HVLP Conversion gun

[Sandy Jackson]

What particular brands/models of conversion guns have you folks had good results with spraying waterborne finishes?

I'm a cabinetmaker (trying to ease into furniture) and will be spraying mostly casework. I'm thinking the conversion is the way to go as I already have a 80gal compressor. If I can avoid the turbine systems the savings will allow me to invest a bit more on a good gun. At first glance one of the gravity guns appeals to me possibly because my gun sometimes has trouble siphoning the heavy material and I wind up thinning more than I'd like to.

I'm somewhat ignorant about finishes as virtually all of my cabinets are job-site finished by others. Local painter/finishers are all of the mindset that you use a small airless and lacquer for finishing cabinets.
I really want to explore the waterborne stuff more. What little bit I've sprayed has been a Benjamin Moore product "stays clear" I think its called and using my $100 sears conversion gun.

Thanks for your help

[Phil Phelps]

Conversion guns are good. I prefer a cup gun rather than a gravity fed. If you do a lot of spraying, you'll likely invest in a pressure pot for extended spraying. I know nothing of your business, or size. I can attest that if you paint your cabinets, you'll spend about as much time finishing as you do building them.

[Larry Fox]

I personally use a Walcom pressure-pot based gun for my spraying needs. I have a 1.2 needle in it and have sprayed a range of WB finishes and shellac as well as some limited range of solvent-based products all with good result. The WB ones are the most heavy-bodied ones and I have not had to thin where I did with a 3-stage turbine-based unit I had prior.

I think that if you are spraying cabinets you will want to seriously consider the pressure-pot setup. It gets the weight of the finish off the gun giving you more control and it allows you to spray with the gun upside down. The downsides are the additional expense and the cleaning of the setup takes longer because you have a lot of finish in the lines.

I bought the setup I have from Jeff Jewitt but the gun I have can typically be had on "the bay" for much less than I gave for it (although there are none currenlty listed).

Below is a link to a picture of the one that I have (albeit a bad picture)

http://www.walcom.com.br/images/produtos/bt_fz_sp_hvlp.jpg

Walcom also sold a line of guns called the GEO which are a step up from the one that I have. They are quite common on "the bay" as well. You cen tell them from the other lines as they are blue. There are a number of the green and blue ones listed now but they all appear to be gravity guns. I don't know and am completely unaffiliated with the seller, just providing info.

[Rob Cunningham]

I use a QualSpray 600 WB from Homestead Finishing. I'm happy with the quality of the gun and the finish it lays down. It's a gravity feed gun, which I prefer over a siphon cup. I have sprayed water thin dyes to acrylic enamel paint with great results.
http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/htdocs/qualspray.htm#guns

[Ed Hazel]

+1 on the QualSpray 600 WB, I added HF's 32 oz Aluminum cups to mine. I have also used the cheaper HF guns they will do the job, The QualSpray 600 WB does a better job of atomizing the fliud giving a finer spray, It seems to me the QS has less overspray then the cheaper guns.

[Sandy Jackson]

Thank you all for your help.

Larry, that's a very nice rig (found a little more info on the walcoms at homestead finishing). I think you're right about the pressure pot systems but at this time with the limited amount of finishing I'm doing a cup gun fits my needs better. Walcom has several offerings in those as well. Reading between the lines it seems maybe you didn't like a turbine system so well?

Ed and Rob, that gun appears to be an LVLP. Low volume, maybe they use less air?? It gets good reviews. It comes in a kit with 1.4 & 1.8 tips. I'm curious which tips you are using.

Thanks again for all your help

[Ed Hazel]

I use the 1.4 tip for lacquer

[Larry Fox]

Reading between the lines it seems maybe you didn't like a turbine system so well?


Not so, my turbine-based system was very good and was very easy to use. The one I had was a 3-stage and, in my opinion, could not really atomize the heavier WB finishes so well but did great with shellac and other things of similar viscosity. It was also very noisy which I didn't care for much but that is nitpicking. I definitely liked the portability that it afforded. I wanted to upgrade my compressor and decided to upgrade my spray setup at the same time. I tried the setup I now have at a friend's shop and was blown away by the amount of finish i could put down relative to my turbine setup.

[Rob Cunningham]

Sandy, I use a 1.0 for dyes and 1 lb cut shellac, 1.4 for EM6000, 1.8 for EM2000, and the 2.5 for acrylic enamel paints. It is an LVLP and uses very little air. I am very impressed with the gun. I suggest you call Jeff Jewitt at Homestead and tell him your requirements. He'll steer you in the right direction.

[Sandy Jackson]

Thanks again, I did not realize Homestead was Jeff Jewitt's deal.
He helped me with some waterborne lacquer 10 or so years ago which worked amazingly well. It should be very interesting to see how the technology has progressed in the meantime.

[Sandy Jackson]

Well, Brown Santa showed up with the Qual-Spray 600 this afternoon.
After all the "paying" work was done for the day I tried it out on phase 3 of my marathon kitchen cabinet project. (My wife's kitchen, she's patient, a saint actually).
I put the 1.8 tip and needle in and it worked great. I'm using some waterborne polyurethane that I began this project with. Probably not as sophisticated as some of the homestead offerings, really thick which causes me to be even more pleased with the gun.
I'm astonished at the lack of overspray with this gun. If you didn't know better, you might have even thought I knew what I was doing.

Thanks again for your good advice.