Small/hobby spray units.

[peter56]

Hi All,
I’ve been making some timber furniture (bookcase, cupboards, etc.) and finishing it in clear or stain, in either water or oil based polyurethane. My current project has Cabots CFP Floor water based because I have a bit left over.
So far I’ve been using a brush for convenience with acceptable results, but have been wondering what spray options are available. I’m only making one piece at a time and they’re not usually too big, so small capacity is not a problem, but the ability to spray horizontal as well as vertical surfaces would be handy. Does anybody have any suggestions about what type of unit I might look at, where to source it etc?
(I’ve got a Wagner airless which seems more of a house painting unit, and might have access to an old CIG Little Beaver though I’ve never used one).

Thanks,
Peter

[Robson Valley]

Talk to the guys in an autobody repair & paint shop.
They are painting repaired sections with what we call "detail
guns."
There's a wide spectrum of sprayers in all sorts of price ranges.
Artists' airbrushes are probably too small.
Detail guns would be better than whole body repaints.

[peter56]

I had a look in Super Cheap Auto and the gravity fed detail gun looks about the size I’m looking for, & my compressor has the specs to run it.
Has anybody had experience with the current brand in Super Cheap (Black Ridge I think), or equivalents from Repco & the like?
Thanks, Peter

[Arron]

I have one of the Supercheap hvlp guns (1.4mm) which cost abot $60. I also have one of their 3 gun hvlp sets which cost about $100 - touch-up gun at 0.9mm, std gun at 1.4mm and another gun at 2.0mm. I bought it just to get the 2.0mm setup gun, for spraying sealer and acrylic which I figured was just going to ruin any gun I put it through anyway. I havent used the touch up or 1.4mm guns out of that set. I also have Star standard and touch up guns, which cost about $350 and $250 respectively - so I'm in a good position to make comparisons. I use these guns mainy to spray precat (nitrocellulose) lacquer.

The cheap guns do the job. I've never had a gun that drips or chokes or does anything bad so I guess they all work. I just found the Supercheap guns didnt atomise quite good enough for me - they were always a tiny bit grainy or orange-peely - which is why I bought the Stars. When spraying sealer, i dont care much about how it goes on because most of it soaks in and the rest is going to be sanded off anyway - so that is why I have stuck with the cheap gun for sealers.

Now after a couple of years (intermittent) use the Star gun is still good as new but the Supercheap gun is starting to show its age - leaks air somewhere near the handle and trigger action is no longer smooth - so I guess thats another difference between cheap and good guns.

Summing up, I guess you could say both the cheap and expensive guns do the same job - the expensive guns just do it a bit finer and for a lot longer.

I hardly use the touch up guns. I wouldnt use a touch up gun to spray furniture. I would use the std gun and just put up with the pauses. For reference, my 2.5 hp / 50 litre compressor takes 21 seconds to empty when spraying and 35 seconds to refill. In 21 seconds I can spray about 2/3 of a sq metre. In practise this isnt as limiting as it sounds because there is usually a lot of repositioning of objects to do etc. A bigger compressor would be brilliant but I'm limited to 10 amp.

Cheer
Arron

[peter56]

Thanks for the info Arron,
When you put it like that –expecting better quality /longer life from a more expensive gun - it sounds logical.
Peter

[Mobyturns]

I've been using a Star 106 TG for spraying Wattyl Stylwood on mainly wood turnings and have done larger pieces like a rocking horse using a smallish SCA compressor (old model). The TG does the job well but the compressor struggles as above. Not a big issue though for me. I also use a very cheap $15 airbrush from ToysRUs to do small woodturnings. Buy a quality regulator/water trap and make sure fittings are kept in good order to minimise air leaks.