Air Compressor for Painting Furniture

Submitted by posas85 t3_10axjih in DIY

I want to paint cabinets and furniture, so I was looking into the best affordable compressor for such a hobby. I've read that you want at least 12 SCFM recovery "for continuous spraying" but strangely the same website will recommend compressors with only 2.5 SCFM. So now I'm wondering how important it really is. I've never owned a compressor before so I don't have a grasp on how long it would take to 'refill' or how long 6 gallons @ 90 psi will spray for.

So I'm hoping one of you guys will be able to help me get a good feel for what to look for and how important the refill rate is.

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1968camaro t1_j46s861 wrote

Are you doing this a lot?

No, 6 at 90 will be gone in about 1 minute, and take 4 to re charge..

Just get an airless.

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Complete_Goose667 t1_j48t0b5 wrote

We purchased an Earlex HV 5500 system to repaint our kitchen cabinets. It was easy to use, easy to clean and we achieved terrific results. It was not too expensive, and it saved us a pile of money by doing the job ourselves. We decided to buy that machine because my husband also does woodworking as a hobby and we thought he might use it again.

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zedsmith t1_j46ty2o wrote

You need to figure out what paint you’re spraying.

Hvlp guns are better suited for very thin, very hard, solvent borne paints like lacquers.

If you want to spray water borne paint, you’re probably better off spraying with an airless.

If you’re truly set on spraying with an HVLP, you’re better off buying a multistage turbine setup like a Fuji — compressors that can sustain the CFM you need are EXPENSIVE, and you’ll still need a dewatering system

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posas85 OP t1_j47rpd2 wrote

Thank you! I figured compressor based was the best for getting a nice even professional level coat with all paints. If I'm painting cabinets, an airless will still give even, professional looking results?

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zedsmith t1_j48gfls wrote

I think it depends on what you consider a professional job. There are professional repainters who use airless or air assisted airless and water borne paints, especially for repaints of cabinets already in kitchens.

You can get outrageous glossy finishes with a brush on furniture if you know what you’re doing and use the right product.

There’s learning curves and techniques to pick up for different paints and materials— what I’m trying to say is you need to figure out what kind of paint you plan on using, which is a question of how much space you’re willing to devote to painting and drying, whether you’re going to construct a paint booth— stuff like that.

This isn’t a “there’s a right answer, and a bunch of half-measures” kind of situation where all pros do one thing all the time, and everything else is for idiots.

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Dan-z-man t1_j4ehjcl wrote

I have a 3hp 60g that I use for general shop stuff. I have on a few occasions used it to paint car parts with a standard hf hvlp gun and found too small for anything bigger that a hood and a few panels. Auto paint is pretty thin and I can’t imagine it would work with water based stuff. It would work fine for a single small part though. Echoing what has been said before, some of the airless systems are really nice and would be a lot cheaper than investing 5k into an air compressor.

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