Spraying Lacquer with HVLP | Step it Up

Step up your wood finishing with an HVLP spray system. Chris and John from the Idaho Painter channel share some professional tips for spraying lacquer.

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Category
Howto & Style

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Music:

"Polyvinyl Acetate" and "Princess Meow-Meow's Theme" by Per Almered

[richardthomas]

Talk about timing! I was just about to hit the purchase button on another gun when I got the notification to this video. Watched it and changed my purchase. Thanks Steve!

[AnthonyJacobsMusic]

Pro tip. Keep your turbine off the ground (on a spare 5 Gallon bucket) and as far away from your work area as possible. That way you avoid clogging your filters prematurely. One side of the Titan HVLP intakes air to cool the turbine, and the other side intakes air for the sprayer, so there is a lot of movement near the turbine unit. Keeping it out of the paint and overspray can help the filters last longer. I hope that helps someone. Oh, and Chris, It would be cool to see John on some more Idaho Painter videos! You guys should rename yourselves the Youtube Painters. LOL Thank you for your continued good content. You have made me a better painter.

[fubarfrank]

I tore out an old gas fireplace and put in a kitchen pantry where it stood. When it was time for painting the fresh drywall I watched some of Paint Life's videos for pointers. It's amazing how many others YouTube channels you've come in contact with, Steve. Thank you for all you do and you've truly been paramount in my woodworking journey these last three years. Cheers.

[jimbooth]

I've been spraying Deft brushing lacquer for 25 years. I started with a siphon gun but learned how to use a gravity feed cup gun when I worked in the paint department of an auto factory. Love the cup gun! It works well for automotive lacquer as well as solvent based paints.

[toddelliott]

HVLP means High Volume Low Pressure. I noticed a higher pressure was used and faster spray pattern. By lowering the pressure and spraying slower, more material will stay on the surface and not bounce off into the air (atmosphere) as demonstrated here. Yes, It takes a little more time and attention to spray, but you will save in material cost in the end and get a thicker coat without repelling gas and material into the atmosphere. You can run the risk of runs with the slower technique, but practice makes perfect.

[mathieulariviere]

I've been using that laquer for lots of years. that stuff is a big time saver. I use the Sherwood sealer 1 heavy coat then light sanding after 30 min the I spray the laquer. I also use a gravity hvlp 1.8mil tip for the sealer and 1.4mil tip for the laquer and I don't have to thin ennything out. it is a great product

[MarceloFreitas]

I didn't know this turbine for the spray gun. I like to learn new techniques. Thank you for sharing. Thanks to John and Chris for the great tips. Thanks to MicroJig for sponsoring the show.

[coinholio]

I would say there are a couple more helpful TIPS to spraying lacquer that this video has overlooked. First, weather conditions. There are three weather conditions that need to be met when spraying lac, ESPECIALLY outdoors. First, the humidity needs to be less than 90%, the temperature and the dew point need to be at least 5 degrees apart and the temperature cannot be falling over the next 24 hours (falling as in, not rising back up). The finished lacquer pieces "GAS OFF" for hours, even up to several days. It is important that when gassing off, circulation of air continues and no pets or humans are in a closed area with the pieces. To avoid 'blushing' woods, especially dark stained wood, use a Lacquer Retardant. Just a capful in the cup. Strain lacquer before putting it in the cup. On vertical surfaces, spray a 'mist' or 'piss' coat, wait one minute and spray the heavy coat. It will create a matrix for the heavy coat to grab onto, and will prevent sagging and dripping. Remember that lacquer is very temperamental.

[theJESUSofcallofduty]

I personally like using the Lenmar UltraLaq when I spray cabinets, and I also use a compressor system, but I've been wanting to get an HVLP for a long time. These videos are awesome, keep up the great work!

[Axethales]

I refinished all my doors using this method, same product. The issue I had was horizontal surface... it looked like crap. I was getting waves. I ended up standing everything vertical and the end product was much better. I was spraying straight lacquer, I didn't thin it and I believe that was the issue. I bought a cheap cup gun from Napa Auto Parts. I think I paid $45 and used my existing air compressor. Worked like a champ.

[davidjohnston]

As Steve pointed out, you can get excellent results with inexpensive equipment. I have an expensive Devillbiss HVLP gun that I can attach to a 1 quart pot or to my 2 1/2 gallon pressurized bulk tank depending on the size of project I have. I've also used my HF 1 pint gravity feed HVLP for smaller projects, as well as my HF cheapie airbrush for really small projects, in place of rattle cans. It's really more about the mix, the setup before hand, and technique than about the equipment. Adjusting the the mix of lacquer/thinner, airflow, fluid volume, the fan size and air pressure before the gun are paramount to good lacquer finishes. These are not all that difficult to get dialed in. Using some scrap cardboard as they did in the video helps a lot. I've used a small portable air compressor as well as my big shop compressor. Both were set up with canister filtration to remove oil and water so as not to contaminate the air hose and subsequently your lacquer. I also made up an inline, quick connect air regulator that I can connect right before my gun inlets. This is nothing more than a HF $15.00 pressure regulator with gauge and a male and female quick connect on either side. This saves in having to adjust the pressure at the air compressor and puts it right in your hand. My big 150 psi air compressor I keep set at 90 psi delivery to my shop. That's satisfactory to run all my air tools. With the inline regulator I can adjust as low as 5 psi or as high as line pressure. Most HVLP applications/guns only need 15-40 psi.

[JessCretney]

I have done a few projects with my HVLP sprayer, but I really try to avoid anything but water borne finishes. I recently remodelled nearly my entire house interior and I hand stained all my oak doors, then used General Finish water borne top coat. This worked very well and saved me a ton of time. The time is in the set-up and clean-up, applying the finish is so fast you feel guilty! I could have sprayed the stain, after thinning, but the stain is oil-based, and I just don't like putting that stuff on with my gun. If I had a second gun, then maybe I would, so that they would be separate.
Anyway, nice video, and thanks for putting it together.

[ralfjahns]

Thanks for including the cleaning part! I always wanted to know how much effort this is.

[dooshakhaboosha]

Do you need to clean the gun in between coats or can you just leave it until all the coats are applied ??

[jaimealvarado]

Steve Ramsay Idaho painter in the same video. Wow!! Anyone looking into making a YouTube chanel take notes from these 2 guys. Very informative. Thanks guys!

[jannebergstrom]

I have used a similar equipment for the last 25 years. Of course it´s a little more primitive, but it works in the same way. You can save almost 2/3 of the amount of lacquer to the same film thickness compared to a conventional air spraygun. great stuff!

Janne Bergstrom, Finland

[SuppaFly]

Did not expect Idaho Painter to appear! Nice vid guys

[dalleth]

A couple of points:
1. Rockler makes the Paint pouring lid thingy. It's a life saver for pouring lacquer from a Gal to a gun can.
2. Sherwood Pre-Cat Hi-Bild is awesome.
3. Yes you can keep lacquer in the gun for some time. And yes it'll get a little crusty, but in the end if you just clean out the needle point you'll be fine.

[hansdegroot]

Very informative video. Thanks for sharing. I was surprised how short the distance is between the spray gun and the object to paint/spray. I would expect a longer distance.

[nwkwok]

What if you were to use water / oil based poly in an HVLP? Would you clean the same way? Or is there a different type of liquid cleaner you’d used instead of lacquer thinner? I’m assuming paint you’d clean with paint thinner?? Poly ... mineral spirits??