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Thread: Looking for advice on sprayer for SW Sher-wood CAB Acrylic Lacquer. What should I use

  1. #1
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    Nov 2014
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    Looking for advice on sprayer for SW Sher-wood CAB Acrylic Lacquer. What should I use

    I went to Sherwin Williams today to discuss using lacquer on some baltic birch plywood drawers I built for under steps storage in my garage. I left with a gallon of Sher-Wood CAB Acrylic Lacquer, and a head full of confidence. The SW sales person gave me the spec sheet for the lacquer, and it calls for 1200-1800 psi airless sprayer with an .011"-.015" tip. I've been looking at Graco and Wagner units, trying to figure out what will work best for me, but there are a lot of models to choose from. None of them seem to say they are specifically for use with Lacquer, they tend to use loose terms like compatible with paints, stains, and seal coats. I don't know which brand or model is right for me.

    My goal is to be able to lacquer my larger projects, saving finish time, and minimizing the wait between coats. These drawers I plan to spray are pretty big (42"x42" approximately), and I have several larger speaker cabinets to spray yet this summer. I sprayed the trim in my house 17 years ago (before installation) with Sher-Wood and an airless sprayer loaned from SW, and it worked pretty good. SW only will sell me a sprayer now, and the ones they have are expensive professional models.

    I've tried Watco brushing lacquer on previous projects, and the results were not good. Probably my fault with pour technique but it was still a mess. My hope is with the right product, and the right sprayer, I can lay down some nice coats in a timely fashion, and get a beautiful finish.

    I'm willing to spend up to about $350 for a sprayer. If that won't get me anything that will work good, I'll have to keep saving for something more expensive I guess. What do you recommend for me?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    About any pump will work good enough, but you want a gun that will use FFLP (Fine Finish Low Pressure) tips. The cheap guns won't. I don't know how you could do that with your budget. Maybe buy a gun, and tip, and rent a rig, to only use the pump. You would probably need to change the filters in a rented pump.

  3. #3
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    You could change the tip guard, to one that will work with a FFLP tip, but the cheap, four finger guns aren't as easy to control as the good guns.

  4. #4
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    Jul 2016
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    Following on Tom's point, I have a Graco X5 Magnum and have used it with the gun that came with it. I have used the Graco FFLP tips with good success spraying SW Emerald Latex straight from the paint can.

    I haven't tried another other products through it, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

  5. #5
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    ChrisA Edwards are you saying you can use the FFLP tips in the Graco X5 gun? The X5 was the Graco model I was looking at.

  6. #6
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    Yes, go to around 11:40 to see the paint, Graco Magnum 5 and FFLP tip I used.

    Last edited by ChrisA Edwards; 06-16-2021 at 5:06 PM.

  7. #7
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    I hadn't kept up with new equipment. It's nice to see that you can use a fine finish tip without having to buy the pro rigs. I used one of those 4 finger trigger guns for several decades, and only bought one of the new, high end two finger trigger guns when my first gun finally got too aggravating. I wish I had bought one to start with. Not only is the trigger a lighter pull, but it's much easier to handle the gun in odd places, like inside cabinets. You hold the handle with ring, and little finger, and use the first two for the trigger. There really is a noticeable difference between that stock gun, and the good ones.

  8. #8
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    Nov 2014
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    Nebraska
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    I ordered a HomeRight sprayer from Amazon. I will give this inexpensive sprayer a try on my cabinet drawers and see what I can get for a finish. I have no doubt it's not up to the performance of the Graco with an FFLP tip, but hopefully it will be good enough for my drawer boxes. I've struggled with Lacquer in the past, trying to brush it and use spray cans, so hopefully spraying the SW Sher-Wood through the HomeRight will be a better experience and end result. Thank you for all the advice.

  9. #9
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    Feb 2014
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    I wish you luck, but I have never been able to get a pro quality finish with cheap equipment. I do have some cheap ones, for special purposes like spraying oil based primer, but they don't get used for stuff that's going to be seen.

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