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Thread: Harbor Freight HVLP Gun for Latex Paint?

  1. #1
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    Harbor Freight HVLP Gun for Latex Paint?

    Anyone use one of the Harbor Freight HVLP guns for shooting latex paint? If so, did it work well?

    I've shot latex successfully with a higher priced HVLP gun and a large tip, but I don't want to keep using latex in that gun. I was hoping that I could find a cheap HVLP gun to shoot latex.

    Here's a selection of the Harbor Freight HVLP guns. Any comments?

    I don't want to spend the money on an airless unit unless you can suggest a low cost one that works well.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  2. #2
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    Mike, I don't know about the siphon feed guns, but none of the gravity feed guns comes with a N/N larger than 1.8 mm, that's not near large enough to spray latex paint w/o serious thinning. That limitation is why I bought a pressure assisted gun. The only one that I think would do a good job spraying un-thinned paint would be the one with the 1.8 mm N/N and a pressure pot, https://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...kit-93312.html

    John

  3. #3
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    Thanks, John. I'll probably spend a bit more money and buy a handheld airless unit. I don't have to spray latex very often and the projects are fairly small. I have a 2.0 or a 2.2 tip for one of my better gravity feed guns which I've used in the past successfully but I was looking for a cheap unit to dedicate to latex.

    Graco makes a fairly expensive unit that uses DeWalt batteries for a full portable experience - but I don't know if I want to spend that much money.

    Mike
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  4. #4
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    Mike, buy a low cost pressure pot and gun. You can get 10 litre pot/gun systems pretty cheap. If you only want a litre or two of paint, you sit a small tin inside the pressure pot and it saves a lot of cleaning up. These low cost ones tolerate latex OK but the hoses don't usually like strong solvents much. Use a 2.0 or 2.2 and you will have no problem. Pressure pots suit both HVLP and conventional guns. You only need to run 5 or 10 psi in the pot itself ie just enough to deliver paint to the tip. Cheers
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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman View Post
    Mike, buy a low cost pressure pot and gun. You can get 10 litre pot/gun systems pretty cheap. If you only want a litre or two of paint, you sit a small tin inside the pressure pot and it saves a lot of cleaning up. These low cost ones tolerate latex OK but the hoses don't usually like strong solvents much. Use a 2.0 or 2.2 and you will have no problem. Pressure pots suit both HVLP and conventional guns. You only need to run 5 or 10 psi in the pot itself ie just enough to deliver paint to the tip. Cheers
    Thanks, Wayne. I'll give that Harbor Freight one that John recommended a try.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    Thanks, Wayne. I'll give that Harbor Freight one that John recommended a try.

    Mike
    Mike, I wasn't recommending it, only stating that it should do a good job. And it should, but I've never used it.

    John

  7. #7
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    Mike, in addition to all the good advice that you've received on this subject, I would suggest you take a good look at a product called Benjamin Moore Paint Extender 518.

    http://co.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/fo...paint-extender

    Almost all "house paints" (aka latex) will require some type of thinning before running them through a HVLP type spraygun, and I have found this little known Ben Moore product to work the best. It seems to work just fine with any brand of waterborne house paint. In other words, not exclusive to just the Ben Moore paints.

    Also, I have one of those Graco handheld airless guns. Mine is corded (didn't want the extra weight and expense of the cordless model). It works really good, and, of course, no thinning is necessary. Graco has made some product improvements since I bought mine, so they may be even better now. Quite a bit more expensive than a Harbor Fright gun however.

    Best of luck to you on this adventure.

  8. #8
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    Hi Jack,

    That product from BM reads a lot like Floetrol that I use whenever I spray latex (I have a 4-stage Apollo1000 HVLP) with my gun.
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  9. #9
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    Chris, yes and no. FWIW, in my experience, Floetrol alters the final sheen of the paint. The Ben Moore Extender does not.

  10. I have sprayed latex with the gravity feed HF gun. It is doable but frustrating. I got one of these https://www.amazon.com/Tacklife-SGP1...dp/B06Y3QKQY4/ and it is a lot better. Not what I would call professional quality at all, but for an economical way to occasionally spray latex its has worked well for me. It does take longer to prime than I expected and you probably will still need to thin a bit. With any sprayer I would recommend filtering the paint. One little fleck of something clogging you up while you are on a roll is frustrating.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robert Hannon View Post
    I have sprayed latex with the gravity feed HF gun. It is doable but frustrating. I got one of these https://www.amazon.com/Tacklife-SGP1...dp/B06Y3QKQY4/ and it is a lot better. Not what I would call professional quality at all, but for an economical way to occasionally spray latex its has worked well for me. It does take longer to prime than I expected and you probably will still need to thin a bit. With any sprayer I would recommend filtering the paint. One little fleck of something clogging you up while you are on a roll is frustrating.
    Thanks for your recommendation, Robert. That's a very decent price for that gun.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

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