Quality finishing

[warpedarrow]

For those of you that do not have a clue of who I am, let me introduce myself.  My name is Brad Lehmann and I am addicted to collecting old Bear bows.  I do not want to be cured of this addiction but come here seeking your advice on the finishing side of bow repair.  I truly love to buy a ragged old bow and then put time and elbow grease into turning it back into the beauty that it once was.  I normally hang out in the history and collecting forum but come over here occasionally to glean information and then try to utilize that information to improve my skills.

I  have found that I can spend ten or twelve hours repairing, sanding, and prepping a bow but it then takes me a couple of months to get the bow finished.  I normally wipe very thin coats of finish on the risers, wet sanding every six or eight coats, up until the finish is as smooth as glass.  I would like to be able to finish the bow within a week or so.  I am not in the business of refinishing and do not plan to get into the business.  I am presently doing three bows for a collector that gave me some bows but I do not want to do it as a job.  I think that doing so would ruin my enthusiasm for it.

I want to purchase a decent cup gun or hvlp gun and start using Thunderbird or a similar product that will build quickly.  I have a large air compressor but would need to buy oil and desiccant filters, install a drip leg, etc. if I decide to go that route.  I really am not interested in buying a turbine air generator but I am curious if anybody uses them with success.
I am also seeing either cheap guns for twenty or thirty dollars or professional grade for three hundred plus.  I can't justify spending a thousand bucks to set up to spray a bow a month.

Any advice on a mid price range setup that will work for me?

[Roy from Pa]

I have this gun and it does a super job. Others get good results with much lower priced guns.

  http://www.tcpglobal.com/SHA289222_2.html?sc=120&category=2669214#.VvU9_Y-cFPY

[warpedarrow]

Roy,  I notice that it is a 1.4 nozzle.  Are you spraying Thunderbird gloss with it?  My research suggests a 1.0 for the gloss.

[warpedarrow]

Never mind, I found it with the 1.0 nozzle in the same model.

[Roy from Pa]

Ok...
I believe you can purchase all the size nozzles for it. There aren't but 3 or 4 I think.

[Bow man]

Brad you can use a 1.4 nozzle on gloss Tbird just be carefull and spray slowly. and keep the volume level tuned down. The reason we suggest on our website to use the 1.0 is to many people get in to big of a hurry and spray to heavy and they  get to rough of a finish.
We actually have a Spray guns listed on our website now also

[Bowjunkie]

Hi Brad, nice to meet you... in the cyber-sense at least.

The quest to applying a professional or better quality finish is a worthy endeavor, and a
standard of many of the folks I respect.

I'm a wee bit embarrassed with the fact that I couldn't tell you what size nozzle my spray gun has in it. I just make adjustments on the fly, in air and liquid volume, in literally 10-15 seconds when I begin spraying... judging by the pattern that comes out of the gun and how it starts laying down in the first several inches of limb, This result is a product of chosen viscosity, (unknown)nozzle size, ambient temps, speed, need, etc... guess I've just sprayed too many danged bows. Within a few seconds, I just kinda know what I need to do to make it 'right'.

If I were to step back and be objective... I always try to start a wee bit 'light' on volume of finish, and lean toward heavier on volume of air... because that does the least potential 'damage'... in real time... But I quickly adjust the gun so that it makes the bow sufficiently 'wet' at my current speed and 'volumes'. I want 'just sufficiently wet', no more... which means adequate coverage, with no drips/runs. If within any succeeding spraying session, the T-bird looks, or looks to be laying down too thick, I'll add a splash of thinner, mix, try, and spray it into the air and then onto the bow, assess, adjust the gun or viscosity, retry, and then go to town. Next session... reassess... readjust... and so it goes... it becomes a simple, repetitive matter of task.

This isn't done because it's the nature of T-bird mind you... I've addressed all of my finish products this way... but T-bird has proven more durable, versatile, and 'workable' than any I've used... so far. Hope this helps.

[warpedarrow]

I have a whole barrel of wood scraps that I can hang up and practice on.  Then I have an old Darton recurve that doesn't shoot straight that I can practice on the first few sprays to get the adjustments figured out.  Maybe a little extra finish on one limb will help the way it shoots.

I am leaning towards running schedule 40 pic from my compressor to my work room.  It is about forty feet so I will be able to put a couple of drip legs in and then a filter at the work end.  I might start with a cheap hvlp gravity fed gun to see if I like it.  I have been using cup guns for years and never paid any attention to how big the nozzle was.  I think that there should be a short learning curve on the gun and maybe a bit longer and more expensive one with the expensive product that I will be spraying.  

Any idea on how many bows can be sprayed with a quart?

[Bow man]

A qt kit which gives you a qt. Each A and B and a qt of thinner can do up to 20 or so bows. A pint kit 8 to 10. It has a two year shelf life after opening you can extend shelf life by storing where cool, like a basement.

[Robertfishes]

warpedarrow, Be careful PVC is not recomended for air pressure lines.  HDPE tubing is used for air lines. I was going to use iron pipe for the 20 ft run in my shop but ended up using  25ft of 3/8" air hose then two moisture filters. I only use the oil less compressor for spraying bows so it doesnt run alot.   http://hydraulicspneumatics.com/200/TechZone/FluidPowerAcces/Article/False/6547/TechZone-FluidPowerAcces

[Robertfishes]

[mikkekeswick]

I now get a professional spray shop to do mine....
I can spray the finish on perfectly but I had too many problems with dust getting on my bows after spraying that I got sick of having to sand it out!
Bowman _I take it you never managed to get a company to send TBird to the UK? I would still buy some!

[bamboo]

warped--
 a lot of finish knowledge here--my take is this-
 you will have to learn YOUR product of choice/conditions/gun--pretty much on the fly
  ...and chances are you will be sanding out and starting over now and again!
  thunderbird is an industry standard for a very good reason...but a high gloss finish on the facets and edges and many surfaces of any bow is setting the bar mighty high-and when accomplished -a work of art!!--best of luck---- mix-up and dive in!!!

[Kopper1013]

Never run air through pvc for compressor lines if money is an issue run pex

[warpedarrow]

I had a rendering plant that had air lines all through it made out of pvc. It worked.  I can imagine the danger of a pvc pipe bursting and throwing shards everywhere.  I really never considered it a problem until you guys started raising red flags.  I suppose that I can afford something safer.  I just don't want to have to buy or borrow a pipe cutter and threader.  I will talk to my buddy that owns the plumbing supply house and get something that goes up easy.  I really love the Cherry Burrel fittings because you can disassemble the system without tools.  Problem is that a 1/2" el is about $30.

[Crooked Stic]

They do mike a plastic pipe that will handle air pressure. PVC is for water a sewer and works for dust collection.