Spray finish questiom

[sailor55330]

My kitchen cabinets are in rough shape after 8 years. Seems the original builder thinned the poly to make it stretch and it is literally flaking off all door and drawer surfaces. The faceframes are fine. I've been thinking about trying to refinish the doors which are just a clear poky over oak. Given the number of doors, I was thinking of trying to spray but I've never done it, I don't have a spray gun, and not sure my compressor would handle it. I have a 2hp 20gallon compressor that will do 8.8cfm @ 40psi, 7.4cfm@90 and 6.6cfm@125psi. The compressor is ancient so I take those claims with a grain of salt. I have an u finished basement that I could set up a vented booth in fairly easy so not to worried there

So my questions are do you think this compressor would handle it and am I crazy for thinking it. I have only sprayed latex paint through an airless sprayer

Thanks

[capncarl]

I've got a LVLP gun that I use with latex. Results are really pretty good. As with all painting the finish is with the prep work. My gun is a $69 unit that I picked up at a car swap meet to replace the $19 gun I bought at HF that was pure crap. They look just alike but the results are totally different. I always recommend thinning with Flowtrol, not water. Even if it doesn't need thinning I still add Flowtrol because it smoothes the paint out and adds to the open time. Don't start out on the cabinets or doors, start on an old chest or something to get the hang of it first. Be warned that because it's name is a Low volume low pressure gun that it doesn't use much air because it will work your compressor to death. It uses less air than a conventional sprayer but not much! I spray for a few minutes and let the compressor catch up. I've learned that Kitchen cabinets that should take 15 minutes take me 1 hour because I have blown up my compressor 3 times hurrying the job!
If you want to spend a little money on tools for the job consider the Graco TrueCoat Plus II electric airless sprayer. It does a professional job and can be used for most of our spraying needs. I watched the factory rep demonstrate it at the last Pro day at our local paint store. Gotta have one. It's 10x better that the other hand held electric airless guns I've tried. It paints as well as my big airless sprayer.
capncarl

[twistsol]

I've sprayed lacquer and poly with a cheap gun ($29 Coleman from Menards) and a compressor with less than half the specs you mentioned and a 5 gallon tank. The trick is to stop spraying once the compressor kicks on until its cycle is finished. Then continue. It took a bit of practice on scrap to get it right but I was able to spray MinWax water based poly without thinning it.

[sailor55330]

Thanks for the advice. It sounds like the compressor might do it if I'm conservative. Believe it or not, it's a craftsman 220v from 1978. The interesting pArt on the compressor is that Craftsman must have contracted to others to have things built back then. I've found the name Devilbis (sp?) on several parts so it mY have a decent pedigree to it

No doubt some practice would be in order. I know the original finish used and can get it. Would I be ok just roughing up the surface or do I need to strip first? Thanks again

[twistsol]

Unfortunately, if the original finish is flaking off, you are going to need to strip it. Otherwise, whatever finish you apply will be adhered to the next bit of original finish that is about to flake off. Finishing is easy, prepping to finish is a PITA.

[cwsmith]

I've done a fair amount of finish spraying as a hobby and homeowner, and in my experience you don't have enough to tackle the job with any efficiency. While I've refinished a couple of pieces of furniture with no more than a twin-tank portable (wheel-barrel-type) and a 'spotting' gun.... the surfaces were comparatively small compared to cabinet doors. My current compressor is a 33-gal, 150 Psi, 7 HP oil-free puts out 8.6 scfm @ 40 psi... and such a task could be handled, but the compressor would be cycling quite a bit. (the HVLP gun that I have requires 9 cfm @ 30 psi; the siphon feed gun, 7 cfm @ 40 psi and the little spotting gun 5-6 cfm @ 45 psi). Primarily, it's the tank reserve that saves the day as the compressor cfm output tries to keep up as you drain the tank.

A few years ago I completely refinished the oak wainscot in the kitchen of the old home that we bought at the time. A lot more surface than the typical kitchen cabinets. I pulled it all off the walls to strip and then sand all the old finish and accumulated dirt, taking it down to the bare wood. I then applied a coat of thinned poly (about 1/3 poly to 2/3 thinner for the first coat). Then a second, and third coat at about half-thinned. I brushed it on with natural fiber brush out in the driveway where I could better see it flow. Challenge with brushing is to not repeat stoke it, adding bubbles, etc. With un-thinned poly you have to be careful because bubble may form and not be able to escape before the poly starts to dry.

After we re-installed the wainscot (complete remodel and new cabinets in a different arrangement), I went back over it with a fourth and final thinned coat and after a couple of weeks, I waxed it all.

Much more work than spraying, I'm sure; but the results were better I think and they've required nothing since. As others have mentioned, I think getting that previous finish coat stripped is important.

While spray finishing it great and certainly less time-consuming, you have to have fairly decent equipment... compressor, gun, and area. You also need to concern yourself with a drift of the spray onto other things.... like your neighbors, if you do it outside. AND, you need a good mask to save your lungs.

I hope this helps,

CWS

[woodturner]

So my questions are do you think this compressor would handle it and am I crazy for thinking it.

HF has a low air volume HVLP sprayer that works pretty well. IIRC the requirement is 4 cfm @ 90 psi.

You can do it with your compressor, but you may have to stop periodically to let the tank recharge. Adding a lot of air hose will help, it adds a bit more air storage and buffers the air.

[JimD]

You should start with what finish to apply. If you want clear, white or black I would use Resisthane. It is a water based finish with characteristics something like a pre-cat lacquer. It can be applied over other finishes that are in good shape. I've sprayed it with my small compressor using a Wagner HVLP conversion gun but it was a struggle. You can also brush it but you have to be careful because it dries so quickly. I now use a Fuji mini-mite 3. World of difference. Much easier to get good results. There are other turbine based systems that are less expensive. I'm sure they don't work quite as well but probably as well or better than my Wagner on a little compressor.

[corndog]

Hello sailor, I had an occasion several years ago to use an air compressor the same as you describe to do some painting but I had to play "catch up" with the stupid little thing, so No, especially since you've never even sprayed before and don't even have a spray gun, you're going to have a mess on your hands! I would suggest getting ALL your cabinets prepped and ready for painting at one time and contact a local paint and body shop to do your spray work! Offer to haul them to the shop for the spraying, of course. I owned a body shop when I lived in Ohio and did several cabinet jobs, even refrigerators, no problem! Just stop by and befriend a guy, he'll usually be nice enough to help you out, for a nominal fee of course! There's nothing like a set of cabinets that's been professionally sprayed instead of being brushed, brushing and rolling sucks...................Good luck to you..

[cwsmith]

HF has a low air volume HVLP sprayer that works pretty well. IIRC the requirement is 4 cfm @ 90 psi.

You can do it with your compressor, but you may have to stop periodically to let the tank recharge. Adding a lot of air hose will help, it adds a bit more air storage and buffers the air.

Both the HVLP and the little spotting gun that I have are Harbor Freight models. The particular gun that you may be remembering is probably rated at 40 or 45 psi, as 90 psi is usually much too high for spraying.

CWS

[woodturner]

Both the HVLP and the little spotting gun that I have are Harbor Freight models. The particular gun that you may be remembering is probably rated at 40 or 45 psi, as 90 psi is usually much too high for spraying.

CWS

You are right, that's what I get for replying from memory and not checking :-(

For the current model, it's 6 cfm @ 40 psi. There are two similar models, 67181 and 47016, I'm not sure if there is any significant difference between them.

[capncarl]

Sailor55330, it seems that corndogs reply to your question makes a lot more sense to your question that any of our replys! If you don't have the tools and expertise to do the task it does make a lot more sense getting help from someone who does. The money you would have to pay them will be in line with the tool that I recomended, but the job will be done and the wife will be off your case, you will be a hero! I'm not saying that you should try to finish your own furniture, and I'm not saying that you should stop from buying painting equipment and learning how to do the job, it just allows you to learn how at your own pace on something not as obvious as the kitchen cabinets.
capncarl