Paint gun selection for enamel paint...

[chriswalkoe]

I just built storm windows for my house and they need to be painted. Because I have a brand new 60 gallon air compressor sitting in my garage just waiting to be used I figured I would increase the quality of my paint job by using a spray attachment.

Because the surface that needs to be painted on the storms are narrow my initial thought was to buy a small size hplv gravity feed gun from one of the chain stores. Just wondering if this is a good way to go and if so, can I use exterior enamal paint that commonly would be put on with a brush or roller? If not what would be a good paint to use for wood?

I have never painted before with a compressor/gun and thought this would be a good starter project. Thanks for any advice you can give me. Love the site!

 

[rwhite692]

The harbor freight guns are fine for a project like this. No problem to spray thinned enamels.

They are low cost and perform well, and they are so cheap that they are practically disposable after they have served you well on a few demanding jobs. They also sell a kit with two full-size guns and a small "jamb" gun, for like $99 or so.

Recommend that you get one and experiment first by spraying some old doors, or something like that first, to get your thinned paint viscosity correct and to practice your technique.

As to paints, you might consider going to a Marine supply store, marine enamels (ie, Valspar, etc) are typically much better than general-purpose household enamels in terms of environmental longevity.

Rob

 

[chriswalkoe]

Thanks Rob for the advice! Are there certain tips I should use for detail work like this (trim etc.)?

 

[e-tek]

I'm with Rob totally - sounds like he's done this. Thinning the paint is critical, then spraying without it running - kinda like a car...but thinned house paint runs off easier. As for tip size, I'll be interested to see Robs advise, as I tried a 1.0 and it wasn't that good.

 

[pcmeiners]

If you ever use regular oil base paint, thin it with auto enamel reducer, not paint thinner, gives a faster dry/much harder finish. Personally I would go with auto lacquer for most metal finishes, dries quick /hard, and you don't have to deal with the adhesion of the over-spray on everything in the vicinity, including yourself. Good mask is important, unless you have plenty of time to come down from a high. Tyvek overalls would be good if you shoot a descent amount of enamel... last time I spayed an old coke machine (corvette red), enamel/ urethane hardener, I had red eyelashes for a while... other guys started to wonder. Still working with a Bink # 7 (...knock offs are cheap, the last one I tried was an exact copy of a # 7), but soon will try out a hvlp.

 

[rwhite692]

The guns I am referring to are the harbor freight HVLP guns.

I would use the 1.4 tip if using the big gun or the 1.2 if using the mini (Jamb) gun. If the window frames you are painting are around 3" wide or less, I'd try using the jamb gun, only downside will be that if the cup is small, so you will be re-filling often.

as to thinning, be sure to read the manufacturers spec sheet on whatever paint you decide to go with and use their recommended thinner. Pcmeiners is correct about being able to use an automotive reducer successfully with most garden-variety enamels; however, since you are a first-timer I recommend that you simply stay with what the paint manufacturer recommends. Take your time and just do one window frame at a time.

If these storm window frames are new/bare wood (it sounds like they are) then you will need to spray a primer coat first. If you decide to use a high quality enamel such as Valspar (marine) paint then I would recommend using their primer as well, let that dry, lightly sand it with 220 and then do your color coat.

 

[tcianci]

You may also want to look into an airless sprayer, you can spray the paint you're talking about without thinning.