first time using a spray gun, hf gun, best gun they offer

allen levine

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new york city burbs
I purchased it about a year ago, when they had a big sale on it.

It took me a while today until I figured out why I was not getting any spray, but once I got it, I sprayed every piece of outdoor furniture(with water) I own, painted my blacktop about 60 feet worth, painted the side of my garage, and when my wife came outside to order me around, I gave her a little shot of it, told her its paint remover and she flipped out.

I had to tell her it was only water because I want dinner later.
 
I had a very pretty (cupie doll) 5 year old, platinum blonde and very nearsighted (nearsighted has nothing to do with this except she was wearing glasses) patient. I straightened her really crossed eye (also has nothing to do with the story). She got a hold of dad's red enamel spray can paint. You can guess the rest---Yep, right in the face from a very few inches. She did a total job on her beautiful hair. The glasses saved her eyes---they were painted solid red. The parents and child had real fun with the paint in one ear.

Allen, I thought that would give you a good true story to tell your wife.

Enjoy,

JimB
 
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my sophisticated spray booth and aparatus, a 2x8 screwed into an old stool with some pieces bradded to the back of the shelves to hold them upright so I can spray them.
humidity is still over 85% here, so Im holding off spraying them until tomorrow.
 

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allen. spray tip... always try to spray things so that you have a horizontal surface rather than vertical one and when you can have it horizontal put the most seen sides horizontal..especially starting out.. runs happen on the vertical walls easier then the horizontal ones..
 
ok, a few pieces screwed into the board, just slight adjustments, and Ill lay the cab on its back.

Its a challenge for me to be able to move on with finishing these things.
I dont have any room to move around, and my finish room is tiny, so I can only work on a few things at once.
the side panel for this cabinet takes up my entire work table in the finish room, so I cant work on any doors, I have saw horses holding a few frames and some panels to laminate on the old cabs.

wish I had a 1400 sq foot shop.

and theres nothing like that baked on look that I find on commercial cabs, the finish is always pretty perfect.
I will not achieve that. Ill get it smooth, but wont get that baked/totally consistant finish look.
It is what it is.
 

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lookun good allen,, now to make things easier to make more room or save time,, if you could move the pieces to another spot to final dry you could use a pin board to be able to spray both sides of the part. spray bad side first then do the final spray on the good side..they are just scrap with a brads shot threw and you place your parts one them like a nail bed.. the little prick points will not be seen just dont drag thema cross the nail bed allen up and down not across.. works great for alot of smaller parts that can be stacked
 
Allen you van spray in the humidity but you will need to add 10% of lacquer reducer mybe 15% just need to test it. Spray light piss coats 2-3, then 2 nice coats. To get that backed on look. Buy a pack of Liberon 0000 steel wool and a tin of their wax, some wax come tinted but the have natural also, use the wax with the steel wool buffing the pieces out. Give a deep rich hand finish job look.
 
Allen looking real good. Take Larrys advice and punch a bunch of brads through a board. Ya dont have to go overboard like i did and make it something the Raj of Indian could sleep on. :) but it works well. I put a large square of mdf punch through from the one side on top of a large lazy susan mounted on a base of decent proportions. Now you can rotate an item when it on it. Kinda like having it mounted on the plastic pyramids but with them being able to rotate.



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well., the spraying didnt go well in the middle, seems Im not adjusting the regulator knob correctly or my compressor seems to make me adjust the knob in the middle.

I listened carefully to charlie, making sure I kept the spray a tight circle, not to hit the corners for buildup, and the first coat I sprayed so light, I missed some spots, but I wasnt concerned.
I had nothing but headaches the second coat, the gun clogged, it spit, it put droplets on the unit, so I cleaned the head? out, but the gun still didnt seem to want to cooperate.
I wasnt sure on the right side wall, seems the light in that area was poor, I didnt notice what a nice even finish I had , so I oversprayed, and sure enough, I got dripping.
, I had little left, as I only purchased a qt, and spilled a bit in the beginning.
I practiced on the sides of the unit that will be covered by a panel, not pretty, until I got the hang of it.
I sprayed the back once I I got it,I only had a few drops left in the gun and it came out perfect, finally figured out the texture of the spray/mist I needed.
I guess Ill sand down the bad part of that side wall lightly, and get some more em6000 and give another coat or two.
the shelves came out ok.
(larry-I put the first coat on the cab on its back, but moving that monster was too much, shoulda listened to ya, thats when I got the drip)

Im glad I used the inside of cabs to experiment, now that I see what I need to be shooting out of the gun, Ill be more confident when I spray a finished piece of furniture.

my mess up was that I wasnt using enough pressure out of the gun, the mist wasnt fine enough.

on the positive side, I didnt have any visits from the NN or the village. the smell is minimum, so I think I can use this product in the future.
 

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first lesson you learned.. try to shoot at something first that doesnt matter i use cardboard box tops.. to get my pattern right, the amount of thinner in a product affects the pattern to, also the air pressure knob is one of three knobs you have to have right, but if you leave it at max and dont touch it, now your down to only two to adjust to get things right.. i know charlie has sprayed alot and is a good teacher. but i have sprayed a fair amount and i still use the cardboard, the second thing is never short change yourself on materiel..you dont want to get in the middle of a project and run out huh... that run you show is not a biggie, light sanding and shoot it again.. once you get threw this project you will like spraying allen.. it does make for a faster and better job on most things.
 
...I had nothing but headaches the second coat, the gun clogged, it spit, it put droplets on the unit, so I cleaned the head? out, but the gun still didnt seem to want to cooperate...

Allen,
Did you filter your finish before you put it in the gun? Even well stirred and mixed finish can have solids (lumps) in it that will play havoc with your gun. I use a 120 mesh filter cone EVERY TIME I put finish in the gun. I have a filter holder and home made 'gun stand' (gravity feed guns) so that I can filter directly into the gun. Using that, I hardly ever have a clog. BTW, Harbor freight now sells a combo gun/filter holder for the gravity feed guns. They also sell the filters, but I get mine at the paint store.

Another source of clogging is insufficient thinning of the finish. A viscosity cup is your friend there. Getting the viscosity right makes a big difference. BTW, with a 1.2~1.5 mm tip on the gun, most WB finishes (like Target EM6000, etc.) will work well without thinning. Filtering is still needed, though.
 
larry, I sprayed cardboard first, and then I used the side of the cabinet since it now has a panel attached over it.
It seemed halfway through either the head clogged, but I had to open the pressure up a little more. maybe when I layed the gun on my chair, it turned the knob, I dont know.
The drip dried and is not visible at all. I think 3 coats did it. I will 400 grit as per instructions on the can, sand lightly to knock the little dust nubs off.
Overall, I think the inside came out ok, better than I expected. It looks even. I didnt realize when it dries it looks that much different. Coats blended in well.

Jim, target recommends filtering through a medium paint filter. So I went to the large paint chain yesterday, the guy didnt understand medium, but had a mesh filter for paint cans. I ran it through right into the gun cup.
I believe all my errors were with the pressure, now I think I got it down pat.
I ran some warm soapy water through the gun, then some clean fresh water, and dried it off.

I need to pick up a stand for it, and Im going to purchase a gallon of the em6000. Jim, I didnt cut it, the site said not necessary, and I dont think I needed to.

Im attaching the last panel, Ill take a picture of this cabinet.

not sure why the upper panel looks like it has a drip, I looked at it again, looks fine. strange.
the right side I only needed to laminate halfway down, since the lower cabs come out 24 inches and will cover the bottom.
upper cabs will cover only 12 inches so I just laminated the entire upper side.
the toe kick is 4 inchs, but he laid laminate flooring, so for this cabinet, I used plywood and made a 3 and 7/8 height.
Eventually Ill attach it to the base, and toekicks will have 1/4 inch cherry ply laminted to the fronts.
 

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...Jim, target recommends filtering through a medium paint filter. So I went to the large paint chain yesterday, the guy didnt understand medium, but had a mesh filter for paint cans. I ran it through right into the gun cup...


Allen, These filters are similar to the ones I use.


...I ran some warm soapy water through the gun, then some clean fresh water, and dried it off...

After cleaning with the soap & water, and rinsing with water, I run a bit of denatured alcohol through the gun to help dry things out.
 
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