Question
I am bidding on stripping and refinishing two full bedroom suites that a client would like redone in shellac. I have sprayed lots of shellac in the past, usually drawer interiors, small boxes, or as a sealer on larger products using my Wagner turbine/Capspray system. I have not sprayed shellac as the final coat on large areas, like a queen sized headboard. I am thinking about using my Kremlin AAA with an 06-094 tip but am concerned it may pump out too much fluid and I'll be getting rid of runs and sags instead of making money. I have a couple of HVLP guns which I use for small areas like chair frames, etc. Does anyone have any experiences or recommendations they'd care to share?
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor G:
Use a smaller tip.
Personally, I spray a 1.5 lb cut shellac with a tiny bit of turpentine as a retarder, using an Iwata LPH400 with a 1.2mm needle/nozzle setup. It can be used with a 5 cfm compressor. Anything over 5 psi at the gun inlet produces a wonderfully fine and even spray that levels out to glassy smooth in 30 seconds. Dry to the touch in five minutes and ready for a recoat in ten. You should be able to get good results with a less expensive gun, as long as you have something like a 1.0 mm N/N setup (for a full-size gun, 0.8mm in a mini gun) and the gun is working well - check your spray pattern. The Iwata is kind of pricey if you are considering it for just one project, though. I use it for my main gun, and it is definitely worth the investment. It sprays waterborne finishes extremely well with a 1.4mm n/n setup.
