Assisting paint to dry

I'm making wooden games mostly from MDF and finishing them with Gloss Acrylic paints, sprayed on. With the cold weather coming, wondering if there's a way of helping the paint dry quicker, as I'm getting a flattish look on the finished item. I know I should only paint when it's warm, but the customer won't wait till it warms up enough. Should I look at heat lamps, a fan heater, or is there another choice/product? If I need to look at heat lamps, what heat rating/number of lamps would I need?
Thanks in advance.
Kryn

I know a sign company that uses one of these to heat the workshop, I believe H&F have a special on a generic version at the moment
Industrial Space Heaters - Gas Fired - Spitwater Australia

'Cold' is relative. When it's -25C outside, anything above 0C feels tropical.
Acrylics don't out-gas flammable vapors so that's OK.
Have you got a smallish room that you could set up as the "drying" room?
A 1kW fan-heater will be more than enough.
I've got 3 of those to add a little heat to a single room at a time where I may have some project going on.
Don't even have to shut the door or I'd cook.

After applying a finish I have taken items inside the house to dry.

Thanks Christos, I'd do that but SWMBO complains about the smell, plus there are several hundred at a time!!! I don't really have a small room just a galv shed 4 X 14 metres, I suppose I could partition off a section with MDF board.
Thanks RV will try one of the fan heaters,
Kryn

Run a gentle hot air gun over the piece first ie pre heat it then hit it with the paint.
Then place item in a foil lined box with heat lamb suspended from above

But keep an eye on it MDF cardboard heat

Can be big problem.[emoji52]

Cheers Matt

How big are the items they you are spray painting? If they are reasonably small, You can make yourself a hutch, say size of a chicken coop, with a small inlet at the bottom of one wall, and another small outlet at the top of another wall. It could be easily heated a heated towel rail that you get off ebay second hand for next to nothing.

Kryn
If I have the chemistry right, acrylic paint dries through a process of solvent (water) evaporation and a chemical reaction between the paint constituents. The chemical reaction will slow down and possibly stop below a certain critical temperature and possibly proceed unevenly if the freshly painted item is not at a constant temperature.

If changing the paint to one with a more volatile solvent is not an option, then I think you will need to invest in a air conditioned drying room. I say 'air conditioned" as you need both a relatively constant temperature and a means of removing the water which evaporates from the finish.

Painting for clients is one of the hardest things one can do.

They expect perfection, simply because everything they see commercially is perfect.

Easy to do in a big warehouse but impossible to do in a workshop.

Ive tried everything from tents, top notch spray gear, oils, water based, car paint enamels, outdoor gear etc etc.

If you can't get a bug free environment that has suitable temperature and good exhausting, you will always be push a rope from the wrong end.....

I now (winter) get everything ready the night before, wait to first thing in the morning and hit it all at once outside in the sun, using spray gear and oils. Waters are OK, but it needs to be warmer... Canberra winters sometimes the temp reluctantly gets to 10 degrees. In the summer it's so stinking hot here the problem is the opposite. I spray in the early evening.

Ive asked around for a pro spraying solution, but it's a LOT of money with very little return. I've had no luck finding an outfit that doesn't charge at nose-bleed levels.... So it's litterally "do what you can".

Ive found clients will pay handsomely for woodwork, but nothing for painting. They assume it's easy and cheap.

Big numbers of things are particularly hard. Right now I'm doing 50 pairs of bookends... Nooooo....

The pieces are quite small, currently about 60 mm diameter, but I also have some others to do that are about 200 X 175 and about 150 of them!
Was thinking of a wardrobe with shelving/racking and a fan heater on the bottom as someone suggested similar.
Kryn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

The pieces are quite small, currently about 60 mm diameter, but I also have some others to do that are about 200 X 175 and about 150 of them!
Was thinking of a wardrobe with shelving/racking and a fan heater on the bottom as someone suggested similar.
Kryn

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Fan in heater could stir up dust in the air flow. 2 or three (or more if necessary) 40/60W light bulbs could do the trick to warm up your drying cupboard.

Yvan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by woodPixel

Ive tried everything from tents, top notch spray gear, oils, water based, car paint enamels, outdoor gear etc etc.

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Interesting WP
Which spray gear have you had success with?
Also, I'm currently considering purchasing a 3 x 3m stall tent with sides, rather than be victim to nature.
How did your "tent" work out?

The tent is a pop-up OzTrail with the fine mesh on all four sides. It can be erected in 10 minutes (though mine stays up months at a time!!!). The replacement mesh sides are cheap on Ebay. The mesh is fine and mostly opaque, but allows a light breeze. The tent is blue so it gets warm (badly so in summer). Its good enough to keep the buggies away.

I made some concrete boots for the corners too. Just use a 20L "concrete bucket" from bunnings and a 100mm pvc pipe section in the centre. Pour concrete into the donut and presto, 20kg feet for ~$5 a pop. The post will slide in and the foot slides under the centre holding it in place. Super heavy winds one night tore my tent to peices :( and it didnt move an inch. :)

Spray gear is a good compressor I found on special at one of those big tool companies. It is a 15amp belt driven thing with a huge FAD capacity. I dont need to wait while it charges.

Guns, I have a devilbiss, Iwata and 3 gravity el-cheapos. Interestingly its the elcheapos that do the best job, mainly as they have 1.4mm nozzles. I do need to dilute the paint a bit dependant on temperature. I use a flow cup for that, but they are a devil to buy for some reason. I run my paint through a fine seive into the gun after mixing it up. It is just a chinese noodle strainer from the junk shop, but its very fine and made of wire, so it lasts (3 years now). Ive many paper based mesh strainers, but they are no good for house paints.

For paint, the best so far to spray has been the Haymes range. It dilutes well. The second best are the $15 4L generic cans at Bunnings. Its absolute garbage paint for houses or brushing, but good for spraying onto MDF and doing smalls... plus its cheap enough that I feel good at doing three good thin coats, which when I use expensive stuff I do only two coats and Im far to careful.... house paints needs a liberal technique (unlike car paint which needs skill)

Thanks for the info.
I'm other gunna buy an OzTrail thingy with sides, or stop spraying. I like the boots idea.
Would the mesh sides be sufficient to stop oil based overspray?
Currently I've been painting furniture etc with a reasonable airless gun & flow cup, using acrylic & oil based paint. Getting good results.
I have a 300 litre FAD compressor, so air delivery isn't a problem.
I've steered away from an air spray gun due to air volume blow back. Maybe I should reconsider!?
I have success with Zinsser primers, Dulux Weathershield acrylic, Taubmans Tradex oil based paints.
They all need diluting using the airless, but the flow cup keeps it consistent.

Rusty sash cord pulleys before and after. 2 teaspoons citric acid in 500ml water & 48 hours. Photo doesn't do it justice.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...597efd91ba.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...43cf886205.jpg

Oh oh.
I was supposed to post that post in the sash window repair thread.
What a fumduck[emoji33]

We are all following that thread too :)