What do I need to try out using hvlp spray finishes?

[Jim Barstow]

Do I need a dedicated spray area (or room)? Do the less expensive rigs work well or should I spring for a higher cost system?

[Howard Acheson]

First thing you might want to do is to buy Charon's Spray Finishing. Amazon will have it. It will give you info about the equipment you need and the various finishes that can be sprayed. It will also tell you how to set up your equipment and make proper adjustments...

Getting into spray finishing requires some info and practice. You don't just fill up the gun and pull the trigger.

[Art Mann]

For my usage, I couldn't justify buying a high end turbine type HVLP sprayer. Instead, I bought a Wagner conversion gun that works with my regular air compressor. I'm sure it is considerably slower than using a dedicated HVLP machine, but the finish it produces with lacquer and varnish is better than what I had hoped for. I think results are at least as dependent on technique as equipment. Spraying without a dedicated booth is a real problem, especially using solvent based finishes. I much prefer lacquer because it dries so fast and leaves less residue to coat the inside of my shop. I have a large concrete pad outside my shop and I usually spray out there when the weather is favorable.

I haven't tried water based finishes yet but I am wanting to move to that type of material because it is easier to deal with and so many SMC members are getting such good results.

[Mike Henderson]

You can buy a Harbor Freight HVLP conversion gun (assuming you have an air compressor). I haven't used one but people who have report they work well.

The other question is where will you spray. If you can spray outdoors or in a very well ventilated area, such as a garage with the doors open, you won't need a spray booth. Water borne finishes have some good points and some bad points. Make sure you understand what they will do and won't do.

Mike

[Malcolm Schweizer]

You can buy a Harbor Freight HVLP conversion gun (assuming you have an air compressor). I haven't used one but people who have report they work well.

Just don't watch their YouTube video on how to use it. They give wrong air pressure range (50 psi!!!), misidentify parts of the gun, and the guy uses the gun wrong when spraying. It's quite comical. Oh, and he warns you to beware of the pressure in the paint cup when you remove the lid. It's a gravity feed gun- there is no pressure in the cup. If anything probably vacuum. However, he has a great smile.

Here is the video I refer to: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f_gfnoTiLbk&feature=relmfu

[Michael W. Clark]

I bought a cheap HVLP from WoodCraft, it actually works very well, but I have nothing to compare it to. I would like to get a more expensive (Devilbiss, Apollo, etc) one for finishes and retire this one to stains. I think the more expensive ones do a better job of atomizing, more needle selections, and are hopefully easier to clean or disassemble. All my finishing takes place in the garage or outside since I have a basement shop and no exterior ventilation. Build a turn-table with a lazy susan, very nice to stand in one spot for spraying and not get tangled up in the hose.

[Prashun Patel]

+1 on the Woodcraft or Rockler models.

I've used them to spray Deft lacquer, shellac, and dye. It works very well for all this. It works especially well with Deft Finish.

[Jeff Duncan]

Not enough info to give good advice. The responses so far are OK, although they assume your doing this as a hobby. Of course there's a big difference in how I'd want to set up to spray the occasional piece of furniture a couple times of year, vs spraying kitchens once a month or so;)

JeffD

[John TenEyck]

By the OP's question it seems clear he is a hobbiest, so much of the advise given already is appropriate. I'm mostly a hobbiest also. Getting into spraying is very intimidating, there is just so many options and opinions about the right way, the only way, everyone with their own idea of what's best. I finally decided to go the compressor and HLVP gun route. I can use the compressor for many other activities and low end HVLP guns are amazingly cheap but spray very well. I bought a used 60 gal compressor with around 8 CFM, and 3 HVLP guns similar to those sold by Woodcraft, Grizzly, Harbor Freight, etc. All in I have less than $500 invested. I spray mostly in my basement shop using a temporary spray booth made of 6 mil plastic draped from the floor joists, old bed sheets on the floor, and use my dust collector fan (bypassing the bags) to exhaust the booth out a nearby window with no filters. It works great; no overspray and no smell, and no accumulation in the DC fan or housing. I ONLY spray shellac and waterborne products. I would never spray other solvent systems and really, there's just no need to anymore, WB products will do everything you want/need.

My best advise is to decide what you think is the right direction and jump in. Reading and wringing your hands won't get you very far. Spraying is not nearly as hard as many will tell you. If you can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time you should be able to learn to spray flat surfaces and the outside of a box in an hour or two of practice on cardboard. After that you're ready to tackle a simple project, and from there more practice is all it takes. I'm no pro, for sure, and I still find new ways to screw up, but I'm plenty happy with the results I get and the only defects anyone sees are the ones I see. The comment about making a simple turn table is really good. It just makes it far easier to work on a piece when you can turn it in front of you rather than trying to walk around it, especially if you have an exhaust fan. My last piece of advise is to get a viscosity cup ($6 for a cheap plastic one at Highland Hardware) and some paper cone filters. Adjusting the viscosity of what you are spraying so that it is compatible with your gun orifice and filtering out any particles will go a long way in helping you lay down a smooth, defect free finish.

Jump in, and don't spend a lot in the beginning. 4 years now, and I'm still using those cheap guns.

John

[Peter Quinn]

Check out Homestead finishing site, Jeff has some great values in quality entry level professional equipment. LVLP guns can often run on a fairly small compressor, easy to spray small volumes with. Not the guns to spray your Ferrari with, but great for wood. I used a cheap Grizzly conversion gun in a class, bought one, works fine for stains, have never sprayed clear with it. I use water borne exclusively when spraying, I can't spray solvent in good conscience in my tight neighborhood, poison my neighbors, the over spray has to go some where even outside. You don't need a dedicated room, but it's better to have some way to draw any over spray away from your work, and a room is a good way to have control over that. A box fan in a cardboard sheet in a garage door opening can serve the same purpose. Outside on a windy day you are at the mercy of mother nature.....and she's not always merciful. Leaves, bugs, pollen, raindrops, these are not things I appreciate in my finish. Do some reading, Jeff Jewits spray finishing book is a good primer too, comes with a video worth watching.

[John Schweikert]

Very good suggestions already provided. The 2 to 6 mil sized plastic rolled sheets sold in packs are perfect for this and cheap. I just staple the plastic all around the walls in my bow roof shed and made a spot in the wall I can place a box fan and 20x20 filter over it to exhaust the overspray away from the work piece. I use a Fuji HVLP and have nothing but the best experience with it. Expensive but for the number of coats, the variety of projects I do as a hobbyist and homeowner, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again. When I am totally done, I just pull down the plastic and throw away.

I bought this book to get me going several years back: http://www.amazon.com/Spray-Finishing-Simple-Step---Step/dp/1600850928/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1378496928&sr=8-1&keywords=spray+finishing

Once you get going, it makes sense on how to do it well. Consistency and documenting your ratios in mixing your finish to a solvent (water, etc) and adding Floetrol for latex makes the process a no brainer after a while. Your consistency in spraying distance, pattern size in relation to the finish will become second nature too.

My own method for Latex with a 1.4-2.2mm sized Fuji tip is 3oz of Floe, 3oz distilled water and fill with paint to make 1 quart total. I use the plastic graduated and reusable cups you can buy on Amazon or get at Home Depot/Lowes. I buy filters usually in 100 bundles for about 30 bucks. I use a filter holder, $10 from Woodcraft and strain the final mixture in the paint gun cup for new paint. For paint that is a little older I usually double strain the paint before mixing and after mixing. It not only prevents clogs in the gun needle but will help in getting a better finish.

When I spray poly, I just strain it and use a smaller tip, 1mm.

I wear a respirator always which has the fabric prefilters along with the organic filters. It makes the process more pleasing not smelling anything and not breathing in anything. The prefilters get covered in the color of the finish, which shows you just how much would be up your nose otherwise.

We all have a habit of wanting to do something new but just do it on a project instead of practicing or perfecting a technique. Practice some first, spray some cardboard or on non-critical pieces until you feel comfortable with the whole process. Spraying inside with good wall/tool cover and ventilation is the best thing to do at home if you want a great finish. Spraying outside will lend itself to dust and bugs getting trapped in the finish. Or wrap a 10x10 pop tent with plastic for a temporary outside spray booth. The last pop tent I bought from a sporting goods store was $45 which I use when we car camp.

[Michael W. Clark]

Yes, I assumed a hobby application. If this is commercial, its a different ball game. Most of the costs are going to come from code and insurance requirements for hazzard area classifications, sprinkler requirements, spark resistant fan, etc depending on the booth construction and what you are spraying. Good catch Jeff.

[Erik Christensen]

I have had a titan hvlp turbine & gun since the ealry 90's - sprayed hundreds of gallons of finish with it - now have upgraded to a graco air-assisted-airless which does a great job no matter the viscosity. I have never sprayed anything other than shellac (a few times) and everything else was water based dye or water based poly. never had a booth - open up the garage doors pint the sprayer towards the driveway and fire it up. waterborne dries so fast that overspray but time it lands on something is dry - stuff will get 'dusty' with overspray but it wipes off.

always use a respirator with carbon filters no matter what you spray (why risk your health on the accuracy of a MDS) and always disassemble the gun after every day's spraying - running solvent (water in my case) through it helps but you need to take it apart, clean it, let it dry, lightly Vaseline moving parts and reassemble. it does have a learning curve - how to pick the right tip and use the gun so start on a garage cabinet - not that hard to learn.

[Chris Merriam]

If you ever decide to move away from the cheap hvlp guns and move to a nice ($200+) model, be aware you need a beefy compressor to feed it. 220 volt, 60 gallon tanks seem to be the only units that put out the high cfm (7-9) required of hvlp. Sure you can spray with smaller, you just have to let the air recover. I bought a sears 26 gallon thinking it would be plenty...nope the cfm is not there. If I could do it over, I would buy a cheap harbor freight pancake compressor for the shop and a turbine system for spraying.

I spent 350 on compressor and 250 on Jeff Jewitts LVLP gun, plus another 200 or so on hoses, fittings, misc stuff. That total puts me well into a nice turbine range.

read the air requirements on Jeff's homestead finishing site, then look around at compressors for sale, you won't find any small ones that'll work.

[Paul Wunder]

Jeff Jewitt's new book. "Spray Finishing Made Simple" complete with an excellent included video would a good place to start. It was written in 2010 and really makes HVLP spraying approachable. Amazon has it.

[Jim Barstow]

Yes, I am a hobbyist.

At this point, I'm thinking a turbine system might be best; I really have no need for a big compressor.

i can't imagine ever spraying paint since everything I make uses (relatively) expensive (cherry,walnut) hardwood.

[Ben Martin]

I just purchased a Fuji Semi Pro 2 last week and so far have a set of garage cabinets under my belt with it. I used it to spray Minwax Brushing Lacquer and it worked very well. With such little time on it I can't give too much of a review, but the quality of the unit thus far is quite impressive!

Ben

270353

[Curt Harms]

Turbines do have one advantage - they're portable. I've sprayed stuff in the yard, early or late in the day when there's little or no wind. I agree with 'water-based' material, especially if you're spraying indoors. Shellac sprays well too. I have an Earlex 5000 which is an entry level turbine HVLP unit. I've sprayed some 'latex' in the garage diluted with floetrol & distilled water similar to what John Schweikert mentions. For as much air as comes out of the gun, I find no overspray that is not the result of inadequate drop cloths. Spraying things sitting on dusty surfaces may not be a great idea, however:p. The Earlex is a 'bleeder' gun which means there's air coming out anytime the turbine is running, even if there's no liquid coming out. Compressor powered conversion guns are generally non-bleeders which means the trigger shuts off both air and liquid. There are non-bleeder turbines that have a bypass setup to divert air when the gun trigger is not squeezed. I've never used a 'high end' turbine HVLP setup to compare to the Earlex.

Whatever you get, it's not a bad idea to start out spraying water onto something like a refrigerator box or other large flat surface. Play with various knobs and pressure settings to develop a feel for how the various controls work. Once comfortable, maybe spray some scrap wood with your chosen finish before comitting to keeper pieces.

[Jeff Duncan]

Yes, I am a hobbyist.

At this point, I'm thinking a turbine system might be best; I really have no need for a big compressor.

i can't imagine ever spraying paint since everything I make uses (relatively) expensive (cherry,walnut) hardwood.

Well then.....I would say a turbine gives you the easiest spray setup to get into. Also nice that they're portable if you need to move it around for whatever reason. If you stick with water based finishes a window fan and some plastic on the floor, (as has already been recommended), will get you a long way. A couple other things....turbines are pretty loud, kinds like using a shop vac, so you may want to think about using hearing protection OR....looking into the newer quiet models available;) Also if your thinking about spraying heavier finishes your going to want a 4 stage vs the 3. The 3 will get it done, but for a nice finish you'll really need to thin a lot of finishes in order to get them to atomize and flow nicely. Some of the solvents I spray would need to be thinned close to 30% to flow right through a 3 stage ! I haven't shot any water based in a while but I think it was a bit thinner out of the can? Oh and water based finishes are still plenty bad for you so you'll need a good respirator as well!

As far as painting I'd leave that to airless sprayers for the most part. The guns that you use to spray woodwork have a pretty small spray pattern which is fine for furniture and cabinet doors and such, but would take forever to paint a wall or fence or whatever. I sprayed my office with an airless in maybe 10 - 15 minutes, with my Fuji it would take several hours....just not what I'm looking for:o

good luck,
JeffD