Spray Painting Furniture with Automotive Paint – Eastwood Single Stage

No Clear Coat Required!

A friend asked about our dining room chair spray painting project using Automotive spray paint…

Hey John. I haven’t completed my instructional video yet on my chair painting project on Fix It Wise, but here are some basic notes.

First off, I gotta tell ya, the automotive route is somewhat involved. But the results impressed the heck out of me. Super duper glossy – ten times glossier than any lacquer I have ever used. Bulletproof – A fingernail can’t leave an impression. This Eastwood automotive spray paint is super forgiving spraying on – goes on like glass.

*The product itself is pretty nasty to your health and very explosive, so you do not want to do it inside, without a proper explosion proof paint booth. Attached is a picture on my safety gear set up using a positive fresh air supply full face shield – YES – Your eyes can adsorb nasty paint fumes too!

• Without a spark proof paint booth – you have to spray outside – AND you have to pick your days!
  Notes on Outside Spraying:
  A. Observe the 65 rule of painting – Above 65 degrees and BELOW 65% humidity. I find the humidity the real killer in any paint job!
  B. No wind!
  C. Protect everything from the over spray – it sticks to everything!
• I used a cheap harbor freight purple spray gun and threw it away! Model 62300 (see attached) About $13 dollars if you can catch it on sale… It’s way too much trouble to clean this nasty stuff out! The pros make fun of this spray paint gun, but you can find hundreds of examples on YouTube of people using it to do beautiful paint jobs on cars! It works just fine for a throw away furniture painting job.

• I also made a poster board / cheat sheet to remind me of all the dial settings on the spray gun – It really helped. I get nervous and confused when I am working with two (three in this case) component paints that have a short pot life – so I need all the help I can get!

• Compressor Notes: With automotive paint / spray guns it’s ALL about the CFM (air volume and velocity) and less about the air pressure. I added an auxiliary air tank and hooked it up to work in tandem with my cheap homeowner compressor. It worked great for the needed CFM. (CFM = Cubic Feet Per Minute)
  *The purple harbor freight spray gun only needs 6 CFM – which is half what the pro’s paint guns need. Note: Most homeowner air compressors can’t even come close to the required CFM of the professional spray guns – sometimes as high as 14 CFM. These higher CFMs usually require a very large, 220 volt compressor, which is not practical for most homeowner work shops. This is another reason that I like the Harbor freight spray gun at 6 CFM. Stay tuned for an upcoming video on how I added the auxiliary tank to work in tandem with my small compressor. It’s plug and play!
• Preparation: As with any paint project, preparation is the number one most important step. We used Acetone to soften the old finish on our dining chairs. Acetone is my new go to solvent because it is one of the safest solvents to your health (it’s what nail salons use as a finger nail polish remover) – Although it is very flammable! It softens almost any old, solvent based paint finish. Think of it like a liquid sander. Just wipe it on with a saturated rag and paint right away – before it has a chance to harden again. You can tell it’s working, because the old finish becomes tacky – which is what you want.
• Your weathered furniture project probably will just need a good cleaning. I did note that this stuff stuck to everything like crazy. I can show you the over spray on my saw horses and it’s bullet proof. So, I think it’s pretty forgiving in the preparation department.

This product is a called a “Single Stage Urethane” which just means you can skip the clear coat step. It’s still two component, which was a little confusing to me. Single stage automotive paints are all the rage for DIYers

My Eastwood Order – Note that I ordered the higher (ambient) temp activator and reducer, which you should do too for this time of year. Also be sure to order their handy measuring cut – it’s a life saver when dealing with three components and the corresponding ratios:

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-boulevard-black-3-1-ss-urethane-96oz.html

• Eastwood Air In Line Air Filter
• EW Boulevard Black 3:1 SS Urethane 96oz
• EW Urethane Reducer Slow 80-90 degrees quart
• Eastwood Concours Pro 0-80 PSI air regulator
• Universal Mixing Cups 1 QT 5 PC Set
• EW SSU Slow Activator Quart 80 degree and above