HVLP Paint sprayer advice

[Anuj Prateek]

Hi,

One of the projects has reached the stage where I need to lay down finish and 'am looking for a HVLP paint sprayer for the same.

What I want to spray?

• Lacquer
• Shellac
• Oil/water based varnish & poly
• Lacquer based enamel

Will use shellac if I don't buy a sprayer on current project. If I buy a sprayer, I will use lacquer. I don't do any production work and sprayer will get used only once in a while. I have a hand held airless sprayer which gets used for latex paint. I don't use any oil based paint. I am comfortable using a airless sprayer but have never used a HVLP sprayer.

Type of Objects

• Media console (current project)
• Small boxes and other stuff I randomly make.
• Most likely kitchen cabinets (at least the doors)
• Chair, table, and similar furniture

These 3 sprayers are in my budget.

• Fuji semi-pro 2: ~CAD 600 [first choice]
• Fuji hobby-pro 2: ~CAD 600 [second choice]
  
  • I don't know how it is different from semi-pro. Between these two price will dictates the choice.
  
  
• Earlex 5500: ~CAD 425 [third choice]
  
  • I think I will have to buy a 1.3 cap set as this comes with 1.8.
  • Internet tells me that 1.3 is a better choice with thinner finishes like shellac & lacquer.
  
  

Well it was all nice and dandy till I started reading things on various websites. This led me to four more options.

• Fuji mini mite 3: ~ CAD 950. Internet says the gun is way better than semi-pro 2.
• Fuji mini mite 4: ~ CAD 1150. Internet says that it does everything and can spray thicker finishes.
• Compressor & LVLP or conversion gun.
  
  • Compressor will run ~ CAD 600 for portable models (5-6CFM at 90psi). Usually 30gallon capacity.
  • Problem is that I can't find a budget gun sold in Canada that will work with this CFM.
  • I looked at Homestead finishing guns but they cost ~ CAD 400 after conversion & shipping. And then custom duty on top.
  • Then there are cheaper guns listed at amazon.ca like Ingersoll Rand 270G and Spray It SP-51. But I have no idea how they perform compared to Fuji semi-pro, mini mite, etc.
  • I see that cheaper guns have mostly listed something like 8 CFM at 30 psi. So I guess they will work with portable compressors.
  
  
• Compressor & HVLP gun.
  
  • Plenty of guns are available. Prices between CAD 100-200. Most of them have requirement for 12-14CFM at 40 psi.
  • Now a compressor with > 10 CFM is > CAD 1200.
  • Total price here pushes this way out of my budget.
  
  

Now the part 'am confused about.

• Do I buy a CAD 400-600, base Earlex or Fuji sprayer?
• Or, do I save and buy mini mite? Will I see any difference in my intended use in terms of usability and finish quality.
• Or, do I go with portable compressor and a cheap gun? Will this perform equally good as say Fuji semi-pro.
  
  • I am intrigued by this option because I get a compressor and I can find use for it.
  
  

Suggestions and advises will be much appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

I cannot help you with the choice between the machines you mention as I'm not familiar with them other than saying I'd likely opt for Fuji over Earlex. I use an HPLV conversion gun with the 3M PPS cup system for my spray work and an older HPLV Conversion gun dedicated for shellac. A portable compressor will not likely make you happy for spraying finishes as it will more or less run constantly.

What I will never spray is any kind oil based product...dries too slow which means a lot of sticky overspray mess and too many gun cleanings because recoat times are very, very long. I also do not spray solvent based lacquers because of safety. These finishes have fumes that are dangerous to the body and they can also be explosive/fire hazards. A proper spray environment, in addition to PPE is necessary to use them safely and I don't have that kind of environment. So I use and spray waterbornes. If I do choose to use something oil based, it's hand applied.

[Michael Fink]

Do you have room for a 5HP air compressor? If so, that would be my first suggestion, having lots of air is a must for a HVLP air powered gun, but it's so useful for so many other things, it's hard to associate the price of the compressor just to the paint setup. Especially if you're only going to use it occasionally, a decent HVLP gun will cost you 50-100 bucks, a professional quality one about 3X that much. But you can hang it up when your done, no motors, nothing to maintain and basically nothing to fail if you clean it correctly.

I love spraying with my big compressor, but it's not fun with a small compressor because you have to be so aware of how much air your using and when you needs to slow down/stop. If you don't already have the compressor, a 5HP with a gun will cost more than any of your options, but you'll have so many new options available to you with a "big" compressor for tools you might want in the future. I've probably saved the entire cost of my compressor by not having to buy an expensive electric tool for something I'm only going to use a few times; air tools are cheap and work pretty darn well, assuming, again, you have enough HP on your compressor to power them.

[Anuj Prateek]

Thanks Jim. That settles Fuji v/s Earlex I actually started looking at conversion guns after reading your posts here. Trouble is finding one here in Canada in price range. 3M PPS is available (whole kit) but then it requires 12cfm or so.

I actually did not think about drying time with oil based and safety with lacquer. Makes sense what you wrote. I will stick with waterbornes as well for spraying.

[Anuj Prateek]

Thanks Michael. I have space for compressor but they are out of my budget. Cheapest 220v (I think > 3HP) compressor I saw was some CAD 1200.

[Alan Lightstone]

Thanks Jim. That settles Fuji v/s Earlex I actually started looking at conversion guns after reading your posts here. Trouble is finding one here in Canada in price range. 3M PPS is available (whole kit) but then it requires 12cfm or so.

I actually did not think about drying time with oil based and safety with lacquer. Makes sense what you wrote. I will stick with waterbornes as well for spraying.

I spent a weekend at Charles Neil's finishing workshop a few years ago (RIP Charles - What a great guy) and was able to use the Earlex and Fuji guns side-by-side. I much preferred the Fuji. FWIW. But the Earlex guns are very popular.

As Jim said, don't spray lacquer unless you have a proper environment for it, as it is toxic and extremely flammable. That being said, I built a safe environment for it in my finishing room, and it is a pleasure to shoot pre-cat lacquer as a finish. But water-based finishes have gotten much, much better over the past few years, and are used by many professionals with great success. They're likely a better option for you.

And don't spray oil-based finishes. The first time you try it, and have to clean up, you'll swear that you'll never do it again.

As far as turbines - buy once, cry once. You'll never regret a more powerful turbine. But they get more and more costly, as you've seen, as you add stages to them.

[Anuj Prateek]

I spent a weekend at Charles Neil's finishing workshop a few years ago (RIP Charles - What a great guy) and was able to use the Earlex and Fuji guns side-by-side. I much preferred the Fuji. FWIW. But the Earlex guns are very popular.

As Jim said, don't spray lacquer unless you have a proper environment for it, as it is toxic and extremely flammable. That being said, I built a safe environment for it in my finishing room, and it is a pleasure to shoot pre-cat lacquer as a finish. But water-based finishes have gotten much, much better over the past few years, and are used by many professionals with great success. They're likely a better option for you.

And don't spray oil-based finishes. The first time you try it, and have to clean up, you'll swear that you'll never do it again.

As far as turbines - buy once, cry once. You'll never regret a more powerful turbine. But they get more and more costly, as you've seen, as you add stages to them.

Thanks Alan. I dropped idea of spraying lacquer for now. Only place I can think of safety spraying is outdoor but it's too cold here right now.

I am kind of decided on Fuji now. I am debating between semi pro and mini mite now. Basically, if I will see enough real world difference in spraying shellac or water based top coats. Mini mite 3 is ~ CAD 400 costlier so the dilemma.

[John TenEyck]

Thanks Jim. That settles Fuji v/s Earlex I actually started looking at conversion guns after reading your posts here. Trouble is finding one here in Canada in price range. 3M PPS is available (whole kit) but then it requires 12cfm or so.

I actually did not think about drying time with oil based and safety with lacquer. Makes sense what you wrote. I will stick with waterbornes as well for spraying.

I think your comment with respect to requiring 12 cfm relates to some of 3M's Accuspray guns, because it has no bearing on the PPS cup system itself. You can put the PPS cup system on just about any spray gun operating at any cfm.

You can get great results with the $10 - 15 Harbor Freight HVLP purple gun with no more than 6 - 8 cfm, with or w/o a PPS cup system on it. Canadian Tire must have similar guns at similar prices. Amazon delivers to Canada, right? There are low cost options that will spray many finishes really well if you just look a little. If you get a gun with a 1.5 - 1.8 mm needle you will be able to spray everything from shellac to WB clears, to lacquer (though I never do), using the stock gravity feed cup. If you buy an adapter and add a 3M H/O PPS cup to it with a cup pressure regulator, you also will be able to spray most WB pigmented lacquers and many paints as well. j

John

[Anuj Prateek]

Made a decision. Ordered Fuji semi-pro gravity feed. This will take of all projects planned this year.

Long term I am sold on big compressor + gun. That's why skipped mini mite.

Thanks everyone!

[Michael Fink]

Made a decision. Ordered Fuji semi-pro gravity feed. This will take of all projects planned this year.

Long term I am sold on big compressor + gun. That's why skipped mini mite.

Thanks everyone!

You might be able to do just fine with a smaller compressor if you don't need to spray paint with it. HVLP guns are huge air hogs, 90% of what I need a compressor for, a little 1.5 (120V) compressor is enough. In my shop, I have a 7.5HP, which of course is nice to have, but the time I really "need" the big boy is spraying paint. Sadly, unlike sandblasting where you can just take a break and let the compressor catch up, sometimes with paint you really can't (you'll lose the wet edge), you have to spray constantly to get a good coat.

The best thing, IMHO, about air spray with a compressor is that you can get CHEAP guns for special purposes. Harbor Freight sells a very acceptable HVLP gun for like 20 bucks. I've bought and thrown away probably 5 of them because I needed to spray something nasty that I didn't want to even try to clean from my good gun. Add a pressure pot, and you can spray concrete if you so desire. It's just a very versatile setup, but, downside of that, it's also really easy to mess up. Took me hours of spraying before I got what I consider a "good" result reliably. The biggest thing, make sure you have the right sized tip AND the right paint! If the paint doesn't have an HVLP tip sized called out in the instructions, yes, you might be able to make it work with a combo of Floetrol and water, but.. Just don't.

I use Emtech for all my color coats, it's great and ready to go with a 1.7 tip right out of the can. I use either Emtech top coats (Poly, etc) or a 2K urethane, depending on what I'm doing, both spray and level fantastically. But if you stroll into HD/Lowes and start looking for "paint" and try to spray that through an HVLP, you're in for a world of pain and hurt.