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Paint Kitchens Woodworking

Anyone use Kem Aqua Plus from Sherwin Williams?

Doug Richardson

2 years ago

First time user and wondering if it sprays through an HVLP just like a pre cat lacquer? Do you have to reduce it? I have sprayed pre cat lacquer through my hvlp and never had to reduce it. Never dealt with runs or sags. Typical gave it several light coats to avoid any issues. The nozzle is a 1.5mm on my gun. I don’t like playing chemistry with paint. Hoping to load the gun and spray it. I watched one guy reduce the Kem Aqua and he was dealing with runs and sags.

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Comments (5)

PRO
User
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
It isn't a homeowner level coating. It must be sprayed flat lay, of course with a respirator and the rest of the required PPE. Airless works better than HVLP for almost all cabinet coatings. You’d do better to leave all of that old history technology behind and choose a modern 2K coating like Envirolak, Renner, Ilva, Milesi, etc. Availability is regional for almost everything, but those are all far better than KA. Join the Kitchen Cabinet Painting Experts group on Facebook and learn from the pros.
bry911
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I like Kem-Aqua plus pretty well. It is beginner friendly and easy to work with. It is comparable to a lacquer level finish without the problems that lacquers have. With proper equipment and setup, you will not need to thin the product and cleanup is easy. It can orange peel if your gun is setup poorly so spray a decent amount of cardboard first.

The white is super-white and you will not match it with any other coating, so if that is a concern, get some tint (it has to be tinted at a distribution center).

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I have airless, air-assisted airless, and HVLP sprayers (actually multiples of the first and third). I will put a $500 Fuji Spray with a devilbiss gun against any airless sprayer and crush it every time.

My go-to spraying setup for wood is a Devilbiss finishline spray gun and a Fuji Spray Q5 platinum. But I also have a Fuji Spray Semi-pro 2 and it is a great sprayer for the money. If you are spraying off a compressor, I highly recommend upgrading to a turbine sprayer. The Semi-pro sells new for $460 and you can sell it used for $400. Well worth the small investment.

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This is not taking anything away from 2k poly... a good Italian 2k poly is great if you can get one. I am underwhelmed by the development of some US versions that make no attempt to move away from isocyanates.
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Doug Richardson
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks for all that useful information
bry911
2 years ago
I forgot to mention. Ignore the air presure recommendations on the data sheet. Run your gun at the inlet pressure it was engineered for, you can adjust up or down a bit from there.
Doug Richardson
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks a lot. Spraying today hopefully things run smoothly

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