HVLP sprayer suggestions

[Jack01]

I am planning to paint cabinet, I will be using "Waterborne Alkyd Paint"
For cabinet doors I  will use spray gun to get uniform coverage, I have made a temporary spray booth in basement.

Now I am looking for HVLP spray system, at reasonable price.
There are quite a few there, Wagner has few low price system
Fuji has good, but its out of my budget. ( can't justify the cost for one small project)

I am looking for HVLP system which will allow to Spay Latex as well as Polyurethane .

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[barryvabeach]

Jack,  my two cents is that it will be very difficult to satisfy all three of your requests : paint, clears, and low cost, though if you pick two of the three, you should do okay. 

 Poly or other clear finishes for woodworking projects are quite thin, some not much thicker than water, and can be sprayed with either an HVLP system, or an HVLP conversion gun run off a compressor.  In contrast, most paint is extremely thick, more like the consistency ranging from a heavy cream to almost as thick as mustard -  not very easy to properly spray that using air, so most paint sprayers use an airless sprayer. 

If you wanted to use a tinted waterbased coating,   I haven't used it,  but here is an example,  https://generalfinishes.com/wood-finishe...nted-white   , they are much thicker than most clears designed for spraying, but much thinner than paint, so  you should be able to get an HVLP gun or system to do both clears and tinted.  

With HVLP, as you go up in price, generally you get a more powerful system, that makes it easier to spray thicker materials .  As you go down in price, you will need to add more distilled water   ( or other appropriate thinner )  to get the gun to spray well, or be limited to thinner materials.     Whatever system you are using, look for a set of needles for the gun,  you will want larger ones for spraying tinted coatings, and smaller needles for spraying clears.

[jteneyck]

I am planning to paint cabinet, I will be using "Waterborne Alkyd Paint"
For cabinet doors I  will use spray gun to get uniform coverage, I have made a temporary spray booth in basement.

Now I am looking for HVLP spray system, at reasonable price.
There are quite a few there, Wagner has few low price system
Fuji has good, but its out of my budget. ( can't justify the cost for one small project)

I am looking for HVLP system which will allow to Spay Latex as well as Polyurethane .

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Waterborne alkyd paint sounds like BM's Advance, yes?  That stuff has a viscosity of around 500 seconds through a #4 Ford cup, compared to 45 - 60 seconds for many waterborne clearcoats.  As Barry said, tough to spray both products through one gun - unless it's a pressure assisted HVLP gun and you have multiple needle/nozzle sets.  I have such a gun.  I bought it from Homestead Finishing, the AM-6008 Smartpak but it costs around $400.  

I think you have three low cost choices.  1) Take them to a pro and let him paint the doors for you.  2)  Buy a couple of low cost guns, one for spraying clearcoats like the HF purple gun for $15 and another with a 2.0 - 2.5 mm needle for spraying paint.  3) Get a good brush and apply BM Advance by hand.  Done well you will not see brush marks.  

John

[Cabinet Monkey]

Jack is correct , you ain't gonna spray water alkyd through an HVLP. Especially a low cost one.

You could also rent an airless sprayer from a rool rental store , or even Home Depot. If you want to DIY spray it, that's the way to go. Even if you find a four or five stage HVLP for your budget, the learning curve for thinning, drying retarders, mil thickness , build coats , is going to be vast for what you want with HVLP.

Save yourself a lot of aggravation.

[Bill Holt]

"You get what you for" is probably true in HVLP.  I've had two different airless systems, both were ok.  My wife loaned the last one out...bad idea.  I now have the Earlex 5500 HVLP.  As the others have said, it is all about viscosity and it is a pain in the neck.  But when you get it right the unit does a great job.  Mine came with two different needles and nozzles.  My dad gave me some advice when when I was a young man..."If you need a tool, buy it, you will need it again".  Of course budget can be a restriction.  If that is the case, rental may be a smart option.  Going cheap seldom yields high rewards.

[cams2705]

Waterborne alkyd paint sounds like BM's Advance, yes?  That stuff has a viscosity of around 500 seconds through a #4 Ford cup, compared to 45 - 60 seconds for many waterborne clearcoats.  As Barry said, tough to spray both products through one gun - unless it's a pressure assisted HVLP gun and you have multiple needle/nozzle sets.  I have such a gun.  I bought it from Homestead Finishing, the AM-6008 Smartpak but it costs around $400.  

I think you have three low cost choices.  1) Take them to a pro and let him paint the doors for you.  2)  Buy a couple of low cost guns, one for spraying clearcoats like the HF purple gun for $15 and another with a 2.0 - 2.5 mm needle for spraying paint.  3) Get a good brush and apply BM Advance by hand.  Done well you will not see brush marks.  

John

I used Sherwin-Williams water based Alkyd-Acrylic Pro Classic on cabinets I built for my pantry.  Started with two coats of their premium wall and wood primer and followed with two coats of the pro classic.  I scuffed between each coat with 320 grit.  I Used a small foam roller to apply the paint and then followed with a brush to ensure it was spread evenly and get rid of the roller marks.  You would swear it was sprayed.

[Jack01]

Thank you very much for everyone's feedback, great information.
it looks like I need to get 2 guns(systems).

[kurt18947]

Thank you very much for everyone's feedback, great information.
it looks like I need to get 2 guns(systems).

I remember reading that you can spray tinted lacquer through an HVLP system. Tinted lacquer is supposed to spray better than 'latex'. I've never tried it so can't comment. I do have an Earlex 5000 turbine HVLP system with 2.0 air cap. I have sprayed thinned 'wall paint' through it and it didn't work too bad. The person I was doing this for wanted cheap and wasn't too fussy. I diluted the paint with distilled water and some floetrol to help with flow-out. I don't really know how much distilled water I used, I just added a little, stirred and lifted the stirrer out of the can. Stopped when I thought it was flowing well enough. I think a benefit of the Earlex setup and I'm sure others is that the cup is pressurized. I did spray a louvered door with thinned latex enamel after first spraying a thinned shellac coat and sanding it. That came out really well and painting those louvers by hand would have been a nightmare.

[Jack01]

I did some more home work and found following;

Earlax 5500 system , about $ 300.  It says it will spay Latex, but no mention of Alkyd Paint. It may spray that paint by changing needle.
Fuji Semi Pro 2 is about $ 440.00  I could not find any info if this if it will spray Alkyd.

Using HF or other low price guns
Need compressor  at least 6 CFM at 40 PSI   which will be about $ 300 +
2 different guns about $ 100+

Other option is paint Alkyd by using brush and roller.

[Bill Holt]

Jack, I have used Alkyd paints without issues.  The key is getting the correct viscosity.  My unit came with "viscosity cup".