Looking for a HVLP sprayer for approx $150 and thinning advice!

not sure on the sprayers,,I sadly haven’t gotten to the HVLP spray thing yet, tried to but the compressor I had wasn’t big enough for the gun…back to your question….I have looked at the Earlex but the one I looked at was more than $300….if you have a good compressor you can get just the gun, a guy that paints around here uses a gun for the Home Depot, Husky I think, said he likes it and it cost him around $80…I just use my Graco sprayer with a small tip, better control for me, tape and cover everything….you can rent sprayers form Sherwin Williams as well you might want to look into that…....most of the painters I know just use a little water with latex paint, ask your SW person about how much….a good friend of mine that is a painter and is VERY VERY FUSSY uses a product called Flotrol and he puts a little in everything he paints with, sprayer, brush, or roller….he says it makes the paint more oil like as far as brush strokes and that….sorry if I rambles on here….good luck and let us know what way you decided to go and why…..Happy Holidays…

-- Todd- Oak Ridge, TN

I have a HVLP air assisted Grayco system. All said and done it set me back almost 5,000 buckaroos not including the spray booth and the compressor and the piping, valves, water capture equipment. I also have several HVLP guns attached to pressure pots and at least a dozen or so, cupguns.

This is my advice, take it or leave it. Despite the claims by mfg’s that their guns are HVLP (and to some degree they are) it is almost impossible to get one to work right without air. Most require 21 cfm which should not be confused with PSI. It is easy to get high PSI for a nail gun etc but most compressors only kick out 6 to 10 cfm if that! ....................you can cheat by getting a small compressor to pump up a few tanks.

That said…................I buy my cup guns at Princess Auto. They are so inexpensive that if it gets clogged, broken, etc…..........I just buy another one. most are generic copies of DeVilbiss/Graco/ Binks at a fraction of the cost. If you take your time they might do the job.

I had an painter friend recommend the cup sprayers at Harbor Freight. I have had good success spraying laquer and stain with it. It costs around $30. For latex paint an airless sprayer would work better.
Salt Lake carpentry

-- www.apexcarpentryinc.com

Hey milz45! I wanted to direct you to your local Lowes store. Take a look at the Graco 2900 and 3900. They both produce 39 cfm at about 3 psi. Both are priced under $150. The 2900 is a basic system with a quart cup, viscosity cup, 13’ hose and self contained storage feature. The 3900 is the same but adds a one gallon backpack, and a fine finish needle and tip.
As far as thinning, very easy, 2oz water in 1 quart of paint, stir with a stick until its thin all the way through. For a finer job, use the 1.5 mm needle (3900 model) and add 1 oz of Floetrol or other latex additive. If you have any other questions, let me know!

-- Sam Hamory - The project isn't finished until it's "finished"!

go to gleempaint.com and look at the wagner hvlp gun. it runs off a regular pancake compressor and with a larger tip and needle we push latex paints for our custom wood projects all the time. tight pattern and very little overspray

-- caring costs nothing

I take it there was not a product good enough??