Spraying is fast, unless you count the hours it takes to clean the spray gun.

I run a cabinet, furniture shop and my finishing is always done by spray it is faster and gives a much better finish. I spray all kinds of varnish. There is a learning curve as you need to know what preasures for what varnish and how to thin your varnish (every one is different ) I use a different gun for each kind of finish. 1 Spar varnish , 2 polyurethane, 3 shellac , 4 water base, 5 Automotice 2 pac clear coat . If you know how to clean a gun it takes less solvent and less time than cleaning a brush.

Who cleans brushes? Disposablre foam is the way to go when not spraying. Don't forget to save the wooden handles. Great for when you need a short dowel.

Laszlo

Hey Wood Ogre -

Can you give us a little more information on what types of guns your using, thinning  and pressures your running for your spar varnish, and polyurethane applications?  I'm just about ready to put on a finish coat over the epoxy and have a compressor and a couple of guns, just need a little additional guidance.  Alos what brand names are you using for your spar varnish and polyurethane applicatins?

thanks -

  I intend to spray all the finishes on my Chester Yawl so I will be able to let you know how it works out. I have an HVLP 5oz touch-up gun from harbor freight that I used today to lay on a first coat of primer on the foot braces. I figure that: 1. It's just primer 2. Most of it gets sanded off anyway and 3. they are just foot braces. I ran 25psi, not filter, no drier and thinned the Interlux Pre-cote with MEK about 2 to 1 primer to thinner. I used the MEK because that it what I had on hand, I'll probably stick with it if things look OK tomorrow. This seemed the best place to experiment. BTW, I have painted with this equipment before.

  I plan on painting the hull blue, the interior and floorboards Hatteras off-white and I have stained, the fore and aft seats, the tops of the rowing seats and all the frames and bulkheads Nutmeg Brown. So there is a lot of finish work ahead......

  Went out and tried sanding the sprayed primer this morning around 9:00, about 16 hrs of drying time. As has been mentioned on other threads it loaded up a bit, but all in all it sanded well. Since I am in no big hurry, I am letting it cure a full 24 hrs before finishing the sanding. 

  No side effects from using MEK as a thinner, so far, but just to be one the safe side I have a gallon of the correct Interlux reducer/thinner on the way. Until it arrives I will continue with using the MEK as I build and sand the primer layers. 

  It sure is nice to have an even smooth coat of primer to work with, no brush marks to smooth out and it seems to use a bit less primer too. BTW, spray gun clean-up took about 5 min., a fair trade off for such a smooth surface IMHO.