Spray painting help

[Aaron Rowland]

I just got back into woodworking and made some nice popular based cabinets. I want to spray paint them like I did in the past but told you can no longer buy oil based paint that you can thin with paint thinner. I bought some oil based that said to thin with acetone. Tried it and it was a mess. Plus Acetone is super explosive and really nasty stuff. That flammability really scares me ,even out doors.

I also used to use Methylene Chloride for clean up and that stuff is gone too. So how to you clean up a bit of dried paint in a spray gun?

Any help really appreciated .

[Dave Gaul]

Welcome back to Ww'ing Aaron!

I'm guessing mineral spirits?

[Gary Redden]

I would try Acetone but if that did not work then Xylene. Outside of that I would use MEK but that can be very hard to find.

Gary

[Mike Vermeil]

Move to a state that understands responsible use of oil based products by hobbyists does no harm to the environment whatsoever.

sorry.

[Travis Porter]

Lacquer thinner?

[Aaron Rowland]

Hmmm, nobody spray paints any more or am I in the wrong forum? It's a EPA fed thing so moving won't help unless its out of the country?

[Peter Quinn]

Have you tried thinning with paint thinner or mineral spirits anyway? They (the EPA) "allow" the use of acetone, even though it is among the nastiest stuff I can think of, because it is not a VOC as defined by the EPA! Yup, it doesn't break down into hydro carbons when it is evaporated, and no carbon, no problem. ARE THEY COMPLETELY DAFT AT THE EPA? It may blow up, it may kill your brain, it may be a carcinogen, it may kill local plants, but it will not break down into carbon, so its OK? Try the paint thinner on a test piece, the label can't advise you to do that, and neither can I, but we can both wink and nod a lot in silence while I look the other way and you pull the spray trigger. Just don't tell anyone you are doing it.

Oh, if you want to joint the twenty first century, Target coatings makes a great water based tintable spray lacquer that is quite durable, easy to apply, will not explode, and is very easy to clean up. Comes in white or can be tinted to almost any color and is available in several from Homestead finishes. WB coatings do have some finicky temperature application range requirements, like above 70 degrees and not stank humid, but oil based paints aren't that much different in that regard. Its just that WB is a little less forgiving. I use a special stainless HVLP conversion gun taylored for water based to spay it, but as long as you put it to bed dry or blast it with some alcohol any gun should do it.

[Tony Bilello]

What oil base paint did you buy that says to thin with acetone?
I have a new 55 gal drum of Methylene Chloride in my shop. It's pretty concentrated. I was not aware that it is hard to get.
How long has the paint been dried in your gun and what kind of paint is it?

[Scott Holmes]

Methylene Chloride is in most of the real paint and varnish strippers. Not the "green ones" of course, that's probably why they don't work as well...

I too was wondering about the paint with acetone as a thinner...

As far as the EPA... get rid of the EPA and the US economy would skyrocket!

I bet if you got rid of all the oil based finishes in the USA; no one would be able to measure the difference. The needle would not move!

[Howard Acheson]

While in the US the base VOC regulations are set by the EPA, the primary regulations that are causing problems are being set by the states and locales within the states. Sections of Calfornia have differing VOC parameters as do a number of other states.

[Howard Acheson]

>>>> "allow" the use of acetone, even though it is among the nastiest stuff I can think of,

Actually, if you do a little reseach you will find that acetone has little toxicity to humans. It's used in a lot a process just for that reason. For example, it's the component in most nail polish removers. It's fumes are not particularly unhealthy but are more of an irritant.

Probably its biggest danger is its explosiveness. But even here, it's not any worse that some other common chemicals.

[Steven Hsieh]

I bet if you got rid of all the oil based finishes in the USA; no one would be able to measure the difference. The needle would not move!

Get rid of cars and ride horses, problem solved.

[Steven Hsieh]

With EPA and AQMD getting strictly with VOC , they are replacing the oil base products solvent's with Acetone Solvent.

[Jim Neeley]

Hmmm, nobody spray paints any more or am I in the wrong forum? It's a EPA fed thing so moving won't help unless its out of the country?

Not true, Aaron... As a hobby user I'm able to buy MEK, Lacquer thinner, acetone, naptha and other products (albeit in pint cans) in my local big box store (HD/Lowes).

[Joe Chritz]

This won't help with your oil base paint problem but the alklyd pro-classic from Sherwin Williams is about all I use for furniture grade paint unless I use a pigmented waterbase finish like EM6000. The pro-classic thins with water, can spray from a gravity feed HVLP (although slowly) and is a top quality finish. I put it over a primer of BIN.

If the paint is cured in the gun you may have to use a commercial paint stripper to get it out.

Joe