HVLP Education Please?

[John McKissick]

Watched a few yt vids so I know nothing. My use would quite limited to a few times a year so I didn't want to spend two grand. Haven't used lacquer before. I expect to want to shoot paint, solid stains (if possible), polyurethane and lacquer not just for wood working projects

I see Rockler sells a branded unit for an affordable price under $200 but will regret it?

Earlex has quite a few offerings under a grand in the $350-$1000.

Any good websites or threads here to help educate me to the shortcomings of lesser priced units, what features I really need etc?

Thanks for your learned advice

[Charles Taylor]

My HVLP gun is a conversion gun (works with a conventional air compressor) from Homestead Finishing. Reasonably priced, and HF can give you good advice prior to purchase.

[Grant Wilkinson]

I have a Fuji and it does everything that I want it to do. I've sprayed various lacquers, shellac, lacquer-based stains and water borne poly.

When you say "paint" what are you considering? You would be much better off with an airless sprayer if you want to spray water borne house paint, for example. They are too thick to get good results from an HVLP and if you thin them down enough to get them to spray even moderately well, they do no dry or cover well.

[Edwin Santos]

I have a Fuji and it does everything that I want it to do. I've sprayed various lacquers, shellac, lacquer-based stains and water borne poly.

When you say "paint" what are you considering? You would be much better off with an airless sprayer if you want to spray water borne house paint, for example. They are too thick to get good results from an HVLP and if you thin them down enough to get them to spray even moderately well, they do no dry or cover well.

This is generally correct, and if house paint was the primary use of your HVLP I'd agree.
However, if you are interested mostly in wood finishes and might spray paint on objects from time to time, not walls and ceilings, I think you would be fine. I use a Fuji HVLP 4 stage turbine. What I do is use a larger tip/needle 1.8mm when spraying paint. I thin a little, not more than 20% and sometimes use an additive called Floetrol, and the results are very good. But again, if spraying paint in larger volume was the objective airless might be the way to go for that.

A friend of mine has the much less expensive Earlex and reports having painted some furniture in his house satisfactorily.

[Edward Dyas]

Watched a few yt vids so I know nothing. My use would quite limited to a few times a year so I didn't want to spend two grand. Haven't used lacquer before. I expect to want to shoot paint, solid stains (if possible), polyurethane and lacquer not just for wood working projects

I see Rockler sells a branded unit for an affordable price under $200 but will regret it?

Earlex has quite a few offerings under a grand in the $350-$1000.

Any good websites or threads here to help educate me to the shortcomings of lesser priced units, what features I really need etc?

Thanks for your learned advice

They put a baffle in HVLP sprayers so it puts out less paint. The invention is mainly aimed at automotive painters that are using expensive paint and also environmentalists because it puts less paint in the air. If you are only spraying wood finishes there is no reason to spend that kind of money on a sprayer. I have a professional shop and I use siphon sprayers I get at Harbor Freight for around 20 bucks with a coupon. You especially don't need a better gun if you plan to spray lacquer on wood. I finish walnut and mahogany dining room table tops with lacquer and nobody can tell they were done with a cheap sprayer. The only time I have trouble with the cheap guns is when I paint a car, especially if it has a metalic base coat. The cheap gun doesn't atomize the paint quite well enough.

[Bradley Gray]

I am currently using a Fuji gun and I like it a lot. I only spray water base materials with it. I spray 20 - 50 gallons/year of water-born poly. The thing about a cheap gun that doesn't atomize very well is I end up sanding off a lot between coats. At $160 landed for 5 gallons of varnish it does not take long to justify a good gun.

I do keep a couple of the cheap HF guns around for solvent finishes and liquid dye. At $20. they are practically disposable.

I am on my 4th HVLP turbine powered gun, and I have torn all of them apart, and none of my guns have/had a baffle inside. There is an external baffle in the air line just before the gun.

[John McKissick]

To make sure I understand when you say Fuji gun is that just the gun or the system with a 4 stage turbine pump? Can HVLP guns run well off a regular compressor? I have a 30 something gallon compressor but I know I need filters/water seps etc to spray paint.

I am currently using a Fuji gun and I like it a lot. I only spray water base materials with it. I spray 20 - 50 gallons/year of water-born poly. The thing about a cheap gun that doesn't atomize very well is I end up sanding off a lot between coats. At $160 landed for 5 gallons of varnish it does not take long to justify a good gun.

I do keep a couple of the cheap HF guns around for solvent finishes and liquid dye. At $20. they are practically disposable.

I am on my 4th HVLP turbine powered gun, and I have torn all of them apart, and none of my guns have/had a baffle inside. There is an external baffle in the air line just before the gun.

[Joe Cowan]

I am learning with a Fuji I bought about a year ago. My philosophy is too buy up as much as I can to make take away any challenges with using a cheaper product. I do not know the difference with the other brands, but have had good luck so far with the Fuji.

[Bradley Gray]

I am currently using the Fuji gun with a Graco turbine. I have bought 3 gun/turbine systems since the first one in 1990. The graco gun needed a lot of parts and my finish supplier had the Fiji and sent it quickly with my varnish order.

I keep water base poly in my gun. About once a week I spray some water and clean the cup. About once a month I take it apart and clean it. I like to spray furniture parts before/during assembly and this way there is almost no setup.

I really like the simplicity of the turbine - as you mention compressors require drying and filtering. The turbine is also portable.

[Prashun Patel]

I have that Rockler unit (the Woodcraft version, which is the same I think). Ultimately I upgraded to a better unit.

I still use that cheap unit often. It sprays 'thin' materials well, like shellac and dye. You can't dial in flow and air pressure separately, so you don't have as much control as on the better units. But for simple and forgiving finish materials, it's not an issue. I still use it as a 'beater' unit to spray dyes and seal coats of shellac. This keeps my other gun cleaner and purposed for water-based finishes, which clean up easier.

So, I don't think you'll regret the purchase of the cheap unit. But you probably WILL want to upgrade it at some point.

Paint will be tough with this unit. It lacks the power and I'm not sure the wider tip is big enough. It does spray Zinsser BIN white primer pretty well.

[Mark Daily]

I guess I must be the black sheep here- I’ve been using a Wagner I bought at HD years ago for under $200. It sprays everything but paint & solid color exterior stains (which are almost as thick as paint) beautifully.

I don’t build & spray a lot of furniture so it fits my needs just fine.

[Curt Harms]

I have an Earlex 5000 2 wheel turbine. It will spray "latex" wall paint if it's thinned a little plus floetrol. I sprayed it because the application was not critical and I had the paint. If I wanted a good finish I'd buy tinted waterbased lacquer or similar, something intended for spraying with HVLP units. I know airless is best for house paint but I don't think airless is practical for one-off small jobs; the cleanup and waste would be more than I'd care for. I can disassemble and clean the Earlex gun in about 5 minutes. There are hand held airless units but I know nothing about them.

[Mark Daily]

Here’s an option for smaller paint jobs. No hose to waste paint or clean afterwards.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Graco-TrueC...rayer/50223915

[Charles Taylor]

Can HVLP guns run well off a regular compressor? I have a 30 something gallon compressor but I know I need filters/water seps etc to spray paint.

An HVLP conversion gun will work with a compressor. Guns made for turbines will not. Conversion guns have certain CFM requirements--compare the gun's requirements against your compressor's capability.

[John McKissick]

And that works better than a Wagner? I found Wagners always sputtered on me

Here’s an option for smaller paint jobs. No hose to waste paint or clean afterwards.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Graco-TrueC...rayer/50223915