Paint sprayers

[Jeanne]

Hi -

Looking to find a good quality paint sprayer.
A friend of mine would like to refinish their builder grade quality oak kitchen cabinets.
They've picked up a paint (specifically made for this process)that is more like a "boat varnish" and can be tinted to whatever desired color.
The "paint" does suggest a sprayer over a brush.
They do not want a cheap sprayer from the local home improvement chain for fear of clogging.
Any thoughts and or direction would be helpful.

Many thanks,
jeannie

[The Plasterers Arms]

I needed to seal a 15,000 foot interior... years ago.
I intended to piece it out to a painter friend of mine,instead I bought a Graco Magnum ProX9 ...used it for just that one job cost me 6-$700 bucks at the time, saved me a 3,000 sub bill.

anyways the things are great just need to clean the tips out occasionally...and keep on spraying...IMO id look at Graco

good luck

[Eli Lucero]

The Plaster is right for the bucks a decent airless even entry level will do the trick assuming.............that you know how to spray.
Here is another suggestion that may prove easier to "control".
Even though you can put a very small fine finish tip on an airless gun, the delivery might still be a little "fast" for a novice. AND and AND.. Although airless has come a long long long way it still falls short of a conventional spray. Especially when it comes to clear coats sprayed by a first timer.
Slowing things down and being able to adjust spray fan pattern/width/delivery/ in every way possible is magic when it comes to spraying more than one item.
I recommend that you look at your local auto paint supplier and look for what they call an hvlp TOUCH UP gun, its medium sized, and sprays a very fine controllable mist good enough for car touch up and is adjustable and controllable, key things when it comes to spraying.
Remember that I grew up with a spray gun in my crib when I was born
and so did my brother no faux....it was his birthday just a few days ago and after over 30+ years of professional painting I bought him this same set up, and I personally use the same set up.
Now I know that there are ALL the other systems out there and I have used most of them, to many to list, but at the end of the day this is what I use and personally recommend.

A note I should add at this point is this... If you have never seen a side by side difference between what an airless finish or a turbine driven spray finish looks like vs. a straight conventional hvlp (air compressor) then your comparison factor is going to be extremely limited to a novice level.
The difference between the two are night and day. Yes the "convenient" packaging at first seems to be a "better" choice, right up to the point you see a side by side. One is an acceptable industry standard finish the one I mention is considered a "fine" finish at an automotive level.
You will notice some here will mention what they do "inside" a cabinet and some will mention a use of several guns..now we are talking expertise with enough time behind a gun to know a guns full or lack of capacity.

[wallartistrydebra]

I took a cabinet class from Barb Skivington last summer and am taking another one with her in two weeks, which, by the way I HIGHLY recommend her for anyone looking for beyond superb finishes in both look AND feel! Anyway, she uses the FauxFX FX2000. You can get the one with one gun which comes with a No. 3 fluid set, compressor (which is only as loud as a vaccuum cleaner and smaller in size that most canister vacs), hose and a stand which makes loading material easier. It's an HVLP sprayer manufactured by Graco and modified by FauxFX to spray cool air so that it doesn't dry out your materials too quickly (especially glazes and clear coats). I have been thrilled with mine! It was a little pricey at around $1000, but the whole kit and kaboodle is so compact, lightweigh (UPS had it weighed at 31 pounds) and with the stand and everything, is so extra nice that is was worth every penney. My finishes look great and I save a ton of time, too.

[RanMan]

Love my HVLP.... use it often. We bought ours with a special 2 quart pressure pot the permits us to feed paint to the gun via a hose, without having the 1 quart pot attached. I can go inside cabinets and spray with the gun upside down. No stress on the hands and wrist on large cabinet jobs.

Also, bought this as second gun. http://hvlp.com/guns_7500t.php ...it's great, is convertible from 1 qt. to a gravity feed gun..... cleans super easy when you remove the gravity feed plug on top...