Spraying shellac??

[gibsonj]

Hey folks

Have any of you ever tried spraying shellac? I've read some very positive experiences from woodworking forums. Folks say with a little practice (necessary with any spraying), very nice shellac finishes are possible using inexpensive HVLP equipment (for example, www.harborfreight.com/high-volume-low-pressure-spray-gun-kit-44677.html

Have any of you ever tried this on your phonograph projects? Thanks.

John

[bofusmosby]

John

Thank you for the link! It looks to be very interesting. No, I have never used this product, but by reading the reviews, it sounds pretty good. No, its not a professional set-up, but then again, most of us are NOT professionals. By reading the reviews, I'd have to say that the big secret to success would be the proper thinning of the spray material. Better to apply 2-3 coats, than try to spray a coating too thick, like it is with any sprayer. I have a 1937 Pontiac that had been re-painted by the previous owner. The car looks good, but he never painted the inside of the engine compartment, or the underside of the hood or trunk. This might be the way to go. I have been using cans of spray paint for smaller areas with pretty good succcess, but with that as well, the secret is to work slow, and the prep-work is the most important. I also have an Edison "BC-34" Phonograph that will need to be refinished, and by reading about this gun, this might be the tool to use.

I would be interested in reading the opinions of others on this. Due to the shape of our economy, this would be a more a reasonable investment, when living on a shoe-string budget.

[gibsonj]

I may experiment with this, and I'll let you all know. Don't know much about spraying shellac, but from what I've read and from other's experiences, there were two common things to report:

(1) with this low end sprayer, good results were obtained using a 1.8mm needle and no thinning of Zinsser Amber Shellac pre-mixed. Of course, you'd have to experiment when using flakes and mixing your own.

(2) the air coming out of the turbine on this self-contained unit is very warm, so it tended to "pre-heat" the shellac a bit, resulting in more even delivery.

I've always thought that spraying is an "art form". But, seems like this would be a serious time saver if you could master it.

John

[bobacker]

There two thing you got to consider before buying this investment. Ask your self how many time will I, use this sprayer? Is it worth it to invest this much into this product? Vs. a pant brush!