Which Graco sprayer would you recommend?

5 years ago

Were in the midst of a first floor remodel and i'm really starting to think it's time to invest in a sprayer, not only for this effort, but for all future projects. I'm thinking of using it for trim, cabinet doors, interior doors, etc. Basically everything minus interior/exterior walls. I've been a model maker for ~20 years and i've done by share of painting prototypes with Iwata, Devilbiss, etc. so i feel confident i can figure out how to handle a sprayer for around home.

It seems like Graco's are the most commonly chosen sprayers around here. Which one of their sprayers would give me the most versatility and ease of operation and maintenance while providing a quality finish?

Comments (11)

poorgirl
5 years ago
We have used 2 Greco sprayers, 1 we own and the other we have in the shop.
The one in the shop ive used to spray decking and chairs with stain, this one has 2 spray settings which was very helpful, the one we bought only has 1 setting and we feel we cant control the paint/ stain as much as the one with 2 settings. Greco uses metal nozzles which are much better the the plastic nozzles. I sprayed a stain on 150’ fence in under 2 hours. Also it would be helpful for big jobs to be able to put the hose in the paint pail instead of having to stop and fill up every 5 minutes.
These sprayers also have different nozzles for different liquids.
PRO
The Cook's Kitchen
5 years ago
Look at the airless air assisted systems like Kremlin.
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Matt
Original Author
5 years ago
@poolgirl...which models are your Gracos?

@cooks....i'll check them out as well.
Hillside House
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I think we have the X5.
poorgirl
5 years ago
We have the truecoat ll electric airless
poorgirl
5 years ago
I’m not sure of model in the shop but it looks almost identical but has a dial on it to change the spray strength.
GreenDesigns
5 years ago
Air assist will give you better control. But it’s the coatings themselves where you will have issues practicing. They are expensive to get right. Talk to SW Pro to get the tips and thinning dialed in right, or you may waste a lot and still get it wrong.
bry911
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Just my 2 cents

Personally, I have three sprayers. A cheap(ish) Graco airless sprayer, a Titan air assisted airless sprayer, and a Fujispray HVLP.

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Paint sprayers are all about atomization of the paint. Airless sprayers basically use high pressure to bounce the paint off the surface. Air assisted and HVLP both use air to help atomize the paint.

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If you are putting a lot of paint on the wall then an airless sprayer is pretty incredible. We use the cheap(ish) Graco to paint rental units fast.

For wood projects I use either the air assisted airless or the HVLP. I get a better finish with the HVLP, it is a lot more user friendly and they are much cheaper to get into. However, you are not going to be spraying latex paint with an HVLP gun. I have a 5 stage motor in mine and I still can't spray a thick latex paint. So that means thinning the paint quite a bit and spraying more coats.

The best answer for what you are wanting is an air assisted airless that you can turn off the pump and turn it into a true airless (Graco 595) but something like that will cost you a very pretty penny.

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If you are going to go with an airless because it can paint everything the tip (and maybe the mix) is imperative. Use the product sheets to find the recommended tip and then try it for a bit. Use a resource like youtube to make sure you understand what your spray pattern should look like before you start spraying wood (paint a lot of cardboard). If your putting too much paint on the edges things are going to go south.

If you are going to go with an HVLP because you can't mess it up, get used to 20%-30% dilutions for latex paint and lots of refills.

If you are going to go with an air assisted airless get used to 10%-20% dilutions for latex paint but few refills (or spend a ton of money).

Best of luck
jdesign_gw
5 years ago
Different applications require different set ups. For cabinet doors I use a gravity gun with a 3M PPS cup system or a pressure pot set up. Sure Air assisted or airless with the right tip can be use but beside ones like a Kremlin costing thousands of dollars you can put on way too much paint if you are not experienced.
Lauren
5 years ago
We have the Graco magnum X5 airless sprayer and have loved it! We have used it to paint cabinets (doors & drawers) and doors. We changed the sprayer tip out for indoor paint applications - they have many charts on the Graco website to help with this.
Aurora Tee (Zone 6a)
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Gotta second Lauren's rec of a Graco X5. We have been using ours a lot lately to paint a bunch of interior doors with their relatively new fine finish tips. Used the regular tip to paint our basement ceiling in black. Thought it was a once and done tool purchase but the FF tips opened up lots of new possibilities. Plus, Graco's customer service has been outstanding.