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Tue May 20, 2008 4:42 pm

I bought the same Harbor Freight HVLP turbine unit in the first post. I used it to paint a rocking chair first to try it out. I got terrible results. Can anyone suggest where I might have gone wrong?

First, I tried to reduce the paint to the proper viscosity. The instruction manual is very vague about this - I reduced the paint until it took 12 seconds to empty the little viscosity measuring cup that came with the unit. Does that fit in the 10 - 14 DINS measurement that the instructions say is proper?

This is Sherwin Williams exterior latex, by the way. The rocking chair is white and I'm painting it Forest Green (very dark shade).

Well, after reducing the paint with water to what I thought was right, it runs very, very badly. I can't lay it on thin enough to keep it from running. I did not scuff the chair. I cleaned it with soap and water and dried it thoroughly. It has a glossy white finish on it now. Would scuffing help?

Then I went back to thicker paint. Tried cutting the reduction in half - still too thin (I'm thinking) - cut reducer in half again. Getting somewhere, not so much runs. Cut reducer in half again. Better still.

Now I'm getting no runs, good coverage in one coat, but the paint won't lay down. It dries to a very bumpy finish - like a hammertone paint.

Thanks for reading and any and all input is welcome. Bash away.....

Wed May 21, 2008 10:07 pm

scuff the gloss will keep it from sticking and it'll peel later.

Sun Jun 08, 2008 7:23 pm

I bought the "high end" $60 HF gun and it works surprisingly well.

One issue I found is that the paint pot is large/wide. This would be great for a large paint job, however for small paint jobs it means that paint is often wasted. The angled tube needs to be adequately submerged to pick up the paint. It would be nice if there was a smaller/narrower pot which fit the gun. Alternatively, maybe there is a smaller gun which would fit the rest of the sprayer. Any recommendations?

Thanks,
Mark

Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:35 am

After reading up on as much as possible, I think I'm settling on the Sprayfine A301 system with a gravity feed gun.

http://www.turbineproducts.com/hvlp-turbine-sprayer.html

Seems like a quality system. good bang-for-the-buck.

Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:41 pm

It's nice to have someone else trying the Sprayfine on this, along with RodneyW. I put the fenders on hold while I started tackling the interior. Now I have run into some not-before-detected rust that I need to deal with behind the rear seat/package tray area, on the underside. I'll put info up on how I do with the turbine sprayer as soon as I use it.

Tue Jun 24, 2008 4:45 pm

ok, just bought the sprayfine. I have to get some primer on my bare metal. Kirker epoxy primer next, then hopefully a kirker color that closely matches the original ruby red on my 64 bug (I ordered a kirker color chip set from Auto Body tool Mart). I also bought a DeVilbiss StartingLine HVLP Gravity Auto Painting & Priming Kit. I think I should be in good shape. Only need to practice!

Thu Jun 26, 2008 4:48 pm

I'm going with the "candy apple red" after getting their color samples.

The sprayfine unit feels rugged and industrial. very sturdy. The shipping was way faster that I expected. I got it tuesday night and it was here by 9AM this morning. nice. I'll be putting some primer down within the next couple weeks. I also got the DeVilbiss starting line primer and finish gun set. Not having painted before, I don't know how valuable my input will be, but I will post after I lay down the epoxy primer.

Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:42 pm

I primed my car today! Painting is definitely a skill to master. By the time I got things spraying nice, I would run out in the cup and have to remix another batch. BUT the sprayfine unit held up nicely. I don't know if I'm anyone to comment on it, since I've never painted before. One problem I had was getting an adapter from the hose to the DeVilbiss spray guns. Turns out the fitting was a plumbing hose thread that I had to adapt to a 1/4" thread that was on the gun. Had to find someone at Lowes who actually knows something.

The unit provided a nice airflow, consistently, for about 2 hours straight.

Mon Jul 07, 2008 4:06 pm

I sprayed mine last week. It was my first time painting as well and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Sun Jul 20, 2008 5:18 pm

Home Team Bus wrote: I sprayed mine last week. It was my first time painting as well and I'm pretty happy with the results.

looks good, what kinda of paint did you use? Did you use the Harbor Freight

HVLP talked about in this thread?

Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:46 am

Just got done spraying for the first time. I used a borrowed Cap Spray CS9100 HVLP sprayer. First, to get used to the spray patterns and using the gun, I sprayed the wheels for my bus first in etching primer and then epoxy primer. They came out great. The only flaws were on the wheel itself, not in the paint. I was so encouraged I decided to start tackling my 40foot sailboat. It's already out of the water in a yard and I was going to have someone else do it but ran short of funds. I had some smaller parts off the boat to try in my driveway. I'm using polyurethane paint and also had a couple of sections with non-skid abrasive added. It came out so good, with such a high gloss, I was shocked. Even the pro painter who was going to shoot the boat was surprised. Next up I'll be spraying the color coat on the wheels and then I'll tackle my unpainted side gates on my DC. The only thing I would prefer is to have a gravity feed gun. I'm working on small pieces now and mixing small quantities of paint. With the cup gun, it's difficult to get the last paint out of the cup and you can't see how much paint you have left. Has anyone used a gravity feed gun with a turbine compressor?

Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:48 am

FYI: We used the HF Turbine sprayer this last weekend to apply some DP40 Epoxy Primer to the roof of the bus. The results were very nice and comparable to s compressor/gun setup.

Mark

Sun Aug 24, 2008 2:30 am

hpw wrote: Home Team Bus wrote: I sprayed mine last week. It was my first time painting as well and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Did you use the Harbor Freight

HVLP talked about in this thread?

No answer :?:

Fri Sep 26, 2008 9:44 am

I plan on buying the HF $90 HVLP system today to paint my 69'. I have already removed and have been sanding the fenders as well as the shell of the car.
I will post the results as I use the HF system here. So far the plan is to use the HVLP system for the base and clear coats only. I'm going to roll/brush on the primer.
This is the HF system I'm talking about. HF Part number 44677-1VGA.

Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:14 am

shakajava wrote: I plan on buying the HF $90 HVLP system today to paint my 69'. I have already removed and have been sanding the fenders as well as the shell of the car.
I will post the results as I use the HF system here. So far the plan is to use the HVLP system for the base and clear coats only. I'm going to roll/brush on the primer.
This is the HF system I'm talking about. HF Part number 44677-1VGA.

Why not use that for the primer too?

Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:30 pm

I went and bought the paint and the primer today as well. I ended up buying primer I have to spray. So, I will be spraying that. The store stopped selling roll on primer a few years ago.

Fri Sep 26, 2008 6:13 pm

I think you'll be happier that way too. Spraying is faster, more even, etc. As long as you're sanded off and degreased, you should have smooth sailing.

I'd practice with the gun and find the right needle for your paint. Don't forget to thin it a bit.

The only annoying thing about the gun I found is that it's hard to use up the last bit of paint in the gun. For that reason, I think it's not great for smal jobs. Priming or painting a whole panel (or a whole bus) should be perfect :-)

Mark

Sat Sep 27, 2008 10:44 pm

markd89 wrote: I think you'll be happier that way too. Spraying is faster, more even, etc. As long as you're sanded off and degreased, you should have smooth sailing.

I'd practice with the gun and find the right needle for your paint. Don't forget to thin it a bit.

The only annoying thing about the gun I found is that it's hard to use up the last bit of paint in the gun. For that reason, I think it's not great for smal jobs. Priming or painting a whole panel (or a whole bus) should be perfect :-)

Mark

i want to pick up that HF gun and try it out too. got a driver project i am workin on.

what sort of primer, paint, and clear should i buy? i want it to spray 'real' automotive paint...

you say the paint needs to be thinned.... with what and how much?

thanks...

Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:55 am

Crippler wrote:
i want to pick up that HF gun and try it out too. got a driver project i am workin on.

what sort of primer, paint, and clear should i buy? i want it to spray 'real' automotive paint...

you say the paint needs to be thinned.... with what and how much?

thanks...

I'm not an expert on painting. I'm still learning, but here's what I know:

For bare metal and a primer-sealer (non-permeable and protects from rust), we used DP40. This was spendy. I think $200+ or so for a gallon. A gallon is probably enough to do a whole bus. You probably don't want to go to bare metal except where you have bodywork/rust to fix. DP40 is sold in smaller amounts - i.e. quart so you might try with that and see how you do. We shot this with the HF gun no problem. We used a dash of thinner. I can't be more precise than that, sorry ;-)

On top of that, we applied body filler and/or sandable primer. Use this to make a flat surface, fill in spots, etc. We have not shot this with the HF gun but don't see why it wouldn't work. It may require more thinning as it is a thicker stuff. This stuff is cheaper. $30 for a quart

Both of the paints are epoxy. i.e. Paint + Catalyst.

One more tip is to clean the gun VERY thoroughly IMMEDIATELY after use. Worst case is your gun is useless. Any paint flakes left in the gun will get softened next time you use the gun and will be spat out when you don't want them to be. Ask me how I know!

Start with a small area, small amount of paint, etc. and experiment. I don't remember which needle was best, but hopefully someone else here can suggest..

Mark

Tue Oct 07, 2008 8:11 am

[quote="hpw"] hpw wrote: Home Team Bus wrote: I sprayed mine last week. It was my first time painting as well and I'm pretty happy with the results.

Did you use the Harbor Freight

HVLP talked about in this thread?

No answer :?:

So sorry, I never checked back on this thread. Yes, I used the Harbor Freight hvlp sprayer and it worked fine. I went with the Nason brand of paint and couldn't be happier. I even had some "pros" stop by who laughed at the sprayer but abruptly apologized after seeing the results. Afterall, it's all about the results right?