hvlp

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Ok - so we're all agreed then. I'm so glad I was able to bring peace and accord to this little group. Tanus - you buy this round of beer. Swingman - you grab a few girls, there's a thing gonna be happening here...

On Sun, 13 Jan 2008 18:16:21 GMT, "toolman946 via CraftKB.com"
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Because the cheapie can't spray some of the products I apply with the Fuji. The cheapie dosen't have a long enough hose to spray millwork, and it can't be extended. There's no pressure pot for the cheapie.
FWIW, the $200 HVLP can't apply half of the products the that the Fuji can.
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Thanks!

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I usually trim replies more than I trimmed this one. I'm leaving Barry's comments in ahead of yours, because I'm curious to know how you got to the point of your comments, from anything Barry said. I do believe you went off on a rant over something that was never said.

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Because you buy the better equipment for two reasons: You have the extra $600 to $1000 to put in the machine if you find you need to. Why would you need a "better machine? Flexibility of finish application, a better quality gun, and the ability to purchase other aircaps for the same gun. The second would be reliability. I do not expect to be able to use the HF gun all day and all night as needed, several times a week if needed without any fear of failure. It is a $69 unit. If it fails in the garage while you are spraying a project, it would truly suck. But if your HVLP system failed while you were spraying precat lacquer, that would be a tragedy.
My Fuji, with all the aircaps, the extra whip, extra filiters, and a second gun dedicated to spraying dye cost me around $1400. I paid that money for the sake of the Fuji reputation as well as their outstanding product and tech support.
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Baloney. I have been finishing my own projects on my remodels and repairs for years. I also refinish custom doors, conference tables, etc. A crappy finish is a crappy finish. I have seen HVLP finishes that look like they were put in with a sheetrock texture gun that were put on with a very nice Graco system. I have seen brush finishes that look sprayed (not layed down by me, though).
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You missed it. Barry never said it was an inferior tool. In fact, he said he liked it enough he would probably buy another if his current machine quit. Read carefully... he and others have said it is a good machine for a lot of finishes, not all finishes. No machine is good out of the box for all finishes without tweaking and adjustment of materials and hardware. The same could be said for my Fuji HVLP or my Graco airless; they won't spray everything without additional aircaps, tips, material modifications, etc.
You should know too, that thinning is part of most finishes with HVLP. What the additional stages (or turbine impellors) allow you to do is to shoot less viscuous finishes without thinning. They DO NOT lay down a better finish simply because they have more stages.
I don't know the difference, but one of those little HFs has a two stage turbine, and the other has a single stage. I have seen some nice finish work put down with those things by non professionals.
And there is nothing wrong with a quality beginner machine. If it winds up being all you need and all you want then you are just that much better off.
Robert

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GREAT POSTING, Thank you very much.

As the OP here, I have to agree! I hope all of you will accept my humble but heartfelt thanks! The conclusion is. . . I will determine which of the two HF units has the two stage turbine and focus on that one. Either way I can neither afford nor justify the around $1000+ machines. So for the apparent differences in the $69/$39 HF and the $200+ CH units, I will go with HF. I luv this group! <s>

I bought the same sprayer you offered in the link. I picked it up 3 years ago and paid the same for it. It comes with 3 different tips and nozzles. It's a great value and works better than anything else I've tried. I haven't done a spray job yet that I'm disappointed with. I've sprayed everything except shellac (including waterborne finishes). I've had no problems at all getting what I consider to be perfect results. The only issue has been dust and bugs but I made a spray booth to take care of that. You can only change flow and viscosity but that's enough for great results. My brother has an accuspray setup at work that I've borrowed and I can't say it does any better than the cheap HF model. More settings with the Accuspray means more experience required and more variables to screw up. Same thing goes with air brushes. My brother has a single action and a double action brush. I do a lot better with the single action because of fewer settings.
Getting viscosity correct is pretty easy. I don't even use the drip cup. I'll use paint as an example. Fill the spray cup about 1/2 way with paint and then add about 1/4 cup of thinning agent. I use flowtrol/penetrol and also use mineral spirits when doing oil based enamel. I use both for reasons I won't get into here. After adding some type of thinner, stir and look at how the paint moves around. You can gauge viscosity this way. It should look about like heavy cream. I also pull out the stir stick and watch the paint stream off. This is also useful (keep a count). After getting the viscosity to where you want it, close the nozzle all the way and then open to a conservative flow. Test on some scrap and look at the droplets. Adjust the flow to get the desired coverage. If the drops are splotchy and you can't resolve by slowing the flow then the paint needs to be thinner. If the paint runs then you've got it too thin.
Same goes for any material really. There's a lot more to spraying like distance to the work, temperature and so on but you'll figure that out through use. All turbines put out heat but that can be remedied (if needed) by working in shorter time periods. I've sprayed 20 minutes straight without issues. I've sprayed furniture, siding, interior walls, moulding, metal and even canvas with this sprayer.
One other point...you don't need to clean the sprayer after every use. It just depends on how much material vs air is left in the cup. I leave material in it for a couple of weeks at a time. It's a good idea to swirl the cup and squirt out a couple of sprays every other day but that's not even necessary. The only time I had something start to dry in the cup was after 4 weeks. The paint dried to the inside of the cup but was really easy to get off.
So from somebody who actually has this sprayer, yes I'd recommend it. Especially for the price. You can find a lot more opinions on this sprayer with a decent google search.

Thanks for a very informative reply. I will prolly check it out soon. I am only a few miles from the HF here.

Thanks for a very informative reply. I will prolly check it out soon. I am only a few miles from the HF here.
I hope this posts. . .having news server problems

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I have a different HVLP unit[1] from Harbor Freight. I'm not a finishing expert and certainly not an expert at spraying finishes. However I can say I've been pleased with the results I've had using my unit. I've used it to spray several types of finishes and some laytex paint. Regarding finishes, I've used my HVLP unit to spray plain shellac and shellac I've tinted with dyes with very good results. I've also use the unit to spray Miniwax's Polyshades product. I've never been able to get the results I wanted with either shellac or Polyshades by brushing or wiping, but when I spray them with the cheap Harbor Freight HVLP unit, I get results I like.
[1]: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber‘772

Thanks. . .I had not seen that one(1) from HF. I had a Wagner airless and got tired of cleaning so much for so little for nuthing extra. I thought I would try an HVLP. I don't mind cleaning if the thing at least works.

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You will need to clean out the gun after every use, but it's not too bad. All the parts in the gun are made of some type of metal so it's actually of decent quality.
The only problem I've had with the thing is the hose that connects the gun to the turbine/blower. The hose and the connections are all plastic. At least once a session, I have the hose come loose from either the gun or the turbine. Fortunately it doesn't require any tools to put things back together. It is an annoyance, but usually about the time that happens is after I've been at it for 30 minutes or more and I typically need a break anyway. :)
One other tip, if you should decide to get one of these units in particular... The turbine is designed to be carried around with you via a shoulder strap. I found that the default length of hose going from the turbine to the gun was too long, and I'd frequently step on or trip on the hose as I was moving around. So I cut the hose in half and eliminated that situation.

I bought the ble one, which was $49, but I got it for $34. Was very happy with it so far, except you CANNOT unscrew the paint cup using the handle as a lever, or you wil crack it like I did mine. Not terminally, but now I use a large pliers to unscrew the cup.