: After seeing how nice the Merganser's looked at the Newfound Rendezvous
: (sweet paddling boats by the way), I asked Michael about varnish. He said
: they used HVLP sprayer to apply the varnish. Anybody tried it with
: inexpensive equipment and Can you apply coats one on one without sanding?

: Larry C.

Hi Larry,

HVLP simply means High Volume Low Pressure. It is a form of spray equipment that was developed to meet environmental laws. The big bonus using it is transfer efficiency. Using regular spray equipment the transfer efficiency was around 30-35%. This meant that if you sprayed 3 gallons of material only (approx.) 1 gallon ended up on the object being sprayed. With HVLP equipment and the newer low VOC (volitile organic compound) products, the transfer efficiency is closing in on 100% under ideal conditions.

HVLP had some growing pains when it first hit the market. One of the major ones was the quality of the finished surface. HVLP sprayed surfaces had a tendancy to be dry and orange peely. Part of this was due to the high transfer efficiency of products with high VOC. When paint drys, the solvents (VOC) evaporate and the surface experiences "die back" resulting in excessive orange peel. However, with the low VOC products this problem was greatly eliminated so that now the surface for both styles of spraying is about equal.

All this is great for the environment and people's health.

Now to answer your questions;

-yes you can spray it with cheaper, non HVLP equipment but your mixing ratios may be different.

You can spray coats wet on wet but you MUST allow the recommended flash time between coats.

Hope this helps and remember to turn off all sources of ignition before spraying .

Ian