Gearing up to Spray

[Steven Wilson]

Well, I've procrastinated for enough years and have finally decided to try my hand at spraying. I often work on smaller objects and my space (garage) can support spraying smaller items so I figure I might as well invest in some gear and gain some experience. The two projects on my plate now are to finish some fishing nets and to spray silverplate with lacquer for display purposes.

The finishes I plan on using are;

1) For the nets - General Finishes Exterior 450 as recommended by Jeff Jewitt
2) Silver Plate - Agateen No. 27 (cellulose nitrate solvent based lacquer) as recommended on a conservator forum, unless I get some better ideas from Jeff Weiss of Target coatings on an acceptable waternborn coating.

For a gun setup I'm thinking of the QS-08 touch up gun and the QS-125WB from Homestead Finishing. Besides that, what other stuff do I need to get? I'm thinking the stand, cleaning kit, General Finishes gun cleaner, not sure what else. Also, have any of you used the 3M PPS Sytem?

I'm also wondering if you can leave finish in the gun between coats (say every 1/2 hour)? Also, have any of you tried Oxford UltraSeal-WB™ Water-Based Shellac Sealer before shooting OXFORD ULTIMA SPRAY LACQUER?

[Matt Meiser]

My experience has been that finish can be left in the gun for pretty long periods. Sometimes I remove the air cap and toss it in a jar of appropriate solvent to soak and wipe the tip clean. I've only worked with non-catalyzed finishes though. I would expect a catalyzed finish would behave differently.

[Jim Becker]

Also, have any of you tried Oxford UltraSeal-WB™ Water-Based Shellac Sealer before shooting OXFORD ULTIMA SPRAY LACQUER?

Yes, and while it's probably a well made product, I didn't like it. It's the only Target product I haven't liked. I stick with Zinsser SealCoat at this point and I get consistently good results. The other thing is that I sometimes use water soluble dyes and the "real" shellac is the right product to seal the dye...a water borne product risks running and or transference.

I keep the finish in the gun through a whole spraying operation and only clean it when I'm done for the day or switching finishes. When the trigger isn't pulled, the gun is sealed nearly as good as the finish container...more or less. So I spray a coat...go do something else...spray another coat...go do something else, etc...

[Chris Padilla]

I, too, have had good luck simply leaving a finish in the gun for the day. I did it once overnight (tired and I forgot) and instantly remembered when I woke up the next morning and ran to the garage praying everything was okay: it was.

I have an Apollo 1000 for my HVLP set-up. It is a 4-stage turbine, loud as the space shuttle, but shoots everything I've put in it very nicely including latex.

I suggest you get at least two different cups sizes. It probably comes with one largish one but if a smaller one say 1/2 - 1/4 the size is available, you will find it handy and lighter possibly. It may also fit in tighter spots.

A cleaning kit of various sized brushes is must. Get yourself a small tub, too, like ones sometimes used in the sink for washing dishes. I also got a gun kit with 5 different tips/needles to handle the various finishes and their viscosities. The kit also included several o-rings/seals and springs and what-not to replace things as they wear out or if you lose them.