HF turbine HVLP

[DaveO]

Here's my review of the HF turbine HVLP and GF's Poly-Acrylic.
I picked this system up a while back with intentions of finishing this project with it. I hoped it would greatly speed up the process.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44677
I have not used HVLP sprayers before nor a water-based finish, so take this for what it is.
WOW I'm impressed, I think that I will be spraying everything that I can from now on.
The machine is very quiet, quieter than a cheap shop vac, only a little louder than my Jet air filter. I started out with a test piece of stock to test my settings. I started shooting the gun completely closed and slowly increased the flow rate until I got a nice even wet coat with a single pass. Then I took to my work pieces. Due to the constructions of these cages I have 6 separate pieces to finish. I covered all the CI surfaces in my shop to protect from any over-spray. I sprayed the first coat on all pieces. It looked rough, and blue. But after a few minutes the finish leveled and the blueness went away. After a while I realized that the blue-ness was a result of to thick of an application, and I adjusted the gun accordingly.
I found the HF turbine HVLP to be very easy to use, especially for an extreme novice like me. The settings and needle selection were very straight forward. I used the .05 tip for this application with the finish straight out of the can and no viscosity measurements. The results out of the gun were much greater than I anticipated. Clean up was extremely easy (water based finish and all plastic :icon_thum)
As far as the General Finishes Poly-Acrylic is concerned, I think it is one of the easiest finishes to use. I applied it very novice-ly and it looked pretty rough, but it leveled out and provided a great satin top coat for my project.
I would highly recommend both products for the hobbyist user.
Obligatory pictures of the finish, 2 coats smoothed out with a white Scotch-brite type pad between coats -

Respectfully submitted,
Dave

 

[RandyJ]

Thanks for the review, Dave. Nice job on the finish too!
Have you tried the sprayer with any oil-based finishes yet? Wondering how the cleanup will be with oil-based...

Keep up the great work:notworthy:

 

[jeff...]

Dave I'm glad you like that finger nail polish finish - I love that water based polycrylic it's the bomb and hey I'm an old lacquer die hard.

I did a little product up talk in 2006 on this thread:
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=6059

Lator Gator

 

[DaveO]

Thanks for the review, Dave. Nice job on the finish too!
Have you tried the sprayer with any oil-based finishes yet? Wondering how the cleanup will be with oil-based...

Keep up the great work:notworthy:

This is my first go-around with the system. But the components are either plastic or brass. The important parts are brass. I don't think that an oil-based finish should be too difficult to clean out.
Dave

 

[WoodWrangler]

Dave ... glad to see that sprayer worked out well. I remember a while back when you were looking at getting it, and I believe finally did ... and now it's been put to good use.

I have the Wagner HVLP $99 unit from Lowes/HD and it works great too. Same concept ... but sounds like maybe more plastic in mine. Works good though ... used it several times with excellent results.

 

[jmauldin]

Just a brief note about spraying water based finishes, whether in an HVLP or conventional gun - CLEAN OUT THE GUN AT THE END OF THE DAY! Do not leave WB in the gun, as you can with NC lac. It will set up and clog the gun and believe me, it is a BEAR to try to clean up.

Glad to hear the review about the HF system. I have been spraying with an HVLP for over 20 yrs and would not use anything else. I even spray alcohol stains with an extra gun I have, although any stain can be sprayed. My system is made by Lex Aire, but the Rolls Royce of HVLP's is made by American Turbine.

And, oh, the desk looks great. I just would hate to be the one who has to move it!
Jim in Mayberry

 

[JimmyC]

Dave,

Thanks for the review, I've been waiting to here it. It sounds good enough that I'm going to give it a shot. I noticed that Rockler sells spare cups for theirs, I'm sure that they'll fit the HF ones, I like to keep a spare cup or so just so that I can run cleaner (water or solvents) through the gun without cleaning the cup out.

Thanks again :icon_thum

Jimmy

 

[DaveO]

Jimmy I think the one that Rockler is selling is exactly the same. I actually printed off the Rockler owners manual because the HF one really sucked. They were identical as far as exploded drawing and other diagrams were concerned.
Now that I have used the HF system I can see how some extra cups could really come in handy.
I'll have to pick up a few myself.

I will say that this is one of the "HF gems", it does what it should, and pretty well (in my very limited experience), it's cheap as dirt (got mine for around $65) and it cleans up easily.
I would give my most hearty recommendation to this system as an entry level HVLP system.
Dave

 

[pslamp32]

Hey guys, I have the Rockler version of this sprayer that I can't seem to get to work right. I've never used any other HVLP before so bear with me. When I use mine it seems that the only adjustment available is the flow of the finish. When I try to turn it down it shoots less finish but still tons of air. I tried this recently on a dining room table and the air pressure was so strong that it pushed up all the stain below a layer of shellac I was spraying. It made a huge mess and caused me many hours to try and undo the problem. Is there a way to lower the amount of air flow as well as the finish flow or is this just normal for HVLP sprayers? Maybe I just don't know what I'm doing and I'm too close or something. Seems like it would work better if you could adjust the air pressure as well. Any advice would be much appreciated. I would love to get the results Dave mentioned but am a little afraid to use this darn thing again. Thanks!

 

[skysharks]

Congrats DaveO, It looks good.:eusa_danc
I too have had my first experience with a HVLP system. I have the Wagner (bought at Lowe's).
You're right about wanting to spray all of my finishes on.
It's great.
Mine says that it won't spray latex, but someone else was saying that you can get an additive to put in latex so it will spray it, dunno.

 

[jerrye]

Articles on latex thru HVLP:

http://www.phelpsrefinishing.com/hvlp_info.html
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/library/sprayinglatex.pdf
http://www.houstonhobbies.com/tips/painting/spraying-latex-hvlp.htm

HTH

 

[Travis Porter]

It is addictive. Now, get you some target coatings or Fuhr wb finish and NEVER LOOK BACK AGAIN!!!

I added dye to the finish of my last project instead of staining, and it was awesome. Considering it was pine made it that much better.

Congrats, and keep it up! You won't regret it.