I'm getting myself set up to spray waterborne finishes (1st time) and am having a hard time figuring out exactly how to proceed. I have a Fuji Mini Mite 4 gravity fed with 1.3 and 1.8mm tips.
I am doing some interior remodeling / custom woodworking for a client that involves installing 1x8 Nickel Gap T&G (planning on top coating w/ Emtech EM6500 pigmented laquer tinted to BM - Simply White) on some of the interior walls. I want all of this material to be pre-finished (sprayed off site) and consequently don't want any visible nail holes / no face nailing, which means nailing the tongue of the T&G only and, if necessary, using some type of construction adhesive on the back against the wall. The reasoning for no face nailing is that I don't want to have to do any finishing in the house once the material is installed, so pre-finishing 100% is my intention.
The only material that I've been able to source that fits my criteria of being a 1x8 Nickel Gap in tongue and groove (as opposed to ship lap, that I'd have to face nail) is a factory primed MDF. I initially thought I could source clear, raw wood SYP, but it turned out to be only available in Ship Lap and not T&G...
I have an order arriving tomorrow from Target Coatings that is a couple gallons of the HSF5000 and the tinted EM6500. I also have BIN white shellac-based primer.
The spraying will happen in a temporary spray booth in the back of a large shop with 2 open doors nearby and plenty of ventilation (large floor fans). From my research, this seems to be adequate for waterborne spraying but probably not for solvent based (shellac, etc.) It seems that I don't want to be spraying the BIN with this setup, plus the possible complication of cleaning my Fuji gun well enough and switching over to the waterborne Emtech without any contamination...maybe I'm being overly cautious on this point? I only have 1 gun.
Not knowing what the factory primer actually is on the MDF, (probably some type of latex primer?) can I re-prime over it with the HSF5000 (2 coats min?) then proceed with the top coat, or should I expect problems with this approach? I will try this on samples once all the materials arrive, but asking here in case anyone has actual experience.
If the above approach is flawed, is it any better to re-prime with BIN (then HSF5000? + top coat? or just top coat on top of BIN?) I'm apprehensive about spraying BIN with the setup I have, but it seems ludicrous to brush / roll on a coat of two of BIN primer if I'm going to spray the top coat. Seems like it would require a lot of extra sanding after priming to get the material back to as smooth as a sprayed primer application. Do I need to thin the BIN at all (with DNA?) if going on top with the Emtech? If so, what's a good starting point to thin?
Is there something else I should do instead of what I'm proposing?
What can I expect as far as grain raising on pre-primed MDF?
What tip(s) should I use for which products?
As you can see, I'm swimming up to my neck in questions and really just trying to do the right thing, but a lot of this is new to me. I initially thought pre-finishing (spraying) the nickel gap would be a time saver, a good opportunity for me to get setup for spraying, and result in a much better finish than brushed, and I'm sure it will once I get it done, but at this point I'm having a hard time working my way through the details, not having done a lot of this before now.
I'm also planning to spray an interior French door (clear pine) and a few small built-in type birch plywood cabinets (all with EM6500 as a top coat) just for reference, but those will both start as raw wood, which seems a bit more straight-forward to do, but I'm open to any suggestions there as well as far as primers, grain raising, etc...
Thanks for any help!