Question about HVLP sprayers

[Josh Gilpatrick]

Hello all

I am building a house for a guy and one room is covered in pine t&g car siding. The ceiling is cathedral style on a 9/12 pitch. He wants it finished with clear lacquer. I think it would be much easier to install the car siding and then finish so it would all be sealed. Now for the question.....i dont own a hvlp sprayer, nor have i ever used one. I think one would be just the ticket for this finishing project though. Am i on the right track? I assume i would have no problems spraying the ceiling since the pitch is so sharp and the walls dont concern me at all. Lookin for someone with hvlp experience to lemme know if i am crazy, and a recommendation of a good model to purchase. I have been dying to buy one for a couple years so this is the perfect excuse i hope.

thanks

[Jamie Buxton]

That job should be fine with a sprayer. I use (on furniture) an Accuspray unit with a three-stage turbine. IIRC, it cost $800 or so. There's ones from Fuji and others in that class that should do as well. I'd previously tried lower-cost spray systems, but didn't get satisfactory results.

I spray waterborne "lacquer". There's no explosion hazard, and no lacquer thinner to rot your brain. If you're going to shoot a whole ceiling's worth of real lacquer, use lots of ventilation.

[Mike Adler]

Ah - you don't have to have an HVLP system. I have an HVLP4 and it's not all it's out to be, you can do it with a good standard gun. really since your talking lacquer, dries awfull quick.....Heck a HVLP makes to much heat and you would have to add retarder probably anyway..............Oh I have a Fuji 4 stage and love it, you don't necessarily need a HVLP to do the job, but damn good excuse to buy 1 eh.

[Mike Henderson]

I've never shot water based lacquer with a traditional spray system, but with solvent based lacquer, the difference in overspray is significant. If I was shooting indoors (and not in a spray booth) I would never use a traditional spray gun.

I don't have a specific recommendation for you but any of the big names in HVLP seem to work well. A friend has the Fuji system and likes it. I shoot with a conversion gun.

Mike

[Victor Robinson]

I have the Fuji 4stage (model 2904). It's fantastic, and I shoot only water-based topcoats (usually from Target Coatings). I got mine for about $500, but I think the new version (they upgraded the gun slightly) sells for around $600 on Amazon.

[john bateman]

I would think that for painting large areas, such as walls and ceilings, you would use an airless sprayer. The type you stick a gallon of finish under the pickup tube.

[Larry Fox]

You can do this with an HVLP unit and I shoot WB "lacquer" with mine all the time with great result. As others have noted, the overspray is much less than a conventional gun -- but it is still there.

If you don't have a setup and are considering this job I would look closely at a conversion setup if you have the compressor for it and a way to trap the water. Conversion or turbine though I would not approach this job without a pressure-pot based setup. For that much surface area you want to get the weight off the gun - it is amazing how fatiguing a syphon-cup gun can be after a while. Also, if you have ceiling work to do where you will be spraying upside down a pp-based is the only way I know of to do this reliably.

[Jeff Monson]

I own a graco finishpro 9.0 hvlp system, it was spendy but well worth the money. I would have chosen the fuji but my local sherwin williams sells graco and I like to buy locally if I can. If you are only planning on using the hvlp for 1 room project and mostly furniture or cabinets I would get a system like the finish pro or a fuji. The results I get are fantastic, I have used it for shellac and solvent based laquer, but have plans of switching to water based laquer.

[Mike Reinholtz]

I have a Capspray 9100 4 stage unit and it works very well, I can't believe the quality of work it produces and the time it saves. They take some time learning to adjust, but once you get it dialed in for a specific job they work great and overspray can be minimized. I've used mine for everything from water based finish to automotive paint (restoring 1940s Delta equipment) and can say it hasn't let me down yet.

The only caveat to these machines as mentioned is the heat, which does play a significant role in speeding up dry time. After 10 minutes of spraying mine gets pretty warm. The pressure pot mentioned will make a huge difference for fatigue, it's on my list of things to look in to and pick up.

An hvlp will save you a great deal of time, I have an airless paint sprayer as well but overspray is much harder to control/minimize. I typically use the airless machine on large outdoor projects, like the gazebo.

[Mike Heidrick]

Also own and recommend the Capspray 9100. I am new to spraying and so far have just used it to spray Magnamax precat lacquer. It works great even for a new guy.

[Alan Mikkelsen]

I use HVLP with a pressure pot in my shop/spray booth. But I also have an airless that I use for the application you're talking about. If I were spraying a ceiling or wall, there's no doubt I would use the airless. The airless will do a good job with lacquer or conversion varnish.

[William M Johnson]

I have both turbine system and a conversion system. By conversion I mean that it uses a traditional compressor turned down to 30 psi at the gun inlet.

I find that I use the conversion almost exclusivly. The biggest reason is that I use disposable liners. With these liners you can hold the gun in any position, including upside down.

I bought both the turbine and conversion from TP Tools. You can get a Devilbiss Starting Line (or Finish Line cant remember which) 3 gun set for about $150. These work really well as I have painted cars with them with virtually no orange peel. Spray lacquer is a piece of cake.

Acutally now I use the turbine by setting it outside and hooking up a respirator to to.

Bill

[Jamie Schmitz]

I would reccomend using a waterborne finish so it does not yellow the pine unless that is the look the customer wants. Also it is way better to finish on the ground if you can. You could brush a whole bunch in no time with a water base. If you had an airless sprayer this is a good way to go but brush the first coat. The key is to get the right tip for the gun. Graco is the most common, they make tips called FFT's (Fine Finish Tips) [size 313] and they are the bees knees. Imagine spraying with the best spray can you have ever used. I am sure that there are really good HVLP's but traditionally they are slow, most paint stores will rent an airless. The main thing here is you are working.