For smooth painting of surfaces from various materials, including walls, cars, furniture, you should know how to paint with a spray gun. In order for the coating to turn out really smooth and uniform, you need to have some knowledge of the process technology.
- Preparatory work
- Surface
- Coloring materials
- Test staining
- Device selection
- Surface painting
- Hammer paint application
- Painting of surfaces of different structure
- Stain preparation
- Work safety measures
The airbrush is used mainly for coloring with various compositions of paints over large areas. But also small details can also be painted with the help of the unit, especially if the elements are in a hard-to-reach place, and to get to them with a brush is quite problematic.
to contents ↑Preparatory work
To paint with a spray gun, it is necessary to use goggles and a respirator reinforced with a double filter. Still need special workplace equipment. Best suited cooker hood. Although when using water-based paints, it is quite possible to simply work in a well-ventilated area.
You should also remember the role of lighting. To prevent drying of smudges and sag, the lighting should be at an acute angle relative to the painted surface.
to contents ↑Surface
Before you start painting the surface, you need to carefully level it. It should be treated with fine-grained sandpaper, and then all dust should be carefully removed. The fact is that when applying paintwork with a spray gun, all existing irregularities will become more pronounced. If wooden furniture is being prepared for painting, then it should also be sanded and freed from the old coating.
Coloring materials
Paint also needs to be prepared correctly:
- Check for viscosity.
- So that no lumps remain in the substance, it must be passed through the filter.
- If necessary, dilute the ready-to-use paint with a solvent.
Density is easy to check. It is enough to stir a small amount of it with a wooden stick and, lifting it above the container, see how the drops will flow. At high viscosity, the paint slides slowly, in a thick stream. In this case, it should be diluted.
Information on the amount of solvent is contained on the packaging of coatings. After dilution, check the density again. At normal viscosity, the droplets run off the stick about one every second.
Next, the paint must be filtered. You can use a ready-made filter for this or make it yourself by pulling a nylon mesh over a clean container. Only after this, making sure that all extraneous lumps and inclusions are removed, the paint will be ready for use.
to contents ↑Test staining
Now the paint can be poured into the spray gun and try to spray it on a small surface. This should be done so that the air and paint flow evenly. Only in this case will the coating turn out smooth. The instructions indicate how to use the spray gun. It has special levers for adjusting the supply of paint and air. By controlling them in the trial process, a mixture of flows is regulated.
to contents ↑
Device selection
The airbrush is chosen according to the principle of its work.It can function by mechanical action or be driven by a compressor. The spray gun can be electric. This type of equipment for painting cars is very suitable. But the paint should be applied to the machine with an electric spray gun selectively - only on small curly parts, and not on horizontal flat surfaces.
It is also indispensable when painting small parts in hard-to-reach places or fragments having an uneven decorated surface. Furniture elements, wood parts, internal surfaces of a car - these are all areas of application for an electric spray gun.
But for painting large horizontal or vertical surfaces, walls, ceilings, exterior elements of cars, large flat furniture parts, this type of spray gun is not suitable.
to contents ↑Surface painting
After that, they begin to apply paint to the surface. The choice of method depends on the specific surface. If you plan to paint the horizontal details of home decoration, for example, the ceiling should start from the perimeter, gradually approaching the center. With uniform transverse movements, paint is applied to the surface so that the next layer is slightly on the previous one. The same technique should be used when painting auto parts, regardless of their position - horizontal or vertical.
Important points:
- Care must be taken so that the joints of the layers are not too dense, otherwise they will stand out against the general background of the paint.
- The distance from the apparatus to the surface to be painted must be the same all the time.
- The sprayer does not need to be tilted or changed its location in another way.
- The speed of the spray gun should also be the same.
So you can avoid errors when applying the paint, the surface will be flat, with the same layer of paint and a uniform shade of color.
Painting the ceiling with a spray gun is very convenient compared to using a roller or brush. The airbrush allows to apply paint with a thin even layer. You do not need a stepladder to get closer to the surface of the ceiling, in addition, the paint consumption is significantly reduced when working with a spray gun.
to contents ↑Hammer paint application
Hammer paint is usually used for painting metal parts. It allows you to protect the surface from rust and hide bumps. In addition, when applying hammer paint it turns out a decorative pattern that can give the product the appearance of an element of decor.
Hammer paint is easy to use and dries very quickly, which makes its use predominant for uneven or old metal surfaces. It is often used to decorate auto elements, metal furniture parts. When decorating with wood surfaces having metal parts, hammer enamel is also used.
Although experts recommend using a roller to work with a hammer paint, a spray gun can also be used. In this case there will be no textured pattern, which is quite suitable for painting rusty machine parts.
to contents ↑Painting of surfaces of different structure
Vertical walls must be painted from the top to the bottom. It is necessary to apply the paint across the wall, in horizontal movements.
When painting wooden furniture, it is quite possible to use different types of paint. If you want to give the furniture details a decorated look, you can use hammer enamel. Do not forget that the tree, especially the old one, is sufficiently hygroscopic, so you need to apply paint to wooden furniture in several stages, waiting for it to dry completely.In addition, furniture is painted along the arrangement of wood fibers. So the paint will lie evenly and pour into the natural fabric and wood pattern.
The most common application of a spray gun is painting walls, ceilings and other large and flat areas. Brush or roller to paint them for a long time, it is difficult and not always smooth and high quality. Therefore, painting such surfaces is most often done with a spray gun. For painting furniture, especially curly and carved, it is also convenient to use a spray gun.
to contents ↑Stain preparation
On the walls and ceiling, you need to carry out preparatory work to level them:
- If there are seams, irregularities on the ceiling, then they are plastered, and the previous whitewash is washed.
- Soil is applied to the walls, unnecessary holes are eliminated with putty. This applies to concrete or brick walls and ceilings. If the surfaces are made of wood, then they are pre-sanded.
- Also, the surfaces of the car are cleaned and primed. Machine parts are cleaned of old paint, preparation is done, and only then spray areas of the car are spray-painted.
After staining, you should carefully inspect the area under inclined lighting in order to see possible irregularities, leaks, flows. If they are found, then they should immediately be leveled by applying additional layers of paint. This must be done under the installed side lighting in order to immediately see and evaluate the thickness of the new leveling layer.
to contents ↑Work safety measures
Always observe safety precautions. When painting ceilings with a spray gun, you need to use a mask, and not just a respirator, since the ceiling is on top of the master, and finely sprayed paint can get into your eyes. But when painting a car, it is quite possible to do without a mask, since almost all parts are located vertically or horizontally. The room in which the paint spraying work is carried out should be well ventilated.
If the exterior surfaces of the house are painted, then such work should be carried out in calm and dry weather. If the car is painted indoors, then it is also necessary to provide fresh air and use a professional respirator with a filter and a mask, since it is in automotive paints that there are toxic substances that can easily get into the eyes and respiratory tract when sprayed finely.
Work with a spray gun requires skill, certain skills, so you should practice painting surfaces. Each of them involves a choice of the type of paint and the method of its application.
