The HF catalog I got in the mail today had a bunch of new items. One of them was a turbine powered HVLP (ie. gun + air supply) for the regular price of $50. I can't wait for this to go on sale!
If anyone has purchased this item and could post a review I would appreciate it.
I suspect that one is similar to (and looks like) the units that sold for about 200 a few years ago. I've used that to spray oil paint, and latex with a flow additive, and it did a very nice job. It handled shellac and some light finishes. The results with water base finishes were not very good, and no amount of additives would help. The volume of air from the turbine made it unusable for small projects, unless they were really locked down. That also made it very hard to finish projects that had interior areas. Others may report better results, but remember, there is a reason why they sell more expensive two and three stages turbine HVLP sprayers.
I later moved to a compressor and a spray gun from Homestead. It overcame all of the above issues and is so much more flexible that I haven't used that turb>The HF catalog I got in the mail today had a bunch of new items. One of
GerryG, thanks for the input.
How big of a compressor do you need to run an HVLP spray gun?
I have a small compressor from HF (CFM: 3.8 @ 90 PSI, 4.5 @ 70 PSI, 5.0 @ 40 PSI) as shown here:
that compressor will run a small airgun like
They are called conversion guns and it usually takes a real healthy compressor to run one efficiently.
Think three horse two stage putting out ten to twelve CFM at ninety PSI.
How big a compressor do you need? The answer is the question: how big is the gun?
From your cfm ratings at 90 and 40, together with the tank size, you can look for what's available. What you actually need to do something is a matter of opinion, both of who you speak with, and your own impression of the quality and ease you're looking for. For that reason, anybody who points you to a particular spray gun without knowing what you want from it is just taking a potshot. What I'm shooting for here is a quality gun that'll fit your compressor and handle small furniture.
You didn't say the tank size for the compressor, but I'd say a quality touch-up HVLP gun will need just under 5cfm @40psi and will handle small furniture jobs. Caveat: If your tank is small, it will be cycling quite a bit. While there are other equivalent guns available, the one I use for small furniture is a Walcom STM HVLP. It atomizes well enough that I can spray shellac at 12-18psi, and water base poly at 18-36.
There are cheaper guns available (and more expensive ones), but this is a versatile middle ground. This one does come with a regulator.
If you're also going to spray dye or any colors, I'd suggest also picking up a Harbour Freight 20-40 touch up gun, and leave your good one for clear finish only.
GerryG
regular price
I bought this item online - not bad for $50, but I haven't used it enough to write a real review, nor am I knowlegeable enough for the same.
I was at HF this weekend and saw their day-after-thanksgiving sale and notice that this unit will be on sale for $29.
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