Replies

1. 
   brisketbean | Aug 24, 2002 05:37am | #1

   I use an Acuspray unit, cost about 900.00 ten years  or so ago. it is great with stain, laquer and polyurethane, no need to thin the stain, but the laquer or poly needs to be thinned maybey 30% or so. It is no good for paints other than oil based, and I use it more for detail work than large jobs. I use a 795 graco for large jobs but use the hvlp for catch up painting and jobs that aren't big enough to make cleaning the airless worth while. The hvlp is nice to finish the interior of the cabinets with because you don't get as much blow back as you do with an airless.  The hvlp is more forgiving for beginners because of the material delivery rate, but is quite a bit slower than an airless.  Finish all of the wood first, then mask off leaving about 1/32 of an inch of the wood exposed on the wall side of the trim, then caulk over the exposed part of the wood and the crack to the wall, wipe the caulk real tight to the wall and the wood, let caulk dry, then paint walls and remove tape for a straight pretty line. Remember to wipe caulking tight so tape removal dosent take portions of caulk with it and ruin line.

2. 
   jimblodgett | Aug 24, 2002 04:26pm | #2

   I stain and fininsh trim before installing it, then fill holes.  Saves a lot of tedious masking and brush work.  Spray and back roll all the walls and ceilings before installing trim, too. 

   I bought a Campbell Hausfield airless at Home Depot about 6 or 7 years ago when my Wagner finally gave up the ghost and I've been plenty happy with it.  They have different needle rods for spraying different materials.  They have a viscosity meter you can use to figure out which needle is best for whatever material you are spraying. 

   If you aren't an experienced sprayer, you might want to practice before taking on trim for your house.  Painting is like most professions, there's more than meets the eye to doing a good job.

   You might check over at "Knots" the Fine Woodworking board. They have an entire folder on finishing wood that you might find helpful.  Lots of good advice to be had.  I think Jeff Jewitt, who writes for them about finishing, has his own site now too - but I've never been there.

   Brinkmann for president in '04
1. 
   Sancho | Aug 24, 2002 07:35pm | #3

   I use a accuspray, just got it its great also jeff jewitt has a site at www. homesteadfinishing.com  for the accuspray www. compliantspraysystems.com Darkworksite4: When the job is to small for everyone else, Its just about right for me"

3. 
   goldhiller | Aug 25, 2002 05:25am | #4

   BROZYZY,

   I would have to agree that in the vast majority of cases, coloring and finishing prior to installing is the way to go. Besides the time saved by pre-finishing in the shop setting, consider that since all the pieces will not likely accept the coloring to the exact same degree, pre-finishing will allow you to group those pieces that match the best both for color and graining. You'll end up with a more professional look in a much shorter amount of time/fewer hours of labor. And you can leave all that masking tape on the shelf. Those little colored wax crayons work very well for filling your nail holes. Just rub the crayon over the holes until full and remove the excess from the surface with a paper towel. Bring the can of stain with you when you install and touch up any little slivers of exposed fresh wood.

1. 
   oldpro007 | Aug 26, 2002 02:45am | #5

   Bro; I looked into the grayco hvlp on a cart ("proCart"?) about twelve hundred fifty. And I have decided to buy a HVLP, but want to look at other company's models. This one has a 2.5 gallon "pot", self contained air source and can spray most anything.

   Oil based paints can be thinned with penetrol and latex with flowtrol. You will never need to thin stains i would think. They are great for finishing cabinets using laquers.

   California is soon to be requiring the hvlp, over airless, if rumours are true. There is very little overspray and you can fine tune it to write your name.  Do a google search for hvlp and you will see much. Good luck

   Old airless Pro

   Edited 8/25/2002 7:48:52 PM ET by dad