[Ohio painter]

This old dog is trying to learn new tricks, and getting frustrated.
This summer I bought a Titan Flex Spray HVLP for a specific job. I an now painting the interior of an 1870's home and as you can imagine there are massive amounts of trim.
I decided to give a go at spraying the trim, (I have always brushed it). I am spraying on SW Proclassic gloss.

After two coats and the paint is dry but the paint isn't as smooth as I feel it should be, it looks great, but feels like 500 grit sandpaper, it just has a bit of a roughness to it.

Any thoughts as to what I am doing wrong? I have a small amount of paint coming out so it doesn't sag etc, and enough air to push the paint out. I am thinning the gallon of paint with 3 or 4 ounces of latex extender.

I think I am going back over it with the paint wet to get all the surfaces and the air may be drying it to quickly.

I will appreciate any advice from those who do this all the time and make it look easy.

 

[Leo G]

HVLP is not designed for use with latex. It is much to thick to be atomized properly. You would need a 4 stage turbine or a pressure cup/pot gun to push the thick latex through the HVLP.

If you are stuck using that gun you will need to thin it a lot more. On the order of 4-8 oz of thinner to 20 oz of paint..

Your 500 grit paint feel is because you are putting on to little paint with way to much air for atomizing. It needs to go on in a nice wet coat, so it flows after it hits the substrate.

 

[gregorywait]

i cut my latex with polycrylic and has been working for me doing kitchen cabinets and i use a large diameter spray tip

 

[Leo G]

How much are you thinning?

 

[gregorywait]

depending on the temperature 25 to 30 percent, i am spraying with a grayco 3 stage, if you are spraying with a pressure cup gun, make sure that air tube to the cup is clear, you need all the air flow you can get to the cup to push that paint up.

 

[Leo G]

That's the ratio that I usually use for latex. Otherwise it won't atomize properly.

 

[tjbnwi]

I have a Fugi Q4 with an XPc gravity gun. I just sprayed SW Super Paint unthinned through it with a 2 mm tip/needle. Used the stock cup because I only had 2 doors to shoot and wanted to see how it would spray without using the pressure pot. Worked just fine.

The Pro Classic should have worked well for you. As Leo said you were to thin on the coat(s) it could not flow out.

What size tip were you using?

Tom

 

[MTN REMODEL LLC]

i cut my latex with polycrylic and has been working for me doing kitchen cabinets and i use a large diameter spray tip

Greg..... What is polycrylic....only thing I think of is waterbase (what I call) waterbase polyurethane.??????

I only know to cut latex with flotroll.... is there a better cutter.

Thanks in advance

Best

 

[Leo G]

I use plain ole water.

 

[MTN REMODEL LLC]

I use plain ole water.

Leo.... Ya know I often do also.... and I swear that Flotrol doesn't make much/any difference..... but maybe like a dummy, I use it for more important finishes....

(Did you know that you can't buy Flotrol in Cali????)

 

[tjbnwi]

Leo.... Ya know I often do also.... and I swear that Flotrol doesn't make much/any difference..... but maybe like a dummy, I use it for more important finishes....

(Did you know that you can't buy Flotrol in Cali????)

You do know Flotrol is an extender not a thinner?

Distilled water is better than tap to use, or at least filter the tap water. I'm on a well so it makes a big difference.

If you use BM Aura paint, do not add anything but their thinner, trust me. It's chemistry is just weird.

Tom

 

[rrk]

Pro classic is very different in my opinion than Super, especially in a gloss. I used to use it on most of my wall units until recently, not sue if they changed formula, It seems much harder to get good finish even in semigloss. Too much air and it really affects the sheen. You have to lay a lot on, but not too much. Its too finicky for me.

Takes a long time to dry also, have to keep shelves apart for 4 days or they will stick together.

I use super now also, much easier for me.

 

[tjbnwi]

Pro classic is very different in my opinion than Super, especially in a gloss. I used to use it on most of my wall units until recently, not sue if they changed formula, It seems much harder to get good finish even in semigloss. Too much air and it really affects the sheen. You have to lay a lot on, but not too much. Its too finicky for me.

Takes a long time to dry also, have to keep shelves apart for 4 days or they will stick together.

I use super now also, much easier for me.

Try Cashmere.

Tom

 

[rrk]

Try Cashmere.

Tom

Will try on next unit, Pro Classic also has an annoying smell but once its dry and the correct sheen it does wear well, but getting there is a pain.

 

[Ohio painter]

Thanks for the replies and advice. From what I read the idea of too little paint being applied may be the cause.
As far as the HVLP I am using, the Titan Flex Spray is intended a wide range of products and is designed to flow latex paint, unthinned. I am thinning the Proclassic with latex extender but I am reluctant to thin too much as it can affect the sheen.

The Flexspray HVLP does not have changeable tips it simply has a selector ring that sets the tip opening, along with an air flow adjustment.

I intend to set up some practice trim pieces and practice with different settings and paints, but we all know how we intend to do such things.
Thanks again everyone.

 

[tjbnwi]

Again, extenders do not reduce the viscosity of the paint, they just slow the drying process.

You need thinners.

Never seen the gun, the tip should have been set to at least 2 mm, 2.5 would be better in most cases.

Tom

 

[Leo G]

Any soluble liquid you add to paint will reduce it's viscosity as long as it's viscosity is less than the paints original viscosity. And with the new latex paints I can't imagine they the flow enhancer would be thicker.

 

[rrk]

I was told to thin it with water and add a little floetrol to keep it from drying too quickly, I think I used a 1.8 or 2.0 tip. With that paint a 2.5 would have runs everywhere or need to move faster than I like to.

Pro Classic sheen changes drastically when thinned

Shooting pro classic in a Graco truecoat? was a disaster, did not need to be thinned but pushed way too much paint

 

[Ohio painter]

The latex extender I use is definitely a thinner, the stuff looks like weak windex. I will look up the name of it.

 

[gregorywait]

polycrylic is minwax water based poly, it mixes right into latex, i started using it instead of water a couple of years ago, i am getting a really smooth hard finish. for kitchen cabinets i topcoat with straight poly for durability, for trim i don't