Harbor Freight Electric HVLP kit

You might test drive the latex topcoat first. After adding some latex flow
additive, a similar kit produced very nice results.
GerryG

On 1 Oct 2004 12:39:46 -0700, [email protected] (Scott Fuhrman) wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>Just wanted to mention that I went ahead and purchased the el cheapo
>Harbor Freight electric HVLP kit, for $69.99. Comes with the gun, the
>electric turbine (4 psi), 15 feet of hose, a viscosity cup, and 3
>different needles/nozzles. Turbine says it users 1000 watts. The gun
><snip>
>Tonight I will be sanding the primer then putting on a top coat or two
>of latex paint. Now that I am kind of used to it, I think I can put
>on a pretty nice topcoat and have a good paint job. With the cost of
>the thing, I am pretty impressed. No, I don't expect it to last
>forever, but then again, I don't do a tremendous amount of paiting
>either. Once I finish this project up, I will be paiting kitchen
>cupboards with an oil primer and paint. The key is to keep the paint
>a but on the light side and make a few passes, keeping the gun
>perpendicular to the work surface.
>
>Anyway, just thought I would pass this along. I wouldn't paint my car
>with it, but it works pretty well for small projects. I would say it
>is on par with the $200 range CH units.

"Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Scott - good review. One suggestion for you... practice with that gun a bit
> and try to develop the knack for spraying with a pretty healthy spray and
> not get runs. Obviously, you'll be developing your sense of spraying speed
> in order to prevent the runs. The principle here is that you'll get better
> finishes with wetter coats than you will with dry coats. This becomes
> especially true with top coats. You'll be happy to have less sanding to do
> than if you put on dry coats and end up with orange peel. Practice makes
> perfect and all that.


Thanks for the tip. I did some more spraying tonight, and did good
and bad. At first my primer was too thick, then too thin, then I got
it just right. It definately takes some practice to get the speed
right so I can do things in just one pass and get a nice coat. It
will be interesting to use actual paint as it is quite a bit thinner
than the Killz primer. Oh well, will do that tomorrow.

Scott

"Scott Fuhrman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> It took about 10 or 15 minutes to get the hang of it, but once I did,
> it put on a pretty nice coat - definately nicer than I could do
> brushing. The only adjustment on the gun adjusts how far the needle
> is retracted when the trigger is squezed, which effectivley tunes how
> much paint you are spraying out. At first I was putting way to much
> on and got some runs - but after I got the hang of it I was putting on
> a nice coat with no runs. I found it better to run it on the lean
> side, and make multiple passes to ensure a nice coat. Overspray was
> minimal, which really was nice. My clothes and garage were not
> covered with little specs of paint everywhere like a high pressure
> sprayer, or cheap Wagner diaphram gun.
>

Scott - good review. One suggestion for you... practice with that gun a bit
and try to develop the knack for spraying with a pretty healthy spray and
not get runs. Obviously, you'll be developing your sense of spraying speed
in order to prevent the runs. The principle here is that you'll get better
finishes with wetter coats than you will with dry coats. This becomes
especially true with top coats. You'll be happy to have less sanding to do
than if you put on dry coats and end up with orange peel. Practice makes
perfect and all that.
--

-Mike-
[email protected]

On 1 Oct 2004 12:39:46 -0700, [email protected] (Scott Fuhrman)
wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>Just wanted to mention that I went ahead and purchased the el cheapo
>Harbor Freight electric HVLP kit, for $69.99.......

Thanks.

"Scott Fuhrman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Scott - good review. One suggestion for you... practice with that gun a
bit
> > and try to develop the knack for spraying with a pretty healthy spray
and
> > not get runs. Obviously, you'll be developing your sense of spraying
speed
> > in order to prevent the runs. The principle here is that you'll get
better
> > finishes with wetter coats than you will with dry coats. This becomes
> > especially true with top coats. You'll be happy to have less sanding to
do
> > than if you put on dry coats and end up with orange peel. Practice
makes
> > perfect and all that.
>
>
> Thanks for the tip. I did some more spraying tonight, and did good
> and bad. At first my primer was too thick, then too thin, then I got
> it just right. It definately takes some practice to get the speed
> right so I can do things in just one pass and get a nice coat. It
> will be interesting to use actual paint as it is quite a bit thinner
> than the Killz primer. Oh well, will do that tomorrow.
>
> Scott

Well, let us know how it goes tomorrow. Try to think of your coats as if
you were stretching a film of plastic, or that nasty stuff that the wife
keeps in the kitchen that only women can properly stretch over a plate of
leftovers, over your object. It's really helpful to have lots and lots of
good light and watch your coats go on. Don't try to just feel it. Watch
the spread and you'll see when it's getting to heavy and you'll find it much
easier to gauge your spray speed.

I'm in the habit of mixing up whatever I'm spraying with anal retentive
precision. It's a must when spraying cars and it carries over into other
types of spraying projects. The advantage is that you don't have to deal
with the issues of too thick one time, too thin another. Experiment, find
the right thickness, and record it for future use. Then be sure to mix
exactly that way the next time you use the same stuff.

Good luck and happy spraying.
--

-Mike-
[email protected]