Eliminating Overspray on Door Backs
Finishers explain how to keep overspray off cabinet door backs when spraying the fronts. September 11, 2006
Question
We are getting overspray on the backs of our cabinet doors and I was wondering if anyone has figured out a good way to eliminate this. We spray our doors one at a time right in front of the spray booth fan then transfer them out of the way of any overspray in the booth. I have found if I cut pieces of 1/4" plywood to the size of the door and set it directly on it while I am spraying it gets rid of it, but it also gets rid of a lot of 1/4" plywood and spare time with my children. I spray with a nice air assisted Sata pump so I don't think it's due to cheap equipment. If I just place it on a block that is smaller than the door you can see where the block was because that area is smooth compared to the rest of the doors. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I miss my kids!
Forum Responses
(Finishing Forum)
From contributor A:
Do not spray (hold the gun) at 90 degrees to the edge. Hold it at about 45 degrees and you will not get over spray on the backs.
From contributor B:
Using my hvlp gun I can spray doors and fronts resting on small blocks and spray 90 degrees onto edge for good coverage and not get any over spray on the back. Maybe it’s the difference in our guns.
From contributor C:
Unless it's something that’s going in the Taj Mahal or someplace similar, just rub out the backs with an abralon pad. You will not be able to see the scratches and the backs will feel perfectly smooth.
From contributor D:
The overspray is bouncing up from the surface below the doors you are spraying. I spray doors laid out on rails between saw horses. The backs stay clean and smooth.
From contributor E:
I have carts with a skinny V post and 4 X 10 inch tops for drawer fronts and doors. I use shipping cardboard that always comes with my plywood, and cut to fit these tops (just in case I screw up and put a tacky front on it). The fronts overhang anything that can bounce material. The V or L shaped post goes all the way to the floor plate with casters under it, so it basically floats the fronts at waist height. Even when I go around the edges, I never seem to get any lacquer on the cart tops. Most of the overspray hits the post about 1/3 to ½ the way down, and the floor. After a few jobs, we sand the powder away and roll the carts back in the booth. Two or three fat dowels would have been even better for the post, but I used scrap ply strips on the cheap.
From the original questioner:
I think contributors D and E hit it on the head with the finish bouncing back off the surface underneath. I like the idea of the V-post deal. I've got one of my guys making one up right now.
From contributor F:
Use nail boards. Spray the back first, then flip the door face up and spray the front and then the edges last, at an angle. The back is still wet and any overspray will flow out.
From contributor G:
I had the same problem but invested in the Pivot-Pro outfit. There should be a link on the right side of this forum. It solved the overspray problem and unclogged the production bottleneck I had with finishing. It cost me $860 to get set up to spray and dry 24 doors but worth every cent.
From contributor H:
I spray with an air-assisted airless. It comes with a grounding wire. I ground the gun and it reduces the amount of overspray due to static.
From contributor I:
We mask the backside of all doors and panels. This produces perfect results every time.
From the original questioner:
I took contributor G's advice and checked out the Pivot-Pro. I just set it up and am about ready to spray my first set of doors with it. I'll let you know how it goes. I think this is going to be very helpful in a couple of aspects. I won’t need to wait to spray my second sides so this will not only be less labor but it should help open up the bottleneck we always seem to have in the spray booth. Not to mention it will be easier for me to meet my customer's unreasonable deadlines.
