Tips on first Spray-finish job?

[Evan Van Dyke]

Here is what I will be spraying, by the way - drop front, back, and loafers uninstalled at this point. Will be installing the loafers after this dries, and finishing the front & back before installing. We'll see if it gets too cold to do the drawers before winter - it may sit inside with no drawers for a while, but that's livable if I have to.

[Jim Becker]

Evan, I bought a whole gun with the PPS already provided from Jeff Jewitt (Homestead Finishing) after a recommendation from John T. Since 2003, I had been using a Wagner HPLV conversion gun (quite successfully) but wanted "more". The Wagner is now my dedicated shellac gun.

As to the liners...I reuse them as they clean up beautifully in hot water. (I only spray waterborne finish with the gun). I'm only on my second one after a year and a half and the first one is still very usable.

[Evan Van Dyke]

Evan, I bought a whole gun with the PPS already provided from Jeff Jewitt (Homestead Finishing) after a recommendation from John T. Since 2003, I had been using a Wagner HPLV conversion gun (quite successfully) but wanted "more". The Wagner is now my dedicated shellac gun.

As to the liners...I reuse them as they clean up beautifully in hot water. (I only spray waterborne finish with the gun). I'm only on my second one after a year and a half and the first one is still very usable.

Wow - I didn't think they would be that reusable; everyone talks about how easy cleanup is by throwing them out instead. That's pretty amazing.

[Jim Becker]

I'm sure that at some point with all the flexing they do under pressure that they would "wear out" physically, but they are more durable than some would have you think...particularly folks selling replacements. And waterborne finishes really don't do anything to them chemically that I can perceive. I clean my gun with hot water in the kitchen sink, in general, so rinsing out the liner is just part of that. The screened canister caps are also very durable. Now if I was using solvent based products, I'd have to learn more about what effect there may be on longer term use, but I don't touch that stuff.

[Evan Van Dyke]

Thought I'd give an update: After several practice boards, and a run with pure water to practice & raise the grain, I got started in on the stain coat. Got about halfway done and clouds rolled in, going from blue & sunny to grey in about 2 minutes. I quickly finished wiping the excess off the side I was working on, and a good thing too, as it decided to hail on me. In October. In Chicago. Always something!

Thankfully I was able to get the desk wheeled back into the shop & covered. Very glad I'm using water-based stain right now... I'll have to wait and finish the rest once the weather clears up. I'm really happy with how it's looking so far, so thanks to everyone for their advice! I'll post some pictures once I get the clear-coat on it. Despite the weather troubles, this has proven to be the quickest & easiest finish I've laid on. I can see why everyone loves their sprayers.

[Curt Harms]

Tip: All dust you didn't clean up will end up in the finish.
Practice. Sanding sealer is good for practice. Make sure your stance, positioning of the work piece, and handling of the gun are comfortable. Hearing protection can make the work less taxing. Be sure to clean up right after you finish spraying.

+1 on practicing. If you can find large sheets of cardboard that is good. Keep the gun perpendicular to the work piece from end to end, don't swing it in an arc. Keep the trigger squeezed over the entire length of the piece, don't let off when you get close to the end. Let's see, what else have I screwed up?

[Al Launier]

Evan, you can easily make an outdoor paint booth using PVC pipe and Side Outlet Elbow PVC Fitting, then surrounding the "cube" with plastic sheeting & securing the sheeting with PVC Snap Clamps. A 6' PVC cube I made worked great to keep any flying insects off and kept the wind off as well. The framework doesn't need to be glued together. It is easy to break down for portability and storage.

[Evan Van Dyke]

Evan, you can easily make an outdoor paint booth using PVC pipe and Side Outlet Elbow PVC Fitting, then surrounding the "cube" with plastic sheeting & securing the sheeting with PVC Snap Clamps. A 6' PVC cube I made worked great to keep any flying insects off and kept the wind off as well. The framework doesn't need to be glued together. It is easy to break down for portability and storage.

Good idea, and I may very well end up doing that... for now, I made a makeshift spray booth in the garage to put the clear coat on the loafers (which I need to finish before everything else, since I can't get at all the surfaces once installed). Once they cure, I will put them in & their supports... so I can immediately mask them off. I don't know how well it shows in the pictures, but I am /very/ happy with the quality of the finish. Came out glassy smooth (other than the open grain of the Oak, which I expected to show some voids). Only real issue I had was that my DTS400 was a little too agressive knocking back the nibs with 240 grit after the 1st coat on my practice piece. I did the loafers by hand with 400 grit, no issues. Getting some 400 abrasive for the DTS, and test sand some of the underside first to see if that's good enough. These coats are so thin, I may wait until the 2nd coat to sand back.

(Please ignore the drips on the test piece on the bottom - someone forgot to switch the spray from horizontal to vertical on the last coat).
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