Spary paint and bubbles!!

[Jayden]

Spray paint- bubbles

Gents,
I am new here and all I can say is whet an excellent forum.

I have a pair of vintage late 70s veneered speaker boxes and need to spray paint these to a piano black-high gloss finish. My previous attempts on MDF resulted in a bubbled surface. Naturally, I’m afraid to take on this challenge as her-in-doors will not approve this project as they don’t blend in with the rest of our decor.

I just can not figure why I failed to get that all important-professional finish. My kit (20L air compressor + general purpose gun). Could my problems be associated with:-
- incorrect pressure
- size of the nozzle

????

Need you help guys

[Cal Weldon]

Hi Jayden,

Can you post a pic or two? That would help. Is it bubbles or more like splotches?

A 20L tank runs out out of air pretty quick. You also haven't mentioned the number of sprays, sanding in between etc.

[croat47]

Or the paint type.

I just struggled with the trick of spraying satin finish latex! Small gun was okay as it was just cabinet faces. But, it took some fighting with thinning, gun settings, and as Cal mentioned, a larger compressor that could actually keep up. In the learning, I got dry spots (not wet enough), runs (too wet/too much), and bubbles (only once in one corner, so I can't help).

But, I understand from my research in the process that thinner materials like shellacs, polys, and the like are much easier to spray. Someone may refute that, but I will be very happy when I am not spraying latex anymore.

If your compressor is kicking on and staying on while you spray, that is a good sign you need more capacity. I borrowed a relative's compressor which was larger than my "pancake" compressor. The larger one kicks on and back off while I spray, so it is keeping up.