I need to spray lacquers and clear coats on stained cherry plywood speaker cabinets and I need a pro furniture grade finish. Any suggestions for an hvlp spray rig under 600.00? or is this impossible?

audiowood wrote:
I need to spray lacquers and clear coats on stained cherry plywood
speaker cabinets and I need a pro furniture grade finish. Any
suggestions for an hvlp spray rig under 600.00? or is this
impossible?

Check Harbor Freight. They have a very good HVLP solution for well under
that number, and plenty sufficient for your needs. It will deliver the
results you desire - if you have the skill to make that happen. That's
where the rubber really hits the road. The spray device is only part of the
equation. The bigger part of the equation is you. You really can't expect
that any spray gun system is going to deliver a professional finish just
because it costs a lot of money or is a really good gun. You still have to
apply the finish properly.

Without turning this into a diatriabe on proper finishing procedures, I can
spray a show room finish with a $30 Harbor Freight suction gun for you if
you want, but it will cost you more than that. You can spray an orange
peel, dry overspray finish that looks worse than a rattle can with a $600
HVLP gun if you don't know how to spray. It's not as much about the gun as
it is about how you use a gun. In short - if you don't know how to spray,
you can produce as bad of a finish with the best gun in the world as you can
with the worst gun.

Going back to my opening comment - there is nothing at all wrong with the HF
HVLP unit and it is priced well under that $600 you mentioned.

--

-Mike-

On 1/3/2014 6:04 PM, audiowood wrote:
I need to spray lacquers and clear coats on stained cherry plywood speaker cabinets and I need a pro furniture grade finish. Any suggestions for an hvlp spray rig under 600.00? or is this impossible?

For 600 you have a choice of many hvlp systems. But you will get the
finish you are looking for with less than 600.

Try the earlex

--
Jeff

On Friday, January 3, 2014 5:04:53 PM UTC-6, audiowood wrote:
I need to spray lacquers and clear coats on stained cherry plywood speaker cabinets and I need a pro furniture grade finish. Any suggestions for an hvlp spray rig under 600.00? or is this impossible?

To expand on Mike's good advice, if you have a good compressor, for a project that small you might try one of HF's CAS low volume spray guns. I use them on a fairly regular basis and they have proved to spray as well as just about any gun out there.

If you are spraying clear finishes such as lacquer, poly or shellac make sure you get a gun with a tip no larger than 1.2mm. Even though the poly will seem thicker in the cup, don't thin it unless you need to as most of today's polys are made to spray as well as brush or pad.

Another thought is to pad the poly on. Since you are probably not worrying about abrasion and water resistance on speakers, a pad finish would give you a nice subtle effect with satin poly.

If you are applying lacquer, spray it. It takes a good hand to apply lacquer with a brush or pad but it is pretty forgiving to spray and fairly easy to fix.

Remember... always practice on your scraps!

Robert

Edward A. Falk wrote:
I've been wondering about this: is it possible to spray urethane
or polyurethane?

Is it possible for a rank beginner such as myself?



Here is (I hope) some interesting reading for you:

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/fu...yurethane.html

Bill

"Edward A. Falk" wrote:


I've been wondering about this: is it possible to spray urethane
or polyurethane?

Is it possible for a rank beginner such as myself?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Depends.

One part systems can be sprayed; however, two part systems
that utilize catalyzed resin require special masks.

Failure to use the proper masks will result in a slow and painful
death as the catalyzed resin fumes you breath in harden in your lungs.

Lew

On 1/6/2014 7:29 PM, Edward A. Falk wrote:
I've been wondering about this: is it possible to spray urethane
or polyurethane?

Is it possible for a rank beginner such as myself?

Yes to both, poly sucks to clean up., you have to get the gun clean if
not, it's pretty much shot.

I have not personally sprayed urethane, although one of my molded planes
had a urethane finish.. super hard.. and beautiful.



--
Jeff

On 1/6/2014 8:34 PM, Lew Hodgett wrote:
"Edward A. Falk" wrote:


I've been wondering about this: is it possible to spray urethane
or polyurethane?

Is it possible for a rank beginner such as myself?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Depends.

One part systems can be sprayed; however, two part systems
that utilize catalyzed resin require special masks.

Failure to use the proper masks will result in a slow and painful
death as the catalyzed resin fumes you breath in harden in your lungs.

Lew



And some will kill your liver. A respirator is a must. I have a pump
system with air hose , carbon filter that you put in another room, the
mask is like a scott mask that firefighters use.

But for those systems I would now use a full suit... I didn't know how
much the body would ingest from the skin, but it's more significant than
I knew back then.

--
Jeff

Lew Hodgett wrote:

-----------------------------------------------------------
Depends.

One part systems can be sprayed; however, two part systems
that utilize catalyzed resin require special masks.

Failure to use the proper masks will result in a slow and painful
death as the catalyzed resin fumes you breath in harden in your
lungs.
------------------------------------------------------------
"woodchucker" wrote:


And some will kill your liver. A respirator is a must. I have a pump
system with air hose , carbon filter that you put in another room,
the mask is like a scott mask that firefighters use.

But for those systems I would now use a full suit... I didn't know
how much the body would ingest from the skin, but it's more
significant than I knew back then.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Single use suits with feet, full head cover, gloves, and the Scott
mask
with air tank like the fire departments use, is the only way to be
safe
when you are catalyzed LP (Linear Polyurethane) coatings.

You also need a Devilbiss JG gun with a remote pressure pot for best
results.

There is a reason boat yards charge upwards of $200/ft of length when
they shoot an LP job on a boat.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:

Single use suits with feet, full head cover, gloves, and the Scott
mask
with air tank like the fire departments use, is the only way to be
safe
when you are catalyzed LP (Linear Polyurethane) coatings.


The single use suits are not as necessary as you think though, good
protection is. Screw the Scott air tank. Positive pressure provided by a
dedicated compressor is much better. Those Scott tanks get in the way, and
get heavy. Obviously, you've never spent any amount of time with one on
your back.

You also need a Devilbiss JG gun with a remote pressure pot for best
results.

Surely you jest. Have you moved on past the 90's Lew?



There is a reason boat yards charge upwards of $200/ft of length when
they shoot an LP job on a boat.

Yup - they have a license to steal.


--

-Mike-

On Tuesday, January 7, 2014 3:37:52 PM UTC-6, Edward A. Falk wrote:

I'd be just using straight water-based spar urethane.

Orrrrr, maybe I'll just stick to the brush and not die.

Ed, no need to be afraid. That being said, safety with any airborne finishing product is a number one concern.

Do not be fooled by thinking "water based" or "water borne" infer any level of safety. THEY DO NOT. They simply indicate a different thinner, solvent, or carrier used in its manufacture, or any combination of the three. Water based/borne products still have large amounts of ammonia, formaldehyde, and all kinds of other nasties in solution that you launch into the air when you spray.

I wear long sleeved shirts buttoned all the way up, gloves, a large hat (or make a turbine like Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia for a big spray) and always have a high quality filter mask. The mask must filter particulates as well as fumes, and I replace the filters nearly every job. I don't care about the life expectancy or the due date on the cartridges. They are cheap, lungs are not.

With proper protection you can spray away all day with no worries. I have been doing it for years, safely. I had the great fortune of running into old painters about thirty years ago that were trembling wrecks because they didn't follow any safety protocols and I was able to see the price they paid.

Cover up everything you can (if I am spraying something really nasty, I even put vaseline on my eyebrows, eyelids and lashes) and filter out the rest. Spray in an area with good ventilation and don't take off your protection until you are clear of your spray area.

The work you turn out will definitely be worth the trouble if you take the time to get good at it.

Robert