1st time sprayer use on loft bed

[gp-clipper]

Hi Everyone,

I've been in the process of making a loft bed for my son and realized that wiping on stain and varnish may not be feasible on such a large project. So, I recently purchased a HF HVLP sprayer and would like to use it on the bed. I posted several pictures of the project along with a screen shot of what the stairs look like. What's missing is the four stairs that will lead up to the bed and placed on the side without the window cutout. Each step will have a drawer inside that is not made yet. The design is from a bed I saw at USA baby. I didn't think their price of $1500 for a bed made out of paper veneer pressboard was nice enough. This one is made from maple veneer plywood with 1/4" solid maple banding.

The only place at home that I have to work for spraying is a small garage or driveway. It was suggested to me that I should spray the bed in pieces as opposed to set up. The bed is put together using cross dowels. I made a bookcase previously and stained it with a General Finish maple stain to bring out some color and then used GF oil/varnish to topcoat. I'd like the bed to match so my thought was to spray the GF stain and then spray a finish. The topcoat I'm open to suggestions. Any suggestions from people that have sprayed stain and lacquer/varnish would be appreciated. If you have the HF HVLP sprayer all the better.

Thanks in advance. And no, the room the photos were taken in were not my shop. I take an evening class at the local technical college.

Gary

[gad5264]

Gary,
I really like this design, would you happen to have any more photos of it?

[cgallery]

I guess my thought is, "look at the size of that shop!"

Sorry, don't know anything about spraying stain. I'd be concerned about matching an existing piece using a different process, though.

[Popeye]

It doesn't take much time for sprayed stain to dry so work in small sections and be prepared to work fast. Do a test piece first, maybe several test pieces. Mask off areas if you can't disassemble the thing into smaller sections. If room doesn't permit, try building a temp outside spray booth, not that big a deal with the stain but it'll keep the dust off in the final finish. Pat

[gp-clipper]

Grant,

I got the design from Berg Furniture. Take a look at the following site for samples: http://www.bergfurniture.com/utica.asp?id=4

I had to change the layout a bit because my son's mattress is higher than a normal bunk bed mattress. At this point, I'm not going to have anything underneath the bed.

Gary

[twistsol]

Last fall I sprayed about 15 gallons of lacquer on trim, doors, and cabinets for our remodeling project. It was the first time I'd ever sprayed anything. Here's what I learned.

Get a lot of scrap wood and test and test and test until you have the finish thinned properly, the air flow and fluid flow just right.

Keep accurate records of how much you had to thin the finish so you can repeat it for the next batch or get a viscosity cup. Guesswork doesn't work.

Make sure you have enough room to move around the project easily as you spray. Reaching across can get your shirt full of finish and dragging a dirty hose across the project takes forever and a lot of sanding to fix. I only seem to learn from experience.

Wear a respirator

Have plenty of ventilation.

[drumpriest]

I can not suggest USL enough from Target Coatings. It's a water based acrylic laquer. Dries quickly with full burn in, so no sanding between coats unless you are knocking dust out of the finish. 30 mins or so between coats, and it's hyper environmentally friends. 60 ish VOC vs 450 for wipe on oil/varnish blends. Also adhears to the clean air act of the 90s.

Water clean up, I've sprayed it with the rockler hvlp, which is essentially the same as your harbour freight. Use the 1.1 mm tip included in the kit, it does not require thinning. They have a shellac, also water based, I use that to seal the surface before spraying USL.

As for stain, you can tint the shellac sealer (they sell it tinted as well), or you could use a dye before top coating. I would probaby opt for a die over a stain for maple veneer and solid maple, or a gel stain, but the die will be clearer. Try transtint if you don't just want an amber (which is in the shellac sealer from target coatings). The USL will dry very clear. Maple tends to stain unevenly.