Most paints are supplied ready for brush application
and will need to be thinned before they are suitable
to be sprayed.
Follow the manufacturer’s advice
on thinning the paint when used with a spray gun.
The viscosity cup will help you to determine the
correct viscosity of paint to be used. The table below
shows recommended times for different types of
material.
Water based paint
20 - 25 seconds
Primers
24 - 28 seconds
Varnishes
20 - 25 seconds
Oil based paints
18 - 22 seconds
Enamel paints
18 - 22 seconds
Aluminum paints
22 - 25 seconds
Wood sealers
28 - 35 seconds
Wood preservatives
No thinning required
Wood stains
No thinning required
Spraying
Fill the paint container with the correctly thinned and strained paint. Connect the
spray gun to the mains supply. Aim the spray gun at a piece of scrap material
and operate the trigger switch until paint is spraying. Adjust the output control
until the required volume of paint is spraying. Turn the output control in a
clockwise direction to reduce the flow and anti-clockwise to increase the flow.
Adjustment of the output control will affect the spray pattern.
Spraying techniques - Fig .3
To obtain the best results, keep your spray gun level and parallel to the surface
at all times. Keep the nozzle 25 - 30 cm from the surface and spray evenly from
side to side or up and down. Do not spray at an angle as this will lead to paint
runs on the surface. Use smooth and even strokes. When spraying large areas,
using a criss-cross pattern as shown.
Fig. 2
