Auto And Tech|Paint with Spray gun Tips and technique to spray properly|Surely you have often asked yourself this question when painting with a gun , am I doing it right?
In this article there are some tips and tricks to paint with an airless gun with the right technique for both paint professionals and DIY enthusiasts who want to paint more efficiently. This implies a number of factors that can affect the quality of the spray pattern and the surface finish. Most tips can also be applied to other paint guns , such as Aircoat and HVLP.
What are our tips today?
- Adjustment of working pressure
- How to catch your airless gun with what distance and inclination to paint?
- Technique for squeezing and releasing the trigger of the airless gun
- Overlapping paint when spraying
- Paint corners and edges with airless paint gun
Adjustment of working pressure
The fastest and most efficient way to know the pressure of your airless equipment to work with a material is to check the technical data sheet of the paint, as they usually add information and recommendations to use their material with airless machinery . You can usually find the following data: Pressure in bars and recommended nozzle size .
An optimal fit can have a significant impact on:
- surface finish quality
- paint consumption
- wear of the gun and nozzle
- the greater or lesser fog formation when spraying the material
This is a common mistake when painting with airless . As a general rule, many painters work with too high strength. The result: we splurge a lot of paint, in addition to staining more space due to excess fog. The wear of the gun is also obvious, because the friction of the paint that circulates with greater force wears out even more the named airless accessories . As an example, we can imagine the stones of a ravine. The friction over the years (well, of the centuries) is slowly shaping the stone. Unfortunately, airless equipment is not as resistant as stones! 😀
On the contrary, if the spray force is very low, the paint will be atomized irregularly, resulting in bad finishes.
Come on, the solution is to find the intermediate point, but how is it done?
- In our post about the 5 errors when painting with airless we already said how to do it. But, well, the skill is improved based on repetition
- Prepare your airless machine to paint. To perform the first tests, use water instead of paint, so as not to waste it.
- Keep your gun airless with the trigger pressed and gradually increase the pressure.
- You will see how the pulverized material gradually assumes a uniform appearance
- When you see that the atomization acquires a uniform appearance, you will have found the right position for that material. Do not increase it further?
2. How to catch your airless gun, with what distance and inclination to paint?
- The position of the gun can affect the quality of work. Keep it firmly with your hand but relaxed. Use the index and middle fingers to pull the trigger and therefore to start and stop the spraying process. This should always be placed perpendicular to the painting area. Come on, head on.
- The proper separation for painting with an airless gun is approximately 25 to 30 cm between it and the surface. If you increase the length, you will give rise to irregular structures in the spray pattern and greater fog formation, while if you reduce it, the paint may drip. In both cases an unnecessary expense of painting.
- Keep the gun as straight as possible and avoid tilting it up or down. The separation and angle of the gun in relation to the surface should be kept unchanged, to spray optimally.
3. When do I have to pull and release the trigger?
A paint gun allows you two positions: Paint or not paint. Spraying “a splash” is not possible!
To achieve a uniform projection, move your arm first and then squeeze the firing pin. If you do it the other way around, there will be an excess of material in the place where you started.
Use exactly the same method to finish painting: Release the trigger and move the arm a few more seconds, as the gun releases the accumulated material inside.
4. Tip: Overlap
In order to ensure color uniformity, half of the first pass must overlap with the second. In this way a good coating and a uniform surface structure is achieved.
5. Paint the corners or edges with a gun
To spray clean corners and edges with a gun, each side of the wall should be painted to the intersection (from the outside to the inside). In the following video we explain the eternal doubt of the airless painter on this issue.
