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The International Woodworking Fair
August 25 – August 28, 2010
See You in Atlanta!
This year’s IWF theme, Bringing It All Together tells you that a woodworker can find every tool and piece of equipment under one roof. It’s all there: from the smallest drill bit, to the biggest CNC machine. Everything you need to complete a project and have an excellent result. Visit suppliers you know – or that you’ve only read about – and discover the latest tools. Daily sessions cover the business end of woodworking as well as techniques. TheFinishingStore.com will be in Booth 5427, so stop by and say hello to Mike Anderson. Dale Dedrick, James Kohne, and I’ll be there too. I hope to see all my old friends, some of whom I’ve known for 25 years, and I hope to meet new woodworkers at Apollo and TheFinishingStore.com. Meanwhile, welcome to the August newsletter from TheFinishingStore.com – the Spray Gun Issue.
Bill Boxer
Sr. Vice President and COO
Apollo Sprayers International, Inc.
[email protected]
IWF and the Secret Word
IWF is a huge show where manufacturers and distributors send their top experts to IWF to exhibit their newest technology and best products. The buyer has the opportunity to learn from these experienced reps who really know their stuff. A big show is a great place to buy, to compare features and costs, and to take advantage of show special prices – not available at any other time.
This year TheFinishingStore.com will be proudly presenting the Apollo Power Series of high powered turbines at IWF. Come see these leading edge machines including the incredible Apollo Model 1050VR, a 5 stage turbine, with variable speed. It will blow you away. Who knows, you may have met The Finishing Store reps before. Come and say hello, and see our newest items and our show specials. If you are a newbie, come and meet us. In any case, come to TheFinishingStore.com, say the secret word – HVLP -and get a surprise free gift.
Finishing by Flexner: “Preparing Wood for a Finish”
The reason you have to sand wood before applying a finish is to remove machine marks. … Click the links below to learn more:
What’s the Truth About True HVLP?
Why are some HVLP Spray Guns “TrueHVLP® Spray Guns,” and what does True HVLP mean? High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) means exactly that. A turbine generates a high volume of air at very low pressure. The high volume of air meets the liquid material (coating) and is carried in the form of tiny atomized particles to the surface being sprayed. The particles land on the project and a smooth coating is formed. Because there is so much air traveling through the air passages of the gun, the air passages in the spray gun need to be larger than on a conventional high pressure gun. All HVLP guns that use a turbine as a source of air are “True HVLP.”
A conversion gun is a spray gun that works off a compressor, converting the high pressure air into high volume air. Here are the RULES that govern both HVLP Spray Guns and conversion guns.
- An HVLP Spray Gun cannot use more than 10 psi at the air cap.
- An HVLP Spray Gun must produce a minimum transfer efficiency (MTE) of 65%.
The challenge to the engineer is to create a conversion gun that will obey the rules and still replicate the performance of a turbine HVLP spray gun. By expanding the compressed air to duplicate the airflow performance of air generated by a turbine the coating is atomized and sprays just as a turbine HVLP gun.
The Apollo AtomiZer (Model 7500) can work off a turbine or a compressor. It is a TrueHVLP spray gun. The AtomiZer has one port at the bottom of the gun and comes with two hose connectors: one for a turbine hose and one for a compressor hose. A turbine produces air at a low psi and no conversion is necessary. When the high psi air from the compressor meets the large air passages in the spray gun, the psi drops, the coating is atomized and reaches the surface in a mist of high volume, low pressure air. Popular Woodworking Magazine tested the AtomiZer and wrote:
“Apollo has always made excellent spray equipment that has performed well in our tests. But the company’s new 7500 line of premium HVLP guns is head and shoulders better than the guns we’ve tested and used for the last 11 years. We’ve been testing the A7500QT AtomiZer Quick-Release Cup Gun with an HVLP turbine and have been impressed not only with the workmanship and controls, but with the astonishingly small amount of overspray generated by the gun. …There is little doubt this is the best HVLP gun we’ve seen in a long time.”
What You Need to Know About Needles and Nozzles
There are just a few essential things you have to know to create a beautiful finish, like oil and water don’t mix. The finisher can work with many variables and a good finish is assured when the variables are in sync. The finisher can control the viscosity of the coating, the psi, (if you are using a conversion gun or a variable speed turbine,) and the size of the needle and nozzle. Needles and nozzles however, must match. A 2 mm needle works with a 2mm nozzle, etc.
Coatings companies as well as equipment manufactures offer guidelines for choosing the right needle and nozzle. A larger needle and nozzle is recommended for higher viscosity coatings, such as latex paint, while smaller sizes work with thinner materials, like stain. It is always surprising however, to discover that a finisher achieved a gorgeous finish while breaking all the recommendations regarding viscosity, pressure and needle and nozzle sizes. That’s why woodworkers are artists, who sometimes bend the rules and produce amazing results!
When to Clean Your Spray Gun
Here’s a frequently asked question. Do you really need to clean your spray gun every single time you use it?Do you need to clean it when you go to lunch? What if you are putting it away for a week? Which coatings mean clean “right away?” Here’s the scoop: always clean your gun immediately if you are spraying a quick set up coating such as a two part urethane or epoxy paint. Clean it even if you are going to lunch. If you are using a pigmented coating and are finished with that color, clean the spray gun. If you are going from a water based coating to a solvent based, or the other way round, clean the spray gun. Other coatings can wait until you are finished for the day. Some finishers keep 2 or more spray guns and dedicate each one to a particular coating, such as water based or solvent, pigmented or clear, 2 part or simple.
A Spray Gun Owner’s Friend, the PPS
PPS stands for Paint Preparation System. A PPS system makes mixing, cleaning and saving unused coatings easy and efficient.Just line the cup with a disposable liner and attach the cup collar to your spray gun, using the right adapter. When you pull the trigger on your gun, a vacuum will contract the disposable liner to enfold the coating and you will be able to spray at any angle. When you are done, just release the pressure, and lift out the disposable cup. If you want to save the coating, the PPS system comes with a lid to put on the cup for storage. Now there is no cup to clean. Just clean the fluid passages in your spray gun. It’s easy and of course the PPS system comes with simple directions.