> Does anyone have any experience shooting varnish through an airless
> sprayer? Seams like it would be easier to control sags and runs. Opinions?
> Zax

There are some people who don't even shake the can of varnish, or otherwise mix it before use, for fear of getting bubbles in the finish. And you want to shoot it out of a spray gun? Horrors ! !

If you are not careful, spraying is a very good way to start sags and runs.

Having said all that - - - ->

If you have one of these sprayers you might want to try it. On the other hand, if you do not currently have one, don't waste any time even dreaming about getting one. Not for this job. With a brush you can varnish a boat in an hour. By the time you figure setup and cleanup time, it could take you longer than that to do the job with a spraygun.

Artists have applied varnish over oil paintings for years with simple sprayers. The simplest one I have seen looks like the atomizer on top of a bottle of perfume, but without the rubber squeeze bulb. The artist sticks the feed tube in the varnish, and sticks his/her lips on the air supply side. A healthy puff causes the varnish to spray. As I see it, this is probably the worst way to apply varnish. There is no good reason why this has worked so well for so long. I should think that moisture in the artist's breath, irregular spray pattern, bubbles, etc. would mess up the varnish coat something fierce.

Apparently it doesn't. Artists keep using the things.

By the way, if you get one of these atomizer devices, treat it like Pres. Clinton says he handled marijuana. Don`t inhale.

Lacquer, which dries faster than varnish, is commonly sprayed with great success. Light coats help avoid runs. You might try that with varnish. Lacquer is usually pretty thin, though, while varnish is relatively thick. Adding thinner to varnish would thin it, but then the application would be so thin that you might need additional coats.

Even with a good sprayer you will probably need a brush to touch up small application errors, so you will have to spend time cleaning both sprayer and brush.

You wanted opinions. These have been mine. Hope they help.

Paul Jacobson