What type of paint should a novice use to start spraying?

[Doug Hobkirk]

I paint some appropriate used furniture a color like "Windsor Chair Green" that was commonly used 60-80 (?) years ago to paint a lot of furniture used in summer cabins in New Hampshire. This furniture is sold in a consignment shop or at auction. Even though brush strokes might be authentic, they would not add to the value and it takes a long time to brush paint most of these pieces. I want to spray the paint. My fantasy of using latex paint is dead. I need a better solution.

What type of paint should I start using? Hopefully you can recommend paint(s) that might work with the equipment I have:

• Wagner self-contained unit ($120, small compressor, 10' hose connected to a typical looking spray gun with attached paint container). HVLP 2300, 7.6A, 350W.
• Old compressor, currently governed at 100 PSI. 11 gallon can, one cylinder driven by motor via a side belt, very quiet. HP & CFM are unknown.
• HF detail sprayer (never used) - 4 oz. gravity feed, requires 3 CFM @ 50 PSI, adj from 20-50 PSI. Inappropriate for my projects, but I could use it as a test sprayer to verify the compressor is sufficient, etc.
• No spray booth and no room to build one, although, now that I think of it, I could probably set up a family tent with a fan. I've been using a gravel driveway and it's pretty poor (bugs, tree pollen, overspray, etc.).

My questions:

1. What type of paint would you recommend? It needs to be customizable - I need a pretty specific shade of green.
   
   1. What is acrylic enamel? Is that "acrylic" as opposed to oil-based? But it's not WB? Do I get this at a paint store, like Benjamin-Moore?
   2. It seems there are so many Target Coatings products - would 6000/6500 be the best choice? I think I can only get this direct - can I get it to match a specific color?
   
   
2. Can I use the Wagner until I can afford $150 for a decent HVLP gun?
3. Would the tent w/ fan work OK as a spray booth?
4. What else should I be asking?

I have read quite a lot of the postings in the last 6-12 months about spraying, Target, etc. It's often confusing. Sometimes (as in my "spray latex" posting) the answers beget more questions. THANKS

[Tony Bilello]

Ever considered pre-cat lacquer?

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=131568

[Jim Becker]

Ever considered pre-cat lacquer?

Tony, I know you like pre-cat, but it's really not a safe choice to spray for most folks due to it's nature.

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Doug the EM6000/EM6500 is really easy to work with. Jeff Jewitt (the author) at Homestead Finishing can tint it for you and he's a Target dealer. You can also buy direct from Target, but you'll need to find someone local to do your tinting.

[Tony Bilello]

Tony, I know you like pre-cat, but it's really not a safe choice to spray for most folks due to it's nature....

Jim, for what it's worth, the other day I sprayed 2 shelf units in a 3 car garage with my HVLP. I was curious myself as to what kind of cloud it would make.
Here is what we had. I had previously sprayed shelf units for this customer before, in my shop. He had made 2 more and no longer had a truck and didnt want to spend the extra money for me to P/U and deliver. He wanted to do it in his garage. He made each shelf unit 30" wide, 20 " deep and 9 Ft. tall. They both had about 7 permanent shelves in them. It was a tight job. It was already stained and he just wanted a lacquer finish.
The 3 car garage had 2 bay doors. One car would drive in and stop short of a wall. The adjacent bay was set up such that one car drives into the bay and this section went further back. The second car in this bay drives in and stops behind the other one. Odd arrangement but it still was a decent size garage when empty. The shelf units were on saw horses layed up on their sides, with one bay door opened .
I sprayed a vinyl sealer on the first unit. No cloud-no problem. We opened the other bay door mainly for more light. I sprayed the second unit also with the vinyl sealer. Still no problem. There was a rear door, a normal 30" wide door to the outside. We never really needed to open it so we didn't.
Now we took a 15 minute walk to kill time. We came back in and I shot the first coat of pre-cat on both 'boxes'. Still no cloud and no real signs of major spraying except for the odor. We took another 15 minute walk to kill time, came back and rolled the 'boxes' onto their other side to help equalize any areas of heavy spreay or holidays. I then sprayed the 2nd coat of pre-cat which is also the final coat. Then immediately cleaned my gun and was ready to leave.
All totalled I sprayed just under 1/2 gallon of primer and just under 1 gal of pre-cat.
Results: my cheap wallyworld wristwatch had no overspray or residue on the crystal? My cheap wallyworld eye glasses had no noticable overspray or residue on them either. There was a wind outside but not what I would call a windy day. The garage smelled from lacquer fumes but not all that much. The owner was going to leave the garage doors open all day anyway to let the fumes out. Looking back at this, I did not feel that under these conditions there was any danger of fire or explosion. That much spraying is more than the average hobbyist would do in one day.
My personal conclusion is that more people should be able to do this with a little forethought and planning and an HVLP gun. I wold never have attempted this with a conventional spray gun.
We do have the advantage of living in the south though. It was around 65*F.

[Neal Clayton]

have you considered using milk paint doug?

a) it dries fast
b) can be sprayed if you blend it up to a smooth consistency
c) quite durable, more so than any modern paint applied over a primer really, since it tends to soak into the wood like a stain, rather than build a thick surface film
d) and arguably most important for what you're after, it not only looks authentic but is authentic

since it'll soak in but leave shades of the grain peeping through, it'll look like older milk/lead paints after all is said and done.

[Phil Phelps]

Doug, the bottom line is you are limited to waterborne products if you live in a community and have no spray booth. Even then, I'll bet there are city codes to follow. People can post any experience they have but spraying flammable products in the city with out proper equipment is illegal. Every community has a fier code and insurance companies have policies and clauses to cover illegal activity. You may get away with it, but the worst case scenario is you or someone could die. Having said that, spraying waterborne products without a booth is messy. A HVLP gun reduces over-spray drastically but doesn't eliminate it.