How to Use An Airless Paint Sprayer for Fine Finishes – A Guide
Airless Sprayers are useful to apply a variety of coatings at high production rates. They excel at applying heavy bodied coatings and at applying coatings fast. However at times, you may need to be able to apply a coating with a finer break up in order to achieve a better looking finish. While airless is primarily designed for higher production and less fine atomization, it is still possible to use airless sprayers for fine finish. In order to be able to properly apply fine finishes there are a few changes you will want to consider for your airless paint sprayer. This article will cover the changes you will want to consider in order to be able to spray fine finishes with an airless paint sprayer.
Tip 1 to Use an Airless For Fine Finishes – Think about your Airless Tip
The first factor you can modify to help achieve a finer finish with an airless paint sprayer is changing the tip you use. A standard airless tip is not designed to provide a fine break up but there are fine finish airless tips. Fine Finish airless tips cause the material to pass through two orifices, typically at lower pressures than traditional airless tips, and result in finer atomization. These tips are generally best suited for material that is not highly viscous but ultimately will depend on each coatings characteristics which is why it can always be a good idea to try the tip with your coating if you wonder whether it will provide a finer break up. Popular finishes that fine finish tips are ideal for include stains, lacquers, varnishes, and urethanes (a lot of wood finishes). This is because coatings applied to wood substrate tend to be more visible when they are not atomized thoroughly.
Tip 2 – Consider Modifying your Airless to an Air Assist Airless
Airless and Air Assist Airless Paint Sprayers are slightly different in how they atomize coating. In short air assist airless uses air as well as pressure of fluid against a tip to help atomize coating. Air assist airless provides atomization that is similar in quality to HVLP spraying. Airless on the other hand depends on fluid pressure alone, which means it will not be able to provide as fine of a finish as an air assist airless sprayer. One overlooked option is using your airless sprayer pump and implementing an air assist airless spray gun with it to allow you to spray with the better atomization of air assist airless. You can learn how to properly change an airless over to spray as an air assist airless by reviewing this guide here. One important note, to be able to use an air assist airless spray gun with your airless unit you will have to be able to supply regulated air to the air assist airless spray gun.
Tip 3 – Combine both for ultimate Benefit
In general, the finish quality will be the best with air assist airless. However, if you really want to improve the finish even more you can include a fine finish tip with an air assist airless spray gun which will provide a finish that will be as fine of a quality as is provided with air spray guns.
Final Thoughts
Airless paint sprayers are ideal for high production and allow you to coat product faster than you can with spray guns. If you need a fine finish with high production you will typically need to consider making adjustments to your airless paint sprayer including potentially changing the tip to a fine finish airless tip and/or implanting an air assist airless spray gun with your airless paint sprayer. If you want additional help using your airless with an air assist airless spray gun contact us today.
