HVLP System

[Eddie Simmons]

Looking to buy a medium price HVLP system. I will spray all type of finishes. I build small furniture and wood bowls.
Thanks
Eddie

[Jim Becker]

Can you define what you mean by "medium price". Can we assume you are referring to a turbine system rather than an HPLV conversion gun that works with your compressor?

[Stephen Bunch]

On the extreme low end, harbor freight and rockler sell cheap plastic units.

the next step up would be the earlex, which have gotten good reviews for the money

the higher end would be accuspray, apollo, fuji, graco-croix, wagner-capspray etc. - those machines are typically available with more stages, more rugged components, etc

my weapon of choice is a 4 stage fuji (love that noise reduction)

if you're looking at something particular, or a particular price point, the forum may be able to better help you...

[Larry Fox]

Other posters have given good advise. Provide as much information as you can and you will get some good information. Likely the best piece of advise you will get is to call Jeff Jewitt at Homestead. Give some serious thought to a conversion-based outfit though if you have a compressor or planned to get one. You get a lot of utility out of it. It also buys you easier entrance into the used market as I see more conversion-based ones on flea-bay than turbine-based. Don't skimp on quality though or you will likely end up frustrated with sub-par results. Think of the amount of work you put into any one of your projects. Is it worth trusting, literally, the last step to something that won't allow you to achieve the results you want. Now multiply that risk over the number of projects that you do and it quickly makes the case for good finishing gear and supplies.

[Ryan Cassidy]

So this is going to sound weird.. Take it for what it is....

But I finished painting a car I built a year or so ago and it's turned out great. A friend of mine who helped me with the painting (he's a painter/body guy by trade) pointed me in the direction of a Campbell Hausfield (SP?) kit at Home Depot. Said it works better than most of his HVLP $300 + guns. I thought he was nuts. But I bought it anyway for $30 or something like that. This thing rocks!! Him and I tested his apparently nice guns to my CH and his CH spraying epoxy primer and the CH's beat them hands down anyday. I would never have guessed as CH tends to be kind of on the low end for a lot of stuff.

Now, I didn't spray the clear or the paint with the CH, but I'm willing to bet you can and get a great finish. The Epoxy primer is thicker, but we did cut it pretty good for the final wet/sand coats. I have used the gun for other wood project since and been very very happy.

Couple of points to note though. You'll need a good filtration system. I'd recommend an Oil/Water Separator and a Dessicant Filter at the compressor , and then a small Devibliss paper filter at the gun. The Oil/Water separator takes the oil/water out of the air stream, the Dessicant takes the moisture out of the compressed air, and the filter at the gun takes the dessicant which normally does break down some into fine particulate out of the air. If you search on eBay you can put together a really nice system on the cheap. Don't skip here though, it will make or break your finish if there is a lot of junk in the air.


Cheers,
Ryan Cassidy