HVLP Gravity Feed Spray Gun for water base paint

[Cliff Rogers]

I have been making up a couple of computer stands out of MDF for my wife.

She wanted one for the laptop at home & another for the laptop at work.

She works in a Real Estate office & that one needs to be very tidy.

I used a 4in1 water based primer/sealer/undercoat applied with a brush & it looked fairly ordinary so I thought I'd try spraying it.

I have a kit of 3 guns I got from Super Cheap Auto a while back & there is one with a 1.7mm nozzle so I dug it out & gave it a try.

Impressive results. :2tsup:

I gave it a couple of coats of the 4in1 while I was working out the best settings.

Then moved on to a 80% gloss Water based Enamel.

Waahoo, am I sold on that, suddenly I like painting. :D

Here is a tip... set your regulator to about 35-40psi with a blower nozzle before you connect up the spray gun, they don't like high pressure at all.

[bueller]

Cheers for the write up Cliff, I've been interested in getting into using spray guns but a bit intimidated. What sort of compressor are you running?

[Pete57]

I am also keen to get details. Did you thin the paint or use straight from the can?

[Mobyturns]

I went that way initially then upgraded to a detail / touch up gun for spraying NC lacquer - a Star S-106-TG is the equivalent now I think. Much more refined to use than the SCA units but it comes at a price though.

[Cliff Rogers]

... What sort of compressor are you running?
I have a big 2 cylinder job I got from a friend, I'll check the details later.
I have the regulator on it set at about 90psi which is about right for my Brad Gun.
I sits down one end of my shed with a long air hose that I can drag all around the shed.
I then have a 2nd receiver which is the tank off an old compressor that I bough for $30.
It has a 2nd regulator on the outlet & that is set to 35-40psi.
I have a shorter air hose that runs from that unit to the gun.
The 2 tank system with a long hose in between give the compressed air a better chance of cooling & the moisture then condenses out so I have much drier air at the gun.
Not that it maters that much if you are using water based paint.

[Cliff Rogers]

I am also keen to get details. Did you thin the paint or use straight from the can?

I started out thinning it but then I found that I didn't need to with the 1.7mm nozzle.

I had an old saw buck made of ply that is fairly beat up, I used it as the tester to get the settings right before I turned the gun on the good piece.

The saw buck is looking really flash now.

[Cliff Rogers]

I went that way initially then upgraded to a detail / touch up gun for spraying NC lacquer - a Star S-106-TG is the equivalent now I think. Much more refined to use than the SCA units but it comes at a price though.

I have one of those too but the nozzle is too fine for water based paint.

[Mobyturns]

I have one of those too but the nozzle is too fine for water based paint.

Agreed, performance is all in the nozzle size and setup.

[Bob38S]

G'day Cliff,

Are the guns marked as HLVP, are they gravity fed or pot?

Any clogging of the nozzle?

[Cliff Rogers]

The guns are marked as HLVP, they are gravity fed.

I didn't have any clogging using straight Water Based Enamel through the 1.7mm nozzle.

I have this kit (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Blackridge-Air-Spray-Gun-Kit-HVLP-4-Piece/340074) before they were branded Blackridge. The body of the guns I have are blue.

[Bob38S]

Thanks for that.

I was not being obtuse asking about the HLVP, have seen claims on the packaging before as to HLVP but the product itself wasn't.