Paint sprayer recommendation...

[Gene Buckle]

Hi folks. My name is Gene and I just recently discovered your forum during my pursuit of a laser engraver. The Laser forum was very informative and I've chosen the Mini-24. :)

Now I'm looking for a good paint sprayer that will handle unthinned latex paint as well as unthinned acrylic enamel (think Testors model paint). It doesn't have to have a huge capacity, but something like an airbrush thimble is too little.

Suggestions?

Tnx!

g.

[tod evans]

gene,
the only thing i know of that`ll spray unthinned latex (read syrup) is an airless......if you only need small capacity you might want to reconsider your paints? call these guys and ask for their input they`re much more knowledgeable than i am...
http://www.spraygunworld.com/

if they`re unable to help graco makes units that`ll spray tar but they ain`t small or cheap. good luck! congratulations on your lazer and welcome to smc! .02 tod

[Gene Buckle]

If the only choice I have is airless without thinning, do you have any suggestions as to where I can learn about properly thinning the paint for use with an air sprayer?

tnx!

g.

[tod evans]

gene, spend some time poking around the link i provided, there`s a wealth of information there. latex paint is essentially clay and although it`s been formulated for use as house paint it really isn`t the best finish as far as workability. for colored paints look to the automotive industry they have paints that`ll adhere to rubber/fiberglass and metal that can be thinned, sprayed and buffed. i`m much more familiar with wood finishes in a production enviornment so any advice i offer is from a fledging regarding automotive finishes. knowing what materials you intend to paint with what equipment is the first step to choosing the paint. being as you have no equipment yet knowing what material you want to paint and your budget for equipment is a good starting point. you`ve got a little research to do before you start cutting checks if you want more choices than the rattle-cans offer.....02 tod

[Gene Buckle]

Thanks Tod. I'll do some digging. I wanted to use latex simply because I can get it fairly cheaply and Parker Paint (local to me) can mix up FS colors in it.

g.

--
Proud owner of 80-0007
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[Jim Becker]

Gene, you can slightly thin WB paints, such as Golden, and spray them effectively with a good quality airbrush. Many artisans do this. You can find this kind of material in most serious hobby and art oriented stores, both online and on the street.

[Scott Rongey]

Gene,

You might want to look into HVLP systems. I haven't tried one yet but have done a bit of reading about them and I think they would do what you want. The turbine models come with various numbers of turbines and the 4-turbine models are usually rated for latex (although they usually recommend the addition of a flow control additive). Here's a link of one system that mentions enamels and latex (with the additive): http://www.hvlp.com/apollo/40yranniv.htm

The site has a lot of other information about spraying. Note, there are other manufacturers as well that make similar systems.

Best Regards,
Scott

[Chris Padilla]

I have an Apollo 1000...pricey sucker, noisy sucker (vvveeeerrrrryyyyyy noisy) but sprays latex beautifully. It sprays latex even better when thinned with Floetrol.

In fact, I thin all my latex painting (rolling, brush, whatever) with Floetrol because I get so much better flow-out and a longer wet-edge. I can use a brush and actually get a spray-like finish.

[Brad Olson]

I spray latex and acrylics with a fuji MiniMite4 (~$550 at amazon on sale right now). I have also sprayed with several other 4-stage turbine systems from rental houses and had good results with those guns as well.

I do thin, but for multiple reasons...

The gun WILL spray latex and acrylic just fine out of the can, but you get a lot of texture this way. Most paints are formulated thick and not to level out a whole lot.

Why? So that when you roll it on with a thick knapp roller it will maintain the texture from the roller and thus will hide wall defects and irregularities on wallsl.

I personally do not roller or brush paint with latex or acrylic out of the can, I always thin 5-10% with floetrol to get the paint to level out and with some of the newer "one coat" acrylics I find myself thinning with 15-20% floetrol.

When I put latex or acrylic in my HVLP, I typically thin with 10% floetrol and 10% water and it leaves me with a really smooth well covered surface.
If it is still going on a bit thick I'll add a few % more water or floetrol to get it to lay down flat.

A lot of people say you can't get good results spraying with a turbine HVLP, but I disagree. If you select a proper system and aircap, you'll get great results. The great thing about most HVLP systems, is that gun clean up is really fast. I can clean my Fuji gun in 5-10 minutes (including removing all the "bounce back" paint from the exterior of the gun).

In my case I paid and extra $150 for a 4-stage turbine that has a bit more oomph for thick coatings.