[bond3737]

Hey all, I'm considering purchasing a hvlp gun and building a spray booth. Most of the work I am going to be doing is spraying bowls and other turned objects. I have three dogs that shed all over the place and I'm tired of spending hours sanding out dust and hair. I'm sure there is a ton of information out there on these things and I know there are many different models and I was wondering if you all had any good online reading or could offer any advice on which gun would fit my needs. What the difference is between high end models and lower end stuff(obviously quality but what are the attributes of a quality spray gun), and what kind of accessories would you recommend as far as air compressors and the like... I'm looking for something that will last me a long time but dont want to go too crazy on the price.
As for the spray booth... what do your designs look like? what will I need in terms of lung protection? and what are the optimal conditions for creating that perfect finish Also, if you could send me in a good direction for any articles or videos on spray boothes it would be greatly appreciated!!
Know that's a ton of questions but I'm a beginner at spray finishing... Thanks again for any help you all can give me,
Bond

 

[Steve Neul]

The more expensive sprayers turn the paint into a finer mist than the cheaper guns. That may be fine for spraying automotive finishes that are sprayed thin as water however I don't think they are necessary for wood finishes. At one time I used expensive guns and after employees kept breaking them I switched to the cheap guns and have been happy with them ever since. I no longer have employees and I stock my shop with harbor freight sprayers.

As far as which sprayer, I don't care for the HVLP sprayers and use a siphon sprayer mostly. I use harbor freight #97855 sprayer I can get with a 20% off coupon for about 25 bucks.

As far as the spray booth it could be constructed with polyethylene plastic on a wooden frame. The only thing you have to be careful with is the exhaust fan. If you are using flamable finishes it's important to use a actual spray booth fan. A lot of folks use a window fan or furnace blower and they draw paint right into the motor where there is a constant spark. Given enough volume of paint a flamable finish can ignite explosively. A spray booth fan is equipped with a sealed exposion proof motor for that reason. If the finish is water based you could just put a filter in front of the fan and after a long time it would build up paint inside and just quit working. Window fans are cheap and you could just replace it.

 

[HandymanMatt]

First timer to this forum And a rookie at spraying any product. I have spent the better part of 3 days trying to lay down some oil based paint. I bought a hvlp kit from a box store along with a compressor that will make the spray gun perform well. The point behind this was the great control and minimal over spray.
I had to thin the oil paint to the point it no longer looked like oil paint. Just colored thinner. I'm sure it would have worked better if it had a bigger tip ( stock.. 1.4).

I gave up and broke out my old cheap HF siphon feed with a 1.8 tip....sprayed the oil so well, I was pissed...I dropped 800. On a new compressor and guns just to go back to my old method. .

Steve is correct with regard to an hvlp system.. It's awesome for. Spraying water or just air.. Depending on the tip size.

Spray booth...I'm going to do a cabinet job next week. So I'm going with the pvc and 3 mil plastic. Setting it up in garage, so ill crack the door for a exit. I'm going to use a few of my shop vacs with rigged filters for the clean air intake . Both blowing downward at an angle to max the flow of air out the garage door.
At the garage door I will not use the whole garage with but a small portion of it. I want to have a triple plastic barrier to keep dust from coming back in. I just need to figure out the size of the exaust ports. Trying to avoid back pressure.
Steve do you have any thoughts on my idea for the booth?

 

[Steve Neul]

While I don't care for the HVLP sprayers it should have worked for you. Oil based enamel dries really slow so you can spray it thicker. It will seem like it is spraying in splatters but unless you spray it when it's really hot as it sits on the wood it will flow together and become smooth. With an oil based enamel you want to thin it as little as you possibly can. The more you thin it the more prone it is to run and it screws up the sheen. It also helps if you thin it with naphtha.

You can rig most anything to make a spray booth out of but if you are spraying a paint with flammable solvents in it you either need to get a actual spray booth fan with a explosion proof motor or rig a furnace blower that does not have the motor in the center of it to draw the paint out. The motor needs to be belt driven and located outside the area where the flammable paint is being sprayed. A lot of folks talk about just using a window fan and just put a filter on it. The problems is it has a electric motor in the center of it that is wide open and electric motors create sparks. All it takes is one spark when there is sufficient fumes and kaboom.