"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:40:15 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
"todd" quickly quoth:

I'm in the process of building kitchen cabinets and I'd really like to
spray
a finish on them. Plus, I'd really like to get into spraying in general.
I
had a nice talk with Jeff Jewitt today mostly about HVLP conversion guns.
The key piece of data I was missing, however, was the CFM of my existing
compressor. After getting home and looking at it, I still don't know.
I've
had the thing a lot longer than I've been woodworking and it wasn't
anywhere
near the top of the line then. The operator manual I have doesn't have
the
specs as it relates to CFM, but I'm not real hopeful. It's a Coleman
Black
Max 20 gal/5HP single-stage, direct drive model. Unless someone knows
different, I'm betting it's in the 4-6CFM range, which isn't really going
to
get the job done, spraying-wise (AFAIK).

You might be surprised. Unless you're shooting the entire kitchen set
of cabinets in one, non-stop run, your compressor will probably have
enough capacity to handle that project. Since the HVLP guns run at a
lower pressure, you have all that overhead (40-120psi) to go through
before the pressure to the gun gets low. A 2-minute break between
sprays will likely rebuild it.

As a test, get the gun, set the pressure, and pull the trigger. Note
how long it takes for the compressor to kick in, and then how long it
takes to deplete the tank below the minimum gun pressure. I'll bet
it's 6 or 7 minutes. Spraying what you can get to shouldn't take that
long.

So, I'm open to suggestions. Other than spraying, there's really nothing
pushing me to replace the compressor. If I get a compressor with enough
CFM
to do the job plus a decent gun, am I going to be getting into turbine
HVLP
rig range price-wise?

You can add extra capacity by buying another air tank. I keep a couple
of 5-gallon tanks handy and use them away from the compressor as spare
air. To increase capacity, I'll just leave the coupler in when I fill
the tanks. I do this for blowing out the shop. That takes a lot of air
at the highest pressure. Check the Schucks/AutoZone/etc. ads for
tanks. They're on sale for $20 quite often. Keep one in your trunk for
flat tires when you're not spraying. They're handy. I ran my brad
nailer from one when I put up new soffit panels. It's good for 50+
shots (with a regulator.)

I think I'll probably give it a shot. Do you have any thoughts on the type
of conversion gun? Gravity feed vs. pressurized pot? What kind of
filter/regulator should I look for?

todd