Is spray finishing worth the effort and set up cost?

[dicktimber]

For over 12 months I have been contemplating going down the spray finishing route. Having moved home, then taken another year to get the garden and then workshop finished, I am back again looking at the pros of spray finishing with HVLP.
I have read, two finishing books, and taken in the deals for the Apollo spray master and fuji hvlp systems at Axminster.
I have looked at the video where the guy does a trial with the Earlex, changing needles etc, and have asked for technical info from a couple of suppliers.
I find that the apollo spray master has a 1.8 needle which I am informed is too large for spraying water borne varnishes etc, but it can't be changed, and the more expensive Pro spray 1500-3 will have to be purchased with a couple of needles, to ensure fine enough atomization. Even the the viscosity will need to be amended with thinning of the varnish.
Then there is a price issue, and although the fuji which has the 3 stage turbine, like the apollo 1500, will do the job, should I splash out £ 300 arrd, plus additional needles, to have to thin down, clean pots, strip the gun down, change needles.........
It all seems like , A Bridge too far'.....
But then I think, will it be worth it?
Take away that I am not doing production stuff, and the cost to set up, plus the minimum quantities of non water based varnishes, and cleaning fluids, and where to dispose of old fluid used for cleaning the gun, plus safe storage areas and spray booth.....should I decide to spray these types of finishes, will pose another set of problems....................

Anyone else been through this dilemma?
If I go ahead, will I say,'Should have done this years ago!'
Mike

 

[Argee]

Anyone else been through this dilemma?
If I go ahead, will I say,'Should have done this years ago!'

I went through the same agonising process before I kitted up to spray, although not quite such a lavish-sounding setup as you're contemplating. I got myself a DeVilbiss good-quality gravity-fed gun to use, via filters, with my Italian 142psi 90 litre compressor, with the intent of spraying varnish.

What I thought I'd be able to cope with easily, but became a nightmare for me, was the airborne overspray, which gets EVERYWHERE! OK, very good extraction will probably overcome that, but THAT was a bridge too far, given the setting-up considerations, practice pieces, smell, etc.

Ray.

 

[Oryxdesign]

I've had a different experience to Ray. I bought a Fuji Q4 and a small extractor, I found I could get good results almost immediately, I get hardly any overspray and infact I recon I could spray small items under the cooker hood. I am now going to build a purpose booth.

 

[neilc]

When I done my kitchen around 18 months ago, the guy I usually got when I needed something sprayed let me down, so I bit the bullet and got the Apollo 700 from Axminster. I have to admit it took me a little while to get used to it but once I did it became a really simple and quick process. There's very little overspray with the HVLP systems. For me it was money very well spent, highly recommend it.
Neil

 

[dicktimber]

Ray
Do you just hand finish. now?
Mike

 

[joiner_sim]

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26388&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

That page on the forum covers spraying and the problems, solutions and results!

 

[RobertMP]

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26388&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

That page on the forum covers spraying and the problems, solutions and results!

Thanks for the plug for my thread

I finished the kitchen yesterday so I'll get some pictures done and update the thread later.

looking back on my HVLP adventure I'd say most of my problems came from buying 2nd hand kit. The actual spraying process was something I'm quite familiar with but it took me some time to work out that the equipment was at fault and not me misunderstanding how HVLP should work (as opposed to conventional spray that I already knew).

There is still overspray with HVLP but if you control the air throughput to the gun and the spray pattern to a narrow fan (or no fan) the overspray is minimal and does not float in the air like conventional spray.

There is still the odd imperfection in the panels I have sprayed but you would have to look hard to find them. Those well skilled with roller and brush might be able to get something near the quality I achieved but there is no way other than spraying that I could have done it.

Spraying takes some learning but the results are worth the effort.

 

[RobertMP]

Reading the OP again cleaning seems a concern so I'll take some pictures of cleaning the gun too as I've not cleaned up yet after spraying the plinth black yesterday. I'll add them to the kitchen thread.

 

[wizer]

I had a go with the B&Q gun a few years ago. I liked it but found the whole process very messy. If I was doing it again I'd want a dedicated area for it with proper filtered extraction. Which basically ain't going to happen.

 

[John. B]

I must admit, it does give a good finish but to make it worthwhile you need to be spraying furniture or something large.
As I mainly turn just the bother of all the cleaning you have to do puts me off spraying.
I still have a couple of spray guns and a compressor but I haven't dug them out for years.

John. B