Official Luthiers Forum!

To all who spray out side, what is the range of temperature you find acceptable?
My air is plenty dry but the best chance for still air is in the morning. How cold before light coats or shellac would be difficult to manage. I lost my access to a spray booth so I want to define what constitutes a potential “spray day”, in terms of weather.

Low humidity is the most important for water white clear finish, above 70°F. I would think that you would want a liitle breeze to help manage overspray and hopefully good sun so you can see what you are doing. My 2 cents..
John

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John Nowicki

I spray outside alot and find shellac can be sprayed at 60 degrees with no problems. The humidity is the most important to me when spraying even with reducer. The hardest part is keeping the bugs from the wet paint.

Most of the summer time in Durango should be fine. Nice place to live, wish I was still there. Humidity is usually pretty low. I would probably go for late morning to avoid the afternoon thunderstorms that pop up sometimes. Bugs are a pain anywhere.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Thanks for the reposes, high humidity would never be an issue here but the best air seems to be in the morning. The junk gets stirred up during the day but most mornings start out clear and calm. “still air” is relative out here the air is almost never truly calm. At this altitude even days that will end up in the high 90’s start out crisp. I was hoping low 50’s would be o.k.. sounds like it’s worth a try.
Steve, if your ever back visiting here in paradise your welcome to look me up!

Thanks David, I loved living there but the job market could be tough with all the folks who just wanted to stay a while and work for a season or so.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

50 degrees F. should be fine... The last time I sprayed a guitar outside, I was walking on leftover snow from a blizzard a few days before. I was on a deadline & had to git 'er done!
The temp that day was in the mid fourties. I was using nitro.
I'm not sure how it would've worked with polyester or polyurethane, but the nitro came out fine. Nice & clear, no blush & the adhesion seems unaffected.
Some folks warm their lacquer when spraying in cold conditions & say it helps.
It is easier to get runs or sags in colder weather.