HF/Rockler/Woodcraft HVLP at HF for $60 w/o coupons

[footprintsinconc]

i was at HF last night and picked up this HVLP gun (the one that has been talked about a lot, which also sells at rockler and woodcraft) for $60 without the use of any coupons.

it was listed as $89.99 but on thursday, the other HF store near my home had it stickered at $60. it rung up as $60 and the sale is on tilll 6-9-08.

[tsbrewers]

I picked one up here too for $59 last weekend and used it to spray some latex on a couple exterior doors, and it worked well. I have a few other guns, HF HVLP, Critter, etc. but i was looking for one a little more portable.

Brew

[footprintsinconc]

cool! i am hoping to paint some patio shelves that i made a century ago, and stopped at finish. i did attempt spraying on the primer with another one of HF HVLP kit, but didnt work out well, so everything came to a grinding halt.

[tsbrewers]

the paint definitely needs to be thinned, plus some floetrol helps too, but it will work.

Brew

[footprintsinconc]

brew,

what did you thin the paint with? did you add floetrol on top of the thinner? lastly, what was the proportioning on paint + thinner?

hopefully, i can get around to trying it tomorrow (the possibilities seem bleak).

thanks,

[jgscott987]

Usually the paint can will have some instructions for thinning for a spray gun. The last spray job I did was with a gallon of Rustoleum oil-based paint. They recommended thinning with acetone, but that paint thinner would work too.

[eddy merckx]

what did you thin the paint with? did you add floetrol on top of the thinner? lastly, what was the proportioning on paint + thinner?

I'll jump in here. I got one of those guns last winter and have used it a bunch. There is a thinning cup which comes with the gun. It looks like something you'd throw away, but it actually works. It's the little plastic funnel with a handle. Basically, you dip the cup in your paint and time how many seconds it takes until the little stream coming out of the base of the cup starts to break up. I think the recommended time is in the instructions--somewhere around 25-35 seconds. Any more than that and the paint will just splatter onto the surface (DAMHIK). Less time will make the paint really runny.

I was painting with latex and thinned with tap water. Worked fine. I have also had very good results with the Cabot water based clear finish from Lowes. You can use it right from the can.

BTW, next time you order from Rockler, get one or two of their replacement paint cups. They fit that gun, are clear and come with a lid for storing finishes. I think they cost $10.

Eddy

[footprintsinconc]

eddy, thanks for the suggestion. i did see that cup.

i just came in to see if there were any suggestions, so i will thin it with water. i though floetrol was for thinning too, but wasnt sure if water was just good enough.

now its time for me to play with my new gun!

[Hank Scorpio]

That sucks. I was just in HF on Saturday picking up the $99 mortiser and looked for this to see if it was on sale but they were sold out. I was going to get it on the Rockler Deal or No Deal when it was $75 or $79 (can't recall). I'm glad I held out.

[garymuto]

I had picked one up at HF as well. I was looking on the Rockler site and downloaded their version of the owners manual and it appeared to have more instructions related to paint thinning. It's been a while so I can't remember righ now, but I think it's worth a look.

[GaryA]

eddy, thanks for the suggestion. i did see that cup.

i just came in to see if there were any suggestions, so i will thin it with water. i though floetrol was for thinning too, but wasnt sure if water was just good enough.

now its time for me to play with my new gun!

I'm curious to hear more about Floetrol too. I have an Earlex 5000 HVLP, and have run into the same issues with latex paint and orange peel. I have thinned mine to about 45 seconds with water on the viscosity cup (Earlex recommends 25-60 (pretty wide range from my experience) for latex paint. The results were OK. Definitely could have been smoother. Someone said I need to use Floetrol, so I picked some up, but havent used it yet. Any feedback on Floetrol is appreciated!

[jgscott987]

I've only used floetrol in combination with a roller, not a sprayer. I will say that it seems to help a lot, allowing the paint to self-level, rather than stay in an orange peel texture.


One other note on this spray gun- Be VERY careful about overspray. I covered my black car in white overspray. I was at least 100 feet from my car on a calm day, but none-the-less I got it. It wasn't terrible- It just looked like the car was dusty, but you could definitely see and very much feel it. No amount of washing would get it off. It was oil-based paint thinned with acetone, which certainly didn't help matters.

Fortunately I found a detail guy who could get it off with a 'clay-bar'.

HVLP guns are supposed to be better about overspray. Maybe I had it set up wrong. I've been too nervous to use it since!

[windmill]

The results were OK. Definitely could have been smoother. Someone said I need to use Floetrol, so I picked some up, but havent used it yet. Any feedback on Floetrol is appreciated!

I also have the Earlex 5000, tried spraying some acrylic paint this weekend. I got quite a bit of orange peel, but discovered that if you simply keep spraying, it evens out and dries quite nicely. Of course, your work piece better be flat or it will run all over the place. So, decent, but not great.

I've been thinning with Floetrol and water, 2:1 ratio, to get the viscosity to 45 seconds. The Floetrol definitely helps with "cohesion", with just water it gets too runny. I'm not sure what the ideal mix is yet.

BTW, what needle are you using? I've only used the 2.0mm, but I wonder if the 1.5mm would give a better result. I'll try it this weekend, but need to get everything sanded, cleaned etc., not going to spray just for experimentation, cleaning the gun takes a good 15 minutes.

[GaryA]

I also have the Earlex 5000, tried spraying some acrylic paint this weekend. I got quite a bit of orange peel, but discovered that if you simply keep spraying, it evens out and dries quite nicely. Of course, your work piece better be flat or it will run all over the place. So, decent, but not great.

I've been thinning with Floetrol and water, 2:1 ratio, to get the viscosity to 45 seconds. The Floetrol definitely helps with "cohesion", with just water it gets too runny. I'm not sure what the ideal mix is yet.

BTW, what needle are you using? I've only used the 2.0mm, but I wonder if the 1.5mm would give a better result. I'll try it this weekend, but need to get everything sanded, cleaned etc., not going to spray just for experimentation, cleaning the gun takes a good 15 minutes.

I bought the 2.5mm nozzle (too big!), and the 1.5mm seemed to be too small. 2.0mm seems (for me) to be the best between the 3....YMMV....let me know what you find with the 1.5 though if you try it. You're right...I think it does take a bit of experimenting...but like you said, after cleaning the gun, your not reali inspired to experiment all the time. I was going to town spraying everything I could when I had the gun live. Thanks for the input!