Lenmar Finishes

[Rob Young]

I will be picking up a Ford cup ASAP. Going forward I hope to get a lot of use out of my HVLP machine. So while this current gallon of Lenmar will be all I spray for awhile, there will be plenty of other materials being sprayed in the future (like painting my garage).

I would agree that orifice size must be synonymous with needle size. What I've got on the gun now is a #3 which is .051in and I've got a #2 set (.031in) still in the package. Below is another page from the manual detailing the size of each projector set. I think sticking with the #3 will be just fine. 



My next question has to do with the setup for the business end of the gun. Hopefully the pictures, along with my description, will make my question clear. 

When installing the air cap, the threaded collar engages right away and everything is held in place ready to spray. If I leave it like this, the nozzle is behind/inside the air cap (first pic).  If I tighten the ring all the way down the nozzle is then poking out past the air cap (second pic). I assume the location of the nozzle in respect to the air cap is an important variable. 

The aircap moving in and out relative to the nozzle is how one alters the width of the fan.  From a flat fan (sprayed right at a target makes a flat oval shape) to a more cone shaped fan.

Load up some water in the gun and put some large sheets of paper on the garage door and give it a wang as you adjust the cap position (should only need to move it one or two full rotations to get the limit of what it can do) as well as fooling around with the adjustment at the back of the gun that limits the travel of the needle.  This alters the material volume that can exit for any given pressure into the gun.

My gun (different than yours), I start with the needle stop screwed out about 3 full turns (this seems to be maybe 80% travel of the needle).  And I generally start with the aircap about 1/2 turn unscrewed from fully seated.  After that, its just adjusting depending on the shape to be sprayed.  A chair leg needs a different sized fan and rate than would a cabinet side.  Also a function of material being sprayed.

I should also mention, that my gun is a "bleeder" style.  That means it continues to push air even when the trigger is released and the needle has come forward to seal the nozzle.  Makes the design of the turbine easier (and therefore a bit cheaper).  To me it is no big deal, I just know to point the gun away from my work or use my free hand as a deflector to keep the air from mussing up the wet finish. YMMV

[mr_skittle]

I always appreciate your input Rob. You do a really nice job of explaining things.

I mixed up some material this weekend and sprayed. Now knowing how much I'd need, I mixed up a pint. When I was looking at a Sherwin Williams product, the rep discouraged me from

mixing up just part of the gallon like this but I had no problems with this Lenmar product. It dried really nice and hard. It dries quick and sands nicely. The built-up finish is really nice. I can't

really comment on the durability yet. With that said, things went well when they went well but the gun was giving me plenty of trouble. There was no problems with the material as far as

viscosity. The problems was a dirty siphon straw. I sprayed some premixed lacquer (from a big box store) a few months ago and didn't have the problem. My guess is that the powerful

solvents, etc. in the Lenmar really loosened up every last trace of old paint and finish. I took the gun apart and got EVERYTHING cleaned out good. The outward cleanliness of the gun gave

me the false impressions of it's overall cleanliness As I was cleaning, I was working at digging out a real stubborn piece of material (or at least I thought) but it turns out it was a bit of the seal that goes

around the needle. I finally got ahold of it and realized quickly as it unraveled, that I screwed up. It came out looking like rolled up teflon tape. I still have to check into how to repair/replace it because I

did pull enough of it out to ruin the seal. One of these days I'll get all these kinks ironed out.

[mr_skittle]

Well I seemed to have fixed my problem with the seal. It was pretty easy too. I just tightened the packing nut to squish the teflon seal and shazam, now it works perfectly.  I did some more spraying last night and it was a dream. No little pieces of old paint contaminating my finish and plugging up the nozzle. Now that I have the kinks worked out I can say that I love this Lenmar conversion varnish. I am no stranger to sags when I've sprayed in the past but this stuff seems to be sag-free. It dries fast and leaves an absolute perfect film. Its a little glossier that I'd prefer but some steel wool should help to decrease that a little bit.

[jteneyck]

Well I seemed to have fixed my problem with the seal. It was pretty easy too. I just tightened the packing nut to squish the teflon seal and shazam, now it works perfectly.  I did some more spraying last night and it was a dream. No little pieces of old paint contaminating my finish and plugging up the nozzle. Now that I have the kinks worked out I can say that I love this Lenmar conversion varnish. I am no stranger to sags when I've sprayed in the past but this stuff seems to be sag-free. It dries fast and leaves an absolute perfect film. Its a little glossier that I'd prefer but some steel wool should help to decrease that a little bit.

Good to see you have your gun sorted out and like the Lenmar finish.  I'll have to ask about their WB products the next time I'm at BM's. 

YOu know you can buy flatters to add to your finish to lower the sheen, right?  That would be my preference over having to rub it with steel wool.  

John

[Rob Young]

Good to see you have your gun sorted out and like the Lenmar finish.  I'll have to ask about their WB products the next time I'm at BM's. 

YOu know you can buy flatters to add to your finish to lower the sheen, right?  That would be my preference over having to rub it with steel wool.  

John

The flatteners would be a more bulletproof method, or at least consistent so long as one keeps them suspended into solution vs. rubbing out with steel wool.  Especially for just a touch of gloss reduction.  Easy to over do a small area with the steel wool and it might look strange.  DAMHIKT.