Suction Feed, Gravity Feed or HVLP?

[Tony Bilello]

What is your first choice and for what reasons.
For obvious reasons, I would like experienced finishers only to respond. People that have used at least 2 out of the 3 choices.

[Travis Porter]

HVLP with a pressure pot, a 2 quart one is what I use. I can get into the inside of projects, upside down, etc with no issues, plus, it is smaller this way.

[Tony Bilello]

I have used HVLP in the past, but I didnt realize that you could use it with a pressure pot.

[Tony Bilello]

I'm leaning toward HVLP with a cup and the Earlex Spray Station Pro. It's on sale for $299 at WoodCraft.
Anyone here familiar with this set-up?

[Erech Myers]

Originally Posted by Tony Bilello

I'm leaning toward HVLP with a cup and the Earlex Spray Station Pro. It's on sale for $299 at WoodCraft.
Anyone here familiar with this set-up?

If you can afford the Earlex 5000, I'd go for it. I'm on a budget, so here is a post I did recently...

I'm wanting to purchase an HVLP system on a limited budget, so I've been researching and comparing the Earlex HV3000, the Rockler system, the Harbor Freight system, and the Cambell Hausfeld. In doing so, I stumbled accross the Earlex HV2900 which is a brand new product and only sold at Lowe's. In fact, Lowe's is still testing the market, so it is actually only available at the Lowe's in Texas (I live in GA).

So I started comparing the Earlex 3000 ($139) to the 2900 ($129) to see if the extra $10 was worth it. I couldn't find much about the 2900 so I called Earlex (excellent customer service) to find out. Turns out the 2900 has more power, comes with a 3.0 needle (for paint) and a 1.5 needle (for thinner wood finishes), has a longer hose, and comes with a steel sprayer instead of plastic. Sounds like a winner to me! I think I'll be getting myself and early Christmas present.

[Jamie Buxton]

I use an HVLP with an architecture like that Earlex. Mine's an Accuspray, but like the Earlex it has a turbine and a pressurized pot hanging below the sprayer. I'm happy with mine, and have shot many gallons of finish with it. But here's two issues you just have to deal with...

The pot under the gun can occasionally collide with stuff. A remote pot or a gravity feed wouldn't have this issue.

The turbine blows so much air that I can't really shoot inside cabinets or drawers. The air blows all the finish out in my face. To deal with this, I build cabinets so the back is applied after finishing, or drawers so the bottom slides in after finishing. I also do a lot more pre-finishing -- applying finish to components before I glue them up.

[J. Scott Holmes]

Tony,

If my memory serves me correctly you are doing production runs of cabinets right?

If so you should go to the local Sherwin Willaims store and check out the Air Assisted Airless units. Check out this link http://public.graco.be/0/media/doc/320599Ea.pdf
These units are as fast as an airless and shoot as softly as an HVLP.

HVLP are very slow for production work.

[Larry Fox]

I use a Walcom pressure-pot based HVLP conversion outfit and really really like it.

Advantages

- It is very light-weight, there is no finish at the hand, it is all in the pot. If the merits of this are not immediately apparent do this experiment. Hold a full quart can of paint at arms-length and move it around to simulate spraying - for about an hour.
- The gun itself is very small so you can maneuver it around in tight spaces fairly well.
- You can spray with it upside down. This is important when spraying inside of a cabinet.
- The pot (mine is a 1 or two gallon one) can hold a LOT of finish so you don't have to stop a session to get a re-up of finish.

Disadvantages

- The lines hold a lot of finish so it takes a lot of time to clean things up after a session.
- You have another thing to fiddle with in the regulator on the pot.
- Not so great for small runs or jobs as it takes some setup time and a small run will use a lot more finish due to the stuff you flush from the lines when cleaning up.

I would say that everything that is an advantage for the PP system is a disadvantage for the traditional syphon feed guns and visa versa.

Hope this helps.

[Steve Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Tony Bilello

I have used HVLP in the past, but I didnt realize that you could use it with a pressure pot.

Tony you may be confusing hvlp with turbine. You can have a hvlp gun working off a pressure pot. It is a different animal than a turbine gun. I really like the 2 quart remote cup. It is just a small pressure pot with 6ft. hoses. Gives you the ability to spray in any direction but the clean-up isn't too bad. I also have a 2 gallon pot with 25' hoses. Lots to clean.
My alltime favorite though is my air assisted airless. The one I have is a Kremlin.
For material savings and minimal overspray it can't be beat but it can lay down material like a conventional rig. that means lots of material and fast.

[Tony Bilello]

Yesterday I picked up the Earlex HV5000 HVLP system. I decided to actually go with HVLP. I will probably fire it up Friday. Thanks to all.

[Dennis Faz]

You can't go wrong with the Earlex 5000, just take some time to practice. Hint, keep your volume down so your not spraying a ton of material. Good luck!!
*Also you might invest in a 1/2" bottle brush that is at least 9" long, this way you can get deep inside and do a proper cleaning.

[Tony Bilello]

The kit I bought through Woodcraft came with a complete cleaning kit.
Tomorrow morning I will be using it to spray white lacquer and tomorrow afternoon I will be using it for clear coating. Looking forward to my new experience with HVLP.