talk to a guy who sprays lacquer on vehicles for a living a see what he
thinks about the PITA that moisture in the air delivery systems causes.
I know that cars are painted with water based products, but lacquer is
also used. They resort to copper lines placed in dry ice to condensate
the moisture out. or they go the big bucks route and buy various
driers. the effective ones are expensive; not your garden variety $30
gizmo from Campbell Hausfeld or HF. Lacquer and moisture in the inlet
air don't make for a fine finish.

you can always add retarder if spraying on a hot day with a HVLP, and
the air isn't hot right away anyway. For small projects it's no big deal.

I'll easily deal with HVLP hot air as opposed to moisture/oil laden
compressed air.

dave

mp wrote:

Can someone tell me what minimum size of compressor is needed for spray
painting? I would describe myself as a serious amateur and the machine
would be used for the occaisonal spray painting of laquer in a domestic
workshop.


The compressor requirements will vary with the gun you choose. Typically, a
110v 15 amp compressor with 20-30 gallon tank will be ok, and has the
advantage of being able to be used for other tools. Something like the PC
6025 or similar units will do the job (oil lube and cast iron cylinders are
much quieter).

Others have mentioned turbine units as an alternative to compressors. I've
done some research myself over the last few weeks, and the consensus seems
to be that turbine units can be a problem with lacquer due to their hot air
delivery, which continues to get hotter the more the unit is on. An air
compressor with an inline water/oil filter seems easier to deal with, and
the choice of non-turbine guns much greater.

Here's a few good online sources of information.

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/ph...c261c0007baca6

http://www.targetcoatings.com/msgboard.html

http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/finishing.pl

http://www.woodfinishingsupplies.com/forum_frm.htm