Magazine Review: HVLP "One-stop shopping but slight orange peel"... your comments?

[Jim Kaczmark]

Just got my issue of FWW. It contained a "Spary Gun Choices" article that made this comment on HVLP spray systems: "Turbine: one-stop shopping, but slight orange peel". The article gave the quality edge to compressed air systems because "....they generally have a greater maximum pressue at the tip than a turbine gun. This means you can increase the psi to achieve batter atomization of thicker finishes..."

I'm researching my purchase of a spray system (will be my first one) & would like your comments. I'm planning on primarily using my system for water based finishes.

Thanks in advance!
Jim

[Howard Acheson]

What else do you want to know? The article is correct in that a conversion gun setup will generally outperform a turbine unit. That's been the case for years.

A continuing problem with turbines are that they heat the air. This is the primary reason for the orange peel. In the shop I was involved with, we experimented with a water cooling heat exchanger between the turbine and the gun. It worked OK but was mainly an additional complication.

[Tim Sproul]

I'm researching my purchase of a spray system (will be my first one) & would like your comments. I'm planning on primarily using my system for water based finishes.


I started spraying about 2 years ago and went conversion gun over turbine. The biggest difference, to me:

Turbine - limited ability to adjust pressure so you need to adjust finish viscosity if air adjustments on the gun don't work. This assumes use of the appropriate tip.

Conversion - because I'm not a commercial shop, I can exceed the regulatory 10 psi at the tip for HVLP compliance in those instances where I want/need to. Adjust the gun and not fiddle with thinning the finish.

I'd recommend you contact Jeff Jewitt at his store - homesteadfinishing.com. He is a great resource for all your finishing requirements - spray or brush or wipe and equipment or finish material. I've been unbelievably happy with his service/knowledge/advice. The only downfault is turn around time. Place an order and it isn't instantly shipped the same day like a lot of larger or less complicated operations. But hey, if you work wood, you should have plenty of patience.