Need Sprayer Advice, Earlex VS .....

[Bernie Kopfer]

I will in the near future be needing to finish a Murphy Bed and bookcases and some tall kitchen cabinets and lots of baseboard with white latex paint. The reason for the white paint is because the LOML wishes these items to be white. Presently I have a Earlex 5000 unit that I have already used to apply oil-based white paint but was only successful after a great deal of thinning, and the same difficulty with latex. So I'm thinking this is a great opportunity to get a more powerful sprayer such as the Fuji Mite 4 unit. The price is right and it seems to be well liked by those who own one.
My question is will the Fuji sprayer allow me to put on paint faster than the Earlex unit? By faster I mean, does the sprayer noticeably put out more paint per minute than my Earlex. I'm also hoping that thinning will be a thing of the past with this unit, but that is what viscosity cups are for. There are other units out there and if anyone wishes to speak about their experience this might be a good time and place to do so.
Also what brand and "model" of latex paint have you been using that sprays well and is durable? Thanks

[Chris Padilla]

I can't speak to Fuji units but I've owned an Apollo 1000 for about 10 years (4-stage turbine...sounds like a 747 taking off) and I've sprayed a ton of latex through it with no issues. It was a pricey unit long ago but it keeps on going and I'm happy I made the early, painful $1k investment.

[bob cohen]

I can't speak to Fuji units but I've owned an Apollo 1000 for about 10 years (4-stage turbine...sounds like a 747 taking off) and I've sprayed a ton of latex through it with no issues. It was a pricey unit long ago but it keeps on going and I'm happy I made the early, painful $1k investment.

I also have, and am happy with, the apollo 4-stage. I have successfully sprayed latex with it, but dilute it by about 20% with Floetrol. My unit is about 1 year old and not all that noisy, more like a stationary planer than a router or benchtop planer. Maybe Chris's model is an older one and noisier? Mine does get quite hot with extended use, however.

[Chris Padilla]

Bob,

I never "metered" the sound from my sprayer but I don ear protection for sure! Floetrol is a great a product and it does help condition latex for overall improvement when you're buying the somewhat "cheaper/lower grade" type of paints (like you get from the Orange and Blue Boxes). It works well for spraying, brushing, and rolling as it extends the wet edge a bit longer. I've found it unnecessary to use for some of the "expensive/higher grade" type of paints from like Sherwin Williams, etc.

[John TenEyck]

If you want to spray latex paint, by which I believe you mean water borne acrylic, then I would get an airless sprayer. For a less money than the Fuji or Apollo you can have a sprayer designed specifically for spraying paint. Look at Graco's product line just to see what's available. I've had really good results with SW's Pro Classic Acrylic paint, very hard, very durable. An alternative to using paint would be to use white water borne lacquer or poly. Their viscosity is not much higher than their clear counterparts so your Earlex should spray them just fine with minimal thinning. General Finishes makes a very nice one: http://generalfinishes.com/professio...ented-topcoats Target makes one too, I believe.

John

[Mike Nguyen]

I just finished my garage cabinets spraying zinsser bulls eyes primer, Behr ultra White latex paint and General Finishes White Undercoat and White Poly using the Earlex 5500. For the inside cabinets and shelves, I thinned the primer and the Behr paint with water using the viscosity cup until I got to the 160 seconds to empty the cup. The result is very good but not as good as the General Finishes White Poly which required no thinning at all. I used General Finish for the cabinets doors and sides that are visible. The General Finishes White Poly and White Undercoat is thicker than other General Finishes top coats so I used the 2mm nozzle. Hope this helps.
Mike

[Bernie Kopfer]

[QUOTE=John TenEyck;2271575]If you want to spray latex paint, by which I believe you mean water borne acrylic, then I would get an airless sprayer. For a less money than the Fuji or Apollo you can have a sprayer designed specifically for spraying paint. Look at Graco's product line just to see what's available. I've had really good results with SW's Pro Classic Acrylic paint, very hard, very durable. An alternative to using paint would be to use white water borne lacquer or poly. Their viscosity is not much higher than their clear counterparts so your Earlex should spray them just fine with minimal thinning. General Finishes makes a very nice one: http://generalfinishes.com/professio...ented-topcoats Target makes one too, I believe.

Thanks for the advice. The problem with using a lacquer is that it would be difficult to do a precise color match and that will be needed in my case. I have wondered if colored lacquer is good option but have not found any info in any finishing books i own. When you order custom cabinets from the better providers are their colored cabinets finished in poly or lacquer? So often we woodworkers put a great info out on clear finishes but not a lot is said or taught about colored finishes. Particularly about coloring large pieces. And even less info about glazing.

[John TenEyck]

[QUOTE=Bernie Kopfer;2271595]

If you want to spray latex paint, by which I believe you mean water borne acrylic, then I would get an airless sprayer. For a less money than the Fuji or Apollo you can have a sprayer designed specifically for spraying paint. Look at Graco's product line just to see what's available. I've had really good results with SW's Pro Classic Acrylic paint, very hard, very durable. An alternative to using paint would be to use white water borne lacquer or poly. Their viscosity is not much higher than their clear counterparts so your Earlex should spray them just fine with minimal thinning. General Finishes makes a very nice one: http://generalfinishes.com/professio...ented-topcoats Target makes one too, I believe.

Thanks for the advice. The problem with using a lacquer is that it would be difficult to do a precise color match and that will be needed in my case. I have wondered if colored lacquer is good option but have not found any info in any finishing books i own. When you order custom cabinets from the better providers are their colored cabinets finished in poly or lacquer? So often we woodworkers put a great info out on clear finishes but not a lot is said or taught about colored finishes. Particularly about coloring large pieces. And even less info about glazing.

If you look at the GF link a little more closely you'll see that custom colors are available, pretty much any color you need. Call GF or Jeff Jewitt at Homestead Finishing, who carries pretty much the entire GF product line, and I'm sure one of them will be happy to custom match a color from a sample you provide them. The other approach is do your own color matching using Homestead's ViviTone colorants: http://www.homesteadfinishingproduct...lors.htm#mixol I don't think you need a new spray outfit to do what you want. There are products available that will do what you need that are compatible with your Earlex.

John

[Chris Ainsley]

I've been spraying the interior doors and trim inside my house with an Earlex 5500 that I was borrowing and now a Fuji semi-pro (both two stage units). I am using Sherwin-Williams opulence semi-gloss in an off-white tint and thinning about 15-20% with just water. I'm using a 2mm tip and cap and have had pretty good results. It does leave a bit of a textured finish, not glass smooth but these are old doors so it helps hide the imperfections.
I would have loved to have spent the extra money for a mini-mite 3 or 4 but this is at the end of a whole house, 4 month renovation so $ was tight.

For extra durability I'm also using Sherwin-Williams multi-surface acrylic, which is also nice stuff. the finish isn't quite as nice as the opulence but I can definitely tell a difference in durability with the 100% acrylic.

I've contemplated going with a pre-cat, water borne lacquer but I started with rolling on the paint in the kitchen so I went with the opulence and need to stick with it throughout.

[Curt Harms]

I agree with experimenting a little before spending several hundred $ on a new spray rig. Without question an airless rig is the best for spraying 'latex'. But if you're not doing quite a lot, it's kinda expensive plus cleanup on an airless with its hoses and pump is more involved than the Earlex. I sprayed some acrylic enamel, it may have been MAB but I'm not certain - that worked very well just thinned a bit with floetrol & distilled water. Not much, just a few % and so far so good. I've also sprayed some 10 year old wall paint. That piece was a shoe rack from borg plywood that just needed to be white, having a decent finish was a bonus. The paint coat didn't look all that great when first sprayed but it flowed out after a few minutes and looked pretty good I thought.

One thing I found helpful with raw wood and water based products is to spray on a spit coat of shellac first. The shellac prevents grain raising and presents a nice smooth surface with little or no sanding. If you haven't done so, I'd use some scrap and go through the whole process - shellac/sanding sealer if you choose, 'paint' and top coat if desired. Experiment with thinning and gun tips & settings. I've also had decent luck spraying a water based poly/topcoat over the 'paint' for additional wear protection. This was with an Earlex 5000.

[Bernie Kopfer]

Thanks guys for the advice. I did a bunch of further reading of blogs, forums and such and decided to go ahead and get the 4 stage Fuji. Selling the Earlex will help a little. Having a powerful unit and minimizing the time thinning etc will make it worth my while for the long haul. I might start another thread about using colored lacquer instead of latex. Thanks again

[Frederick Rowe]

One other material to consider as alternative to latex is Target Coating's line of WB tinted lacquers.

http://www.targetcoatings.com/produc...er-series.html