Airless sprayers

[Roothawg]

Ok fellas, here's the deal.

I have a small job that I need to spray and one of the commercial airless sprayers is almost too big. I need a smooth finish, so rollers etc are out. I have been pondering buying one of the hand held portable types. I have always been a little leery of these. I don't want to have to thin down my paint too much.

Any experiences?

 

[Zeke]

I have a Graco 390ST and it's not too big for anything. Takes a little paint to fill up the pump, but if you use a short hose it won't be but a pint or so. They tell you 50' minimum to avoid pulsing, but I think you can cheat on that.

The hand held like a Wagner just spit the paint, AFAIC.

 

[rwhite692]

What type of paint are we talking about?

 

[JCQuick]

I've had 2 of the wagner hand held they worked ok but were very nosiey. I saw a thread on here about a wagner airless sprayer from costco model 1700 twin stroke for $299.00 thats the best $299.00 I've ever spent. I recently built a simple leen to to cover my well it took more paint by using it but i got done in a 1/4 of the time it would take using brushes and rollers

 

[Roothawg]

Sorry, latex.

 

[dadsEH]

and.... what's the paint project???

 

[ForceFed70]

I have a "wagner Paint Crew 770" and am very happy with it. I've had it for a few years now and done a few jobs with it including painting my entire 32x40x12 garage and the entire stucco exterior of my house.

I had a few hand-held units in the past and found that they were really noisey and never seemed to work right.

The only problem with the Paint Crew is that it's only practical for medium and large sized jobs. Cleanup is time consuming and tedious, and you waste about 1/2pint of paint every time you empty it.

It can really throw on the paint. It will throw the paint fast enough for all but the most experienced and skilled painter. It puts down a very even coat. And using the hose is nice for big jobs because you arn't carying a heavy handheld unit that makes the arms ache after 15 minutes.

 

[Zeke]

Sorry, latex.

Not much of that around anymore. That's rubber paint. There is some latex used in vinyl paints along with acrylic. But the old latex of the 70's was bad stuff.

So, next question: what's the gloss level?

 

[Roothawg]

Maybe "latex" is a broad term. Indoor, semi-gloss residential type paint.

The project? interior walls.
http://theadventuresofavalair.blogspot.com/

 

[Zeke]

You know, Root, if you paint quickly and thoroughly and leave the paint alone to dry, it will level out nicely. As nice as your walls are.

Here's the thing: if it's hot or breezy, the paint dries faster. Actually we're not talking drying here as much as sets up. You would add something to slow the paint down. Cold moist temps and the paint might slide off the wall before it sets up. You get the idea on the conditions. You want to be in the middle.

Now let's talk technique. If you get the paint up and spread around quickly, it will have time to level. If you brush and brush or roll and roll, you will start to see brush marks or roller texture. Keeping a "wet edge" isn't always enough.

Let's say I want to paint a slab door. First, I don't want to monkey around taping and trying to brush around a knob, so that's off. I will cut in near the hinges with my brush first then take a medium nap roller and put material on the whole door with long strokes. Almost all the time the roller will be on a short extension handle so I can roll top to bottom spreading the paint out evenly. I might have to reload the roller once.

This can't take over 30 to 45 seconds, so the door better by propped and immobile. Then I will take a wide brush of good quality and "tip" the paint off with full length strokes from the very bottom to the top. Maybe 6-7 strokes to go across the door surface. Then get away! Stop painting on that door. If you missed something and go back and try to brush out a small section, you will see that forever.

You have to paint quickly and accurately, Look at the door surface from off to the side with background light shinning on the wet paint. You will see any skips, what we painters call "holidays." If you catch these before tipping with just the tips of the brush fibers, you will have a perfect door that looks sprayed.

Works every time.

BTW, new paint will transfer any existing brush marks or runs right to the surface. Your surface has to as smooth as you want the completed job to look.

One more tip: the right amount of paint (or even slightly too much) will not run if it's spread out evenly. Runs come from too much paint over too little just below. Plain and simple.