Duratex Hopper Gun Settings and Cab spraying suggestions?

[EW]

Greetings, I've attempted my first (& second) go arounds spraying Duratex with a harbor freight hopper gun on two Omni 15’s this week with less than spectacular results, although my expectations may have been unrealistically high. I masked off the handle, jackplate and other openings from the inside and also masked off the front as I’m running a vintage style framed grille, then laid the cabinets front side down on a couple bar stools to get at all the exposed sides.

For the first coat, I went with the smallest tip @ 55psi, and the valve set approx 1.5-2 turns out. Seemed to take forever to get much coverage and was lighter than I expected. For the first attempt at a “texture coat” I went with 70 psi & about 4 turns out, hoping to get a fairly fine textured finish like Mackie or JBL but it seemed to “flow” for lack of a better term & not give very defined spatters. With these settings I went through material much faster than I had expected, a lot heavier too, & took quite awhile to dry (3+hrs @ 55-60 degrees).

I’ve pretty much decided that a third coat will be required & I was hoping some of you pro’s could help me salvage this and/or give me some pointers to get in the ballpark. I figure I’ve got about a quarter to a third of a gallon left. I was hoping to save some for touch ups, but being that it’s a custom color, I wonder if touching up would really be an option of the original paint gets some age/discoloration to it.

Whew, I wrote a lot more than intended, so to recap, I’m hoping to achieve a Mackie/JBL type finish and hope to cover up the “learning by doing” that I’ve inflicted upon these cabs so far.

Also, how do you guys lay your cabinets for painting? Do you try to do as many sides as possible, or get two or three, wait, and rotate & hit’er again?

[LelandCrooks]

Too much pressure. A hopper gun is not a paint spray gun. 30-45 lbs max. The lower the pressure the coarser/slower the spray. Texture rig compressors only put out about 30 lbs max, with lots of volume, more than a standard shop compressor by far. With regular compressors you make up of the lack of volume with more pressure. The upper end of the range for finer finish, and it must be a smaller tip. As pressure drops, the spatters get bigger. Smaller tips, finer spray. I use the next to smallest tip.

[Tim A]

I run about 50PSI with the small nozzle, adjustment about 2 turns for the base coat. For the spatter coat, I back off to 45PSI and open to 3 turns.

When you do the spatter coat don't try and get 'coverage'. Stand way back and move fast. You almost need to 'suggest' that the material land on the cabinet.

[EW]

Thanks guys! Also, do the spatters themselves hide any woodworking imperfections, or is that generally taken care of with a heavy(er) base coat? I’ve got a few spots where the “footballs” were that are more visible than I thought they’d be. Thanks again!

[Tim A]

I'm anal, so I fix everything before I spray. The texture coat will hide some things, but not all. If it's bad enough to bug you, you can sand it down, fill, and recoat. It's pretty easy to get an invisible repair.

[Scott Brochu]

what kind of hopper gun? any brand and size will handle Duratex?

[dbaldock]

I think the $15.00 AIR PAINT TEXTURE GUN from Harbor Freight is the one that gets mentioned on here most often.

[Tim A]

That's the one I use. Note: It must be a texture gun. A regular gravity feed spray gun won't do it, the nozzles are too small, as they're designed to atomize the material.

[Scott Brochu]

that is cheap! I was thinking of something around 200 or so. Thats better than I thought.

[dbaldock]

that is cheap! I was thinking of something around 200 or so. Thats better than I thought.

You also have to consider that the Lower-Pressure, High-Flow Compressors are probably more expensive than the High-Pressure, Lower-Flow models that work fine for most Air Tools. If your current compressor has has a high enough flow rate, then adding a $15 Hopper Spray Gun is cheap.

[Scott Brochu]

if you mean adjusting the air presure than yes I have a gauge and valve. I ussually use my current gun to do laquare with 25 #-45# depending on coat around 8 coats.

My compressor is a cambells stand up type 30 gal

[LelandCrooks]

Anywhere from 6-10 cfm flow rate is optimal for a texture gun. Most shop compressors are not that high, generally 3-4. They will give you about a minute or two until your excess in the tank is gone. Then you should wait for the compressor to catch up.

Typical high flow texture compressor.

[EW]

Thanks Leland & Tim! Tonight's undertaking went much better, I just wish I hadn’t gotten carried away & burnt up so much material on the second coat. I went with 45psi & three turns, I still went through material pretty fast, but I could instantly tell it was much closer to what I was looking for.

You almost need to 'suggest' that the material land on the cabinet.

FYI, bigger spatters definitely fly farther! Tim, it looks like I “suggested” paint all over the shop (which isn’t mine). Looks like outdoors is the only way to go to prevent getting a spanking.

[Tim A]

In the summer I do all of mine outside. No need to protect the grass either.

Or do this for inclement weather. Tarps are cheap. I just ran screws in partway to hook the grommets on. Once they're there, leave them. It'll be that much faster to put it back up next time.



BTW, Duratex does not stick to plastice tarps and drop cloths, it'll flake right off.

[Scott Brochu]

Anywhere from 6-10 cfm flow rate is optimal for a texture gun. Most shop compressors are not that high, generally 3-4. They will give you about a minute or two until your excess in the tank is gone. Then you should wait for the compressor to catch up.

Typical high flow texture compressor.

But if I want to keep the cost down can't I use my tank and just not do a lot of spraying at a time? Do you mean the compressor will kick on every few min or so? Thats fine. I say that now until I have to go buy another.