What Paint Do You Use?

[Ken Krawford]

I'm finding that nearly all the projects I'm building lately end up painted. These can be bookshelves, end tables, beds, etc. I'm a huge fan of spraying and have a turbine drive HVLP system and recently acquired a Graco airless sprayer.
I've used Sherwin Williams Pro Classic but is a bit pricey @ $65/gallon last time I checked.

What's your favorite paint for applications like these?

[Jim Becker]

ProClassic is an excellent, readily available 100% acrylic paint, and honestly, the $65 isn't expensive compared to many products. (Be sure you're on the SW "list" so you regularly get the extra discount offers) The issue with ProClassic is that it's a bit harder to spray due viscosity, so it's good you have the airless. It also cannot be tinted to darker colors, according to my local SW folks. Benjamin Moore Advance is a readily available alternative. It's a water borne emulsified alkyd finish that cures pretty hard. It's also harder to spray with HPLV, but again, you have the airless available. Similar cost to the ProClassic and it can be tinted dark...including black. On the "made to spray" side, Target Coatings EM6500 is a tintable water borne acrylic that's a pleasure to use. Enduro has some products, too. But the cost is higher than the SW and BM products I already mentioned.

Good finishing products do cost money and the end result is what needs to count if at all possible. The finishes I mentioned look good when properly applied and in general, do not exhibit the "blocking" problem that less expensive "latex paints" have. (when things tend to stick to them on shelving, etc.)

[John TenEyck]

I've used ProClassic and Advance, too. Both are excellent products and both spray best with an air assisted HVLP gun or airless unit. I've also used GF's Enduro White Poly; another great product but even more expensive. A lower priced product is ML Campbell's Agualente Plus at about $50/gallon. It also has a much lower viscosity (35 - 45 sec, #4 Ford cup) so it can be sprayed through a gravity feed HVLP gun. However, unless you are a commercial shop you may have trouble buying it.

John

[Ken Krawford]

Jim & John, thanks for the feedback. I just noticed SW is offering 40% off paint until the end of year. That will help. The Campbell product sounds interesting too. I'm still learning to use my airless so this might be better suited to my HVLP that I've been using for years. I noticed that Campbells has their only Georgia distributor a couple of miles from my house. I volunteer with Habitat so maybe I could use that connection to get an account.
Thanks again for the help.

[Mike Monroe]

I've used the SW ProClassic Acrylic water based paint through a Graco airless with very very good, near excellent results. Their water based Wall & Wood primer is an excellent product too. And I also wait for SW's coupons to come out, 40% off really helps.

[Ken Krawford]

Mike, what tip do you use in your gun? I used the 515 that came with the unit and slurped up a gallon of paint before I knew it. I just picked up a 211 for my next project.

[Mike Monroe]

Here's the unit I bought: http://www.graco.com/us/en/products/...c-sprayer.html

I also purchased a 10 pack of cup liners and the Narrow 311 tip in the same order from Rockler. I used the 515 tip on my inaugural flight; I painted an old Adirondack chair with a inexpensive BORG primer and paint. For the headboard I used the Narrow 311 tip and that worked much better. I still had to keep the sprayer moving, but the amount of paint put out was less than the Wide 515 tip and thus more controllable. I had a couple of minor drips/runs on the headboard, but nothing anyone would notice unless they looked real hard. One other thing, the sprayer will occasionally spit a tiny glob of paint when you hit the trigger after spraying for a while. I think what happens is paint accumulates on the tip as your spraying, i.e. pulling the trigger, letting off the trigger, pulling the trigger, etc... at some point the accumulated paint shoots out when you pull the trigger. With the SW paint the tiny glob would eventually flow out, but I did notice it during painting. I took to wiping the tip every couple of minutes if it looked like paint was accumulating.

I really recommend the SW Wall & Wood primer, that stuff lays down very nice and sands great. I'd say the quality of my top coat was greatly impacted by the quality of the primer (I need to get another quart or two with the %40 off coupon).

[Adam Herman]

your SW store is lying to you. I used proclassic deep base for my kitchen. There were only a few gallons in the area, but they do make it.

[Jim Becker]

your SW store is lying to you. I used proclassic deep base for my kitchen. There were only a few gallons in the area, but they do make it.

Deep Base for ProClassic is hard to come buy and many SW workers really didn't know it now exists until recently. That was the case at my local SW store and they were truly shocked when they learned about it. Some were a bit miffed because they could have sold a lot of it.

[julian abram]

I use SW Pro Classic some on projects, just finished a shelving unit with it last week. But I prefer SW All Enamel oil base most of the time, especially on projects with a horizontal surface that is subject to wear. Sees like everyone tells me that the Latex products are as good as oil based but my experience the oil based paints dry to a harder more scuff resistant finish. Also oil base products do not have that sticky, tacky feel for days after application.

[Jim Becker]

Julian, I tend to separate typical "latex" paints from 100% acrylics such as SW ProClassic or the water borne products from Target Coatings, General Finishes, etc. The latter is much more durable and is non-blocking. Oil based products may have slightly better durability once they fully cure, but that's likely incremental. Bennie Moore Advance is an interesting "in-between" solution. It's an emulsified alkyd paint with a water carrier. Once the water evaporates, the alkyd finish cures like oil based...which it essentially is. It's higher VOC than something like ProClassic Acrylic, but serves well when durability is needed. The local BM store specifically recommends it for cabinetry for that reason.

[julian abram]

Jim, thanks for the good info, I'll have to check out the Ben Moore product you mentioned. I've been stuck on SW products for many years during house construction and have tried to stay with them in this latter years on cabinets, shelving & some furniture projects. The Ben Moore product sounds interesting. Thanks-

[Justin Ludwig]

BM ADVANCE through an airless with a 210 or 310 tip. Very durable and makes an excellent finish. I've shot a bit of ProClassic too, also a great paint but I don't have a SW dealer near me.