan Speers]

That critter looks to me like just a very cheap HVLP gun, with no controls, no choice of nozzle and aircap size, a very contricted air inlet, and a glass pot that's just waiting to bump into something and crack.


Buy a used, real gun and be happy. :)

[Mark Bolton]

Mark thanks for the link. That looks really great and not all that expensive in the broad scheme of things. BUT: 13 cfm at 20 PSI, seems like that is a pretty powerful/expensive compressor, no?

That just depends on your compressor. The lower operating pressure will be offset against the CFM. So basically just using straight math (likely wont play out in the real world) if you had a compressor rated at 3.5cfm@90 you'd be close to 100%. But anything less than that and your duration between having to wait for the compressor to catch up will shorten. 13cfm sounds like a lot but at 20+/- psi its not quite as bad as it sounds. But yes, its still not going to perform on a very small compressor but pretty much nothing other than an air brush is. Thing to remember with a sprayer, and especially if your doing small work is that your work is intermittent. You'd likely be better off with a small jamb/touchup type gun or air brush but I mentioned the accuspray just for the cleanup issues you mentioned. You only have to clean the fluid tip with these. It literally takes just a few ounces of solvent or if your spraying water you just rinse them in the sink. You invert the gun and drain all the material in the tip back into the cup so all you have to clean is the residual in the tip and the needle. The tips in that world will last for ages.

But in the end, yes, if you dont have the air, your sunk.

[Dan Gaylin]

Very helpful walkthrough on the math Mark. Good excuse to upgrade my compressor and it doesn’t need to me a thousand+ dollar item. Thanks for the info

[Curt Harms]

You can also get a very usable gun at Harbor freight that's a regular HPLV conversion gun.

I don't know about the newest iterations of Harbor Freight spray guns but they used to have a reputation for being an air hog.