Tips for spraying Duratex?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

While on the subject, to clean the gun just put it in a bucket full of water. I don't bother to clean the hopper, I remove it from the gun and let the duratex dry. After it's fully cured you can peel it out of the hopper pretty much in one piece.

[Tim A]

I noitced it came off the hopper pretty easily, but I'm too skeert to let it dry. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

BTW, the HF gun was just on sale for $15!

[Mark Coward]

While on the subject, to clean the gun just put it in a bucket full of water. I don't bother to clean the hopper, I remove it from the gun and let the duratex dry. After it's fully cured you can peel it out of the hopper pretty much in one piece.

Yeah, I've noticed how the duratex will peel right off of plastic after it dries. It is very thick, when it runs dry in the hopper there was still a thick coat on the sides....being a tightwad, I used a foam brush to shovel it down and spray out every bit I could. I've used most of a gallon on one T48, roughly 3 coats, still have to do the access lid and a few touch-ups.

[Les Webb]

I've used most of a gallon on one T48, roughly 3 coats, still have to do the access lid and a few touch-ups.

The reason i still use a roller. I get just as professional finish with a roller (i've used the hopper also) and i can get at least 5 coats on a T-48 with a roller. There is almost no waste with a roller.

YMMV

Les

[Tim A]

I've used most of a gallon on one T48, roughly 3 coats, still have to do the access lid and a few touch-ups.

The reason i still use a roller. I get just as professional finish with a roller (i've used the hopper also) and i can get at least 5 coats on a T-48 with a roller. There is almost no waste with a roller.

YMMV

Les

I've been wondering about which is more economical. Acrytech warns that loading the roller takes a lot of material. Do you find you can eventually get most of that on the wood?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I've been wondering about which is more economical. Acrytech warns that loading the roller takes a lot of material. Do you find you can eventually get most of that on the wood?

Roller is more economical, only because spraying is so easy you're going to use more of it. The more you use the better it looks, and you're tempted to lay it on an eighth of an inch thick.

[Mark Coward]

This is my first experience spraying the stuff, I'm sure I'll get better as I go along. There really is very little overspray, I'd guess the amount left in the hopper is the most waste....I wonder if the hopper & gun could be sealed over with plastic wrap or something in between coats, it would be less wasteful to just fill it up once instead of using small amounts and cleaning it out every time.

With a roller the Duratex can be spread much thinner, I did two DR250's and two Tuba24's with about 4 coats each from a gallon and still had a bit left. The spray globs it on thicker, which is ok with me, I just need more practice to get consistent.

[Tim A]

It almost sounds like rolled on base coats and a final sprayed texture coat might be the best of both worlds.

[Les Webb]

I've used most of a gallon on one T48, roughly 3 coats, still have to do the access lid and a few touch-ups.

The reason i still use a roller. I get just as professional finish with a roller (i've used the hopper also) and i can get at least 5 coats on a T-48 with a roller. There is almost no waste with a roller.

YMMV

Les

I've been wondering about which is more economical. Acrytech warns that loading the roller takes a lot of material. Do you find you can eventually get most of that on the wood?

I get almost all out of the roller. I leave much more in the hopper than i lose on the roller. The roller i just set in the 5 gallon bucket and close the lid.

Les

[gdougherty]

Not wanting to have to deal with overspray I opted to roll my cabs as well. I found using a 3/8" or 1/2" nap roller and rolling it on wet and heavy for the 2nd and third coats gave a heavy finish with a professional looking texture. I did also find that rolling over it again as it set up accentuated the texture. Rolling two T48's at a time I was able to roll 5 sides and the mouth internals on one, do the second and the duratex had setup on the first well enough to come back and do another coat on the first. I then used a $50 Wagner heat gun on the "top" to quick harden the finish, flipped the subs and painted the remaining side. If you do use a heat gun, keep it moving and keep it a few inches off the surface. On my wedgehorns I used a radiant space heater to "bake" the finish a bit since I needed to use them the following day.

I used a 4" roller for the internal surfaces and a full width roller for the flat exterior surfaces on the T48's and just a 4" on the wedgehorns. If you squeeze the Duratex out with pressure against the cabinet as you roll the last of it I don't imagine that the roller would sop up much more than you'd lose to overspray. At 1/4 to 1/3 gallon to coat 4 wedgehorns and about 1 gallon on a pair of 30" T48's I didn't worry too much about what was left in the roller.

[Tim A]

After reading that, it doesn't souind like there's a huge difference either way. I did a T-39 and a pair of OTop 12's with a gallon and have about 2 cups leftover. I should note that I wasted about 1/4 hopper on the T-39 due to being a dumbass, I forgot to rest the trigger pull and put WAY too much on, which resulted in having to wipe it off and start over.

But I am going to familiarize myself with the roller method for this winter. Sounds like a great alternative.

[LelandCrooks]

I find the new formulation harder to get a fine finish. It tends to want to glob more. Next time I'm going to try my airless rig. It will spray elastomerics, which are every bit as thick as duratex. Little out of the DIY price range though, it's a $2500 spray rig.

I like my business. I get to play with lots of cool toys.

[AntonZ]

Next time I'm going to try my airless rig. It will spray elastomerics, which are every bit as thick as duratex. Little out of the DIY price range though, it's a $2500 spray rig.

Sounds like that's the models that I saw over here so far. I'll just get me some rollers when the time comes to finish some cabs.

[UNDERTONE]

all you rollers out there- you're missing the point here... using the hopper gun method is FUN