[PPo]

This is an addition to the earlier post about HVLP systems, as I have one of the cheap systems with the plastic gun to learn with. I also have some nitrocellulose lacquer, but before I stick it in the gun, I wanted to make sure that I'm not going to have a melted piece of plastic goop in my hands.

The manual is totally useless, as it was obviously not written by someone who speaks english.

I have no delusions regarding this being a total solution for finishing - just would like to mess around with it until I have a chance to research what I should actually get.

 

[BULLHART]

I hope your thread has more luck than mine bud...:glare:

 

[PPo]

Yeah...we're not having a ton of luck here. I'm just waiting to hear someone that says they turned their plastic cup into sludge with nitro or lacquer thinner.

The manual that comes with the rockler sprayer is about useless. It says that you need to clean it with a "cleaning solvent", whatever that is, and then it tells you to never wipe it with acetone, alcohol, thinner, mineral spirits, ... And then later, it tells you to thin lacquer with one part thinner and two parts lacquer.

Talk about confusing. If I could get another crappy gun for $20 to go with it, i'd just give it a shot, but there's no way to get parts for it.

The comments on the rockler site are that the finish has turned out surprisingly well, presumably because the users got the viscosity thinned enough, but nobody said they did anything with lacquer or thinner - lots sprayed with polyurethane. But if you can't use thinners, mineral spirits, acetone, ... then what do you clean polyurethane up with?

 

[JCCLARK]

I can't imagine any gun being harmed by lacquer thinner.
Everyone I've ever talked to uses thinner to clean with.
It's all I've ever used and I've had some pretty cheap guns.:yes:

 

[PPo]

It's recycling code #2 plastic for the gun body - don't remember if that's HDPE, PDPE or PETE - but I am going to find some other item that is soon to go to the recycling bin and cut it in pieces and put the pieces in separate jars of solvents and thinners. I guess that's the way to put the issue to rest.

it's just really dumb to sell a gun and advertise that it can spray lacquer, and then say a few pages before that lacquer thinner, solvents, mineral spirits, alcohol, etc, should never touch the container.

I'm going to assess how well the gun works first by spraying some Stew Mac water-based lacquer through it before I take a shot at ruining it. That way, if I do ruin it, I can just get another cheap one.

it really peeves me that you can't get the gun anywhere if you manage to screw up the first one, and I'm sure the fittings aren't universal. I haven't seen an all metal gun that would hook up to it directly, or I would be buying one.

 

[JCCLARK]

Well, if it won't hold up to lacquer thinner you should know
that very quickly by just wipeing it with a lacquer soaked rag.
I made that mistake with a screwdriver handle once.
You couldn't wipe fast enough, it dug in immediately
like most plastics.