Quick sprayer question

[OzarkSawdust]

What do you guys that spray stain or paint use?

1. Gravity feed air brush

2. Air brush that uses small bottles

3. Something like a Wagner Flexio 3000 HVLP type

I want to spray some of my works in the future, but now I'm making a multi level plant stand for my wife. It's pine, from wood in the shop, so I'll use Minwax Pre Stain and spray American Walnut.

 

[new2woodwrk]

In the past I've use both HVLP and LVLP

For paints  the HVLP works best

for stains and finishes the LVLP works best

I don't have an airbursh that others here have so can't comment on that

I used this page for my original guidance in selecting:

 

[Ctutor]

There is a rather inexpensive spray gun called "the Criter"   runs about $50 that will work on any type of paint , varnish, lacquer.  It does not allow you to change the pattern of the spray but that will probably not be an issue.  If you get the critter make certain it is with the stainless tube not the aluminum the latter will bend when dropped.  It uses a pint size "Mason" jar.  I use lacquer and keep one filled with lacquer the other with Acetone to clean the spray head when done.     Darryl                                                                                                                     

[lawson56]

I have tried using the spray stain in the shaker cans, wasn't to impressed, Haven't tried the others. 

[Dave Monk]

I spray everything with lacquer.  No more than I stain it's just as easy for my to use a brush. In the past I used to build a lot of big things and I sprayed them. It was messy as heck. I still had to wipe them off. 

[Rockytime]

I looked at the Critter on line. Very simple and a cheap pancake compressor would work with it.

[OzarkSawdust]

49 minutes ago, Rockytime said:

I looked at the Critter on line. Very simple and a cheap pancake compressor would work with it.

After Ctutor said that I looked it up also! I remember hearing about them a year or so ago... but forgot. I ordered one from Amazon, should work good for a lot of things. 

Thanks Ctutor!

[new2woodwrk]

7 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

After Ctutor said that I looked it up also! I remember hearing about them a year or so ago... but forgot. I ordered one from Amazon, should work good for a lot of things. 

Thanks Ctutor!

I'm looking at that :"critter" - please post your experience when you try it out?

[BadBob]

16 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

What do you guys that spray stain or paint use?

1. Gravity feed air brush

2. Air brush that uses small bottles

3. Something like a Wagner Flexio 3000 HVLP type

I want to spray some of my works in the future, but now I'm making a multi level plant stand for my wife. It's pine, from wood in the shop, so I'll use Minwax Pre Stain and spray American Walnut.

 

It depends on what I am painting. I have a drawer full and some paint guns.

A gravity feed airbrush can use as little as a drop of paint at a time. They clean up easy so swapping colors is relatively quick. On the downside, if you need to see over the top of the airbrush, the cup can be a problem. Gravity feed airbrushes don't work well for covering large areas. They shine at detail work.

Siphon feed airbrushes work best for covering larger areas with a single color. You can get large bottles for them. Bottles let you store unused finish. I find them more challenging to clean. They are not as good at details.

As you go up in size, the ability to cover more significant areas increases, and the ability to paint finer details decreases. I cant imagine a scroll saw project that would require an HLVP gun.

Looking at your intended use, I would recommend using a siphon feed airbrush with larger needle size. A Badger Anthem 155 would do the job. Badger makes a version of this airbrush that does both gravity and siphon-feed.

[OzarkSawdust]

3 hours ago, BadBob said:

It depends on what I am painting. I have a drawer full and some paint guns.

A gravity feed airbrush can use as little as a drop of paint at a time. They clean up easy so swapping colors is relatively quick. On the downside, if you need to see over the top of the airbrush, the cup can be a problem. Gravity feed airbrushes don't work well for covering large areas. They shine at detail work.

Siphon feed airbrushes work best for covering larger areas with a single color. You can get large bottles for them. Bottles let you store unused finish. I find them more challenging to clean. They are not as good at details.

As you go up in size, the ability to cover more significant areas increases, and the ability to paint finer details decreases. I cant imagine a scroll saw project that would require an HLVP gun.

Looking at your intended use, I would recommend using a siphon feed airbrush with larger needle size. A Badger Anthem 155 would do the job. Badger makes a version of this airbrush that does both gravity and siphon-feed.

I'm making one of these for my wife. Got it cut and ready to drill holes and bolt together. The HLVP idea is to paint it white. I think this project would take a long time to paint with an air brush.

There are a lot of other projects that would be nice to use one on. Like the Cancer Ribbons I do, I don't really like the finish I get from a rattle can and an air brush might do a lot better job. I ordered a Critter yesterday and that should work for this project, I'll just have to try it to see what types of projects it works best for.

I want to paint the deck this summer, and will need a full sized HLVP sprayer for that. But with other needs filled I can spend less on a gun for that and the very few projects of that size. At least that is the thought.

 

[oldhudson]

I don't spray my scroll saw projects, generally, but often spray larger projects. I have an HVLP. It's Earlex brand I picked up at Rockler. A nice, fairly priced, and very complete set. It even has a viscosity cup. Comes with a DVD on how to use it.  I don't think I'd want to set it up to do scroll work, unless I was do several pieces at the same time. It's hard to beat a finish that's been sprayed on. 

[BadBob]

18 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

I'm making one of these for my wife. Got it cut and ready to drill holes and bolt together. The HLVP idea is to paint it white. I think this project would take a long time to paint with an air brush.

There are a lot of other projects that would be nice to use one on. Like the Cancer Ribbons I do, I don't really like the finish I get from a rattle can and an air brush might do a lot better job. I ordered a Critter yesterday and that should work for this project, I'll just have to try it to see what types of projects it works best for.

I want to paint the deck this summer, and will need a full sized HLVP sprayer for that. But with other needs filled I can spend less on a gun for that and the very few projects of that size. At least that is the thought.

 

People seem to think airbrushes are only for tiny objects. I know someone who paints cars with automotive paint and an airbrush. He paints in his driveway one panel at a time. He has a wall full of trophies and ribbons he has won at car shows. For a compressor, he used a spare tire.

There are many different sizes and styles for different tasks. Some airbrushes could easily be used to paint a sheet of plywood.

First, you need to decide what you want to paint and what finish you want to spray with it. Then you can choose your airbrush.

 

https://airbrushes.com/airbrushes.php

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by BadBob

[OzarkSawdust]

4 hours ago, BadBob said:

People seem to think airbrushes are only for tiny objects. I know someone who paints cars with automotive paint and an airbrush. He paints in his driveway one panel at a time. He has a wall full of trophies and ribbons he has won at car shows. For a compressor, he used a spare tire.

There are many different sizes and styles for different tasks. Some airbrushes could easily be used to paint a sheet of plywood.

First, you need to decide what you want to paint and what finish you want to spray with it. Then you can choose your airbrush.

 

https://airbrushes.com/airbrushes.php

 

Interesting read, thanks Bob. Yesterday I went on You Tube and watched a few Badger Anthem 155 videos...wow! The things some of those guys do is awesome! I watched several by a guy named Jamie Rodriguez...WOW! I think one is in my future, just to play with. 

[BadBob]

20 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

I think one is in my future, just to play with. 

It takes a while to get the hang of it.

Interviews with Ken Schlotfeldt  of Badger Airbrush.

I make toys and picked up a lot of good tips from modelers. What they do is closely related painting toys.

I spray shellac, craft acrylics, and house paint.

[OzarkSawdust]

7 hours ago, BadBob said:

It takes a while to get the hang of it.

Interviews with Ken Schlotfeldt  of Badger Airbrush.

I make toys and picked up a lot of good tips from modelers. What they do is closely related painting toys.

I spray shellac, craft acrylics, and house paint.

Thanks Bob! I've just spent the last 2-3 hrs. watching airbrush videos. Fascinating stuff, gave me a ton of ideas...like I needed more projects to go with the 10 or so laying around the shop. 

That would be THE thing for my Cancer ribbons as I'm not real happy with the finish I get from a rattle can. Do you spray all three you mentioned out of an Anthem 155?

[BadBob]

16 hours ago, OzarkSawdust said:

Do you spray all three you mentioned out of an Anthem 155?

Yes, I only use the others for very fine detail work which is something I almost never do.

Checkout Don's Airbrush Tips  

I want to build one of these so I can paint indoors. DIY Hobby Spray Booth - Vent Works

Edited May 18, 2021 by BadBob
Added a link.

[OzarkSawdust]

5 hours ago, BadBob said:

Yes, I only use the others for very fine detail work which is something I almost never do.

Checkout Don's Airbrush Tips  

I want to build one of these so I can paint indoors. DIY Hobby Spray Booth - Vent Works

Lots of great info there! I read several of Don's articles, and will go back and read more later.

I like the spray booth, I think I'll make one similar. I may enlarge it slightly to put an easel in it to finish coat portraits, or maybe add a turntable. That would sure help with any overspray. 

[BadBob]

1 hour ago, OzarkSawdust said:

That would sure help with any overspray. 

I tried spraying inside my garage using a box fan with a filter taped to it. It got a lot of the overspray, but I still got pink dust all over the garage.
There are commercially available spray booths, but they are all too small for anything I would paint. The few that are large enough are very expensive.