New airless sprayer

[Packard]

Remembering how tedious it was to paint the beadboard wainscotting in the last room I painted, I bought a Graco Magnum X7 for the bathroom I am remodeling. 

There was some masking involved (3M hand masker--topic for another conversation).  It was a small room just 13' x 6', so since it was on the ground floor I opened a window and setup the sprayer outdoors. 

Spraying went fine (though I only got the primer down).  Cleaning the machine was a chore exacerbated by the 94 degree-in-the-direct-sun conditions. 

I will put down the top finish coat next weekend and hopefully, it will be cooler outdoors. 

The finish looked fine and took about 12 -15 minutes to apply.  Which is about 3 hours faster than it would have taken with a roller and a brush.  The beadboard requires brushing into the beading and then back-rolling to get a even finish.  The sprayed finish looks nicer.

The hand masker worked well, but I had a lot of trouble using the cutterbar.  Once cut it was an efficient way to mask doorways windows and the tub.

 

[afish]

I own the Graco cordless Ultra.  I love that little thing for small jobs.  It only holds a quart at a time so its not made to paint whole walls or rooms but for spraying doors and trim its hard to beat. It might not hold a ton of paint but its pretty easy to clean.

 

[Packard]

I have an HVLP sprayer and it has the same limitation in paint capacity but it is a breeze to clean.  It won't spray real thick paint, so not suited for 1-2-3 primer. 

I use if for Advance, Command or Break-Through! which I still have to dilute a bit to flow well.

 

[rst]

I too use an 18v Graco for small jobs, bought the larger cups meant for the one capable of spraying solvent based.  Not sure why the larger cups are not listed as parts for the standard one.  I have an HVLP with a Fugi over cup for more involved jobs.

 

[afish]

Yea, I should have specified that the 20v Graco is my go to for small jobs with latex/thick paint.  For lac. and other thinner paints I use a HVLP in well ventilated area.

 

[rst]

I spray finer with my Graco using the new fine finish tips and have great results.

 

[afish]

[member=25351]rst[/member] did you buy the one capable of spraying flammable material?  I didn't, I wasn't sure what to expect and there was a wide price difference and the grounding wire kind of turns it into a corded unit so you loose some of the benefits of cordless. So I decided to play it safe but its been a great little sprayer for small jobs.  I have thought about getting the other one too.  I sprayed some Lenmar WB lacquer on some built ins with mine and it turned out very nice. Had zero complaints with either the Lenmar or the Graco. I usually spray mostly latex with it.  It sprays WB stuff so well I  might get the other, one day.  Not sure on cordless or not, If I have to be tethered either way not sure how much better the cordless is. 

 

[rst]

I haven't sprayed any solvent based finish but I run a Little acetone when I'm cleaning up