HVLP Sprayers - school me?

[p90puma]

I'm looking to refinish all the trim in my house and refinish our kitchen cabinets.

I saw this system recommended by the Wood Whisperer on Youtube.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XQPN6CU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Will this work? I see some 3,000$ options, what am I giving up by going with this unit? I'm not interested in anything cheaper.

Planning on setting up a paint booth with ventilation in the garage for the cabinet doors, everything else has to be sprayed where it is installed (in-situ).

Would appreciate any tips here, as we will be living in the house during the effort, though we can sleep elsewhere for a night or two while things dry/off-gas.

Anyone done this before and willing to share some tips/links/other?

I'm planning on using the Mirka MID62520CAUS with my FLEX vac, along with the Milwaukee M12 detail sander. All the trim and cabinets are square and have no rounded features.

Hoping to minimize dust and effort.

Here's a picture of the setup (when free of anything) - it's from another unit but it's the same setup almost

many-many-thanks.
-Sylvester

 

[InjectorService]

Are you painting or staining? I know you said you didn't want cheaper, but why? I have one of these and it works great.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004Z2090U/?tag=atomicindus04-20

 

[AEAdam]

Wow. I just sprayed a set of french doors with a $15 HF sprayer. I drilled the nozzle and watered down the house paint. I liked the finish. Looked terrible wet. Dried flatter. Maybe 20% water

 

[goblue1998]

I have a graco 4900 turbine hvlp. Worked great spraying sherwin williams emerald enamel paint on my kitchen cabinets. Kilz primer also worked well. Paint was sprayed without being diluted. It is a 4 stage turbine.

 

[p90puma]

Are you painting or staining? I know you said you didn't want cheaper, but why? I have one of these and it works great.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004Z2090U/?tag=atomicindus04-20

Painting.

Same reason I bought the Starrett combination square set VS a husky, I have a problem with cheap tools

 

[Sumboodie]

1 qt tank would **** for anything but small projects.

For that price, I'd expect it can spray from a pail and no issues with anything from thin stain to thick equipment paints.

 

[p90puma]

1 qt tank would **** for anything but small projects.

For that price, I'd expect it can spray from a pail and no issues with anything from thin stain to thick equipment paints.

If we end up using it for all the walls/ceiling/etc, it's a decent project, house is only 1100 sq/ft though across 3 levels.

 

[ike]

I have a Fuji Mini Mite 4 system that I bought when I remodeled my house and bought all new unfinished cabinets. It was great for painting cabinets. I used Zissner primer and Insl-X Cabinet Coat for the paint. The system paid for itself in that project, and I have no regrets from buying a Fuji system.

 

[dnschmidt]

That will work fine. It's a five stage turbine which provides as good of atomization as you're going to get out a turbine unit. The king of the hill use to be the Accuspray with the 10 gun but 3M killed it when they bought Accuspray. Fuji stands behind their products so I see nothing wrong with that unit. GO FOR IT!

 

[2Fast]

Don't overlook the made in the USA Apollo systems:

Apollo

Since 1966, Apollo Sprayers HVLP continues to design and develop some of the most technologically-advanced, innovative, and environmentally-positive paint sprayers in the world. Our user-friendly and award-winning HVLP paint sprayers, HVLP spray guns, and accessories meet the exact requirements...

www.finishsystems.com

 

[dnschmidt]

Don't overlook the made in the USA Apollo systems:

Apollo

Since 1966, Apollo Sprayers HVLP continues to design and develop some of the most technologically-advanced, innovative, and environmentally-positive paint sprayers in the world. Our user-friendly and award-winning HVLP paint sprayers, HVLP spray guns, and accessories meet the exact requirements...

www.finishsystems.com

I don't like the Apollo spray guns. I find the Fuji gun far superior to the Apollo. The turbines all use the same parts so little difference there but the Fuji gun is just better.

 

[p90puma]

Don't overlook the made in the USA Apollo systems:

Apollo

Since 1966, Apollo Sprayers HVLP continues to design and develop some of the most technologically-advanced, innovative, and environmentally-positive paint sprayers in the world. Our user-friendly and award-winning HVLP paint sprayers, HVLP spray guns, and accessories meet the exact requirements...

www.finishsystems.com

What's the advantage here?

 

[2Fast]

Advantage? - that is for you to decide. You need to do some googling, but things like made in the USA with USA based customer support (Vista California) 5-year warranty, digital readouts (you can easily duplicate your results), 45 second 'power pause', etc

 

[InjectorService]

Painting.

Same reason I bought the Starrett combination square set VS a husky, I have a problem with cheap tools

So you literally want to spend 10x the money for something that youll use a handfull of times at best? You do you..... but I'm sure happy I didn't spend 3+k on a sprayer.

 

[dnschmidt]

Well having 50 top of the line automotive spray guns from SATA, Iwata, DeVilbiss, Sagola & Walcom I've got at least 40K in spray guns. So I consider 3K kind of cheap. Besides the system he's considering goes for a mere $1700 so what's the problem? Considering the average kitchen remodel goes for $40,000 he's getting off sort of cheap.

 

[clutchee]

We have a Graco unit, used it for painting and staining, and clearing our cabinets. Worked great.

Stored it with cleaner inside it, then few years later friends son painted his house inside with it. Was shocked how quick and easy, cleaned up and stored again.

 

[p90puma]

Well having 50 top of the line automotive spray guns from SATA, Iwata, DeVilbiss, Sagola & Walcom I've got at least 40K in spray guns. So I consider 3K kind of cheap. Besides the system he's considering goes for a mere $1700 so what's the problem? Considering the average kitchen remodel goes for $40,000 he's getting off sort of cheap.

100% this, really appreciate this comment and all the feedback here.

 

[cgrutt]

I have an older version of that Fuji system, a Q3 (circa 2005 or so) and used it to spray clear coat (pre-catyalized lacquer). It worked great and cabinets came out fantastic. It was a different style gun though (siphon feed not gravity). Despite being HVLP, you still wind up with some overspray and vapors in area not sure how good it would work in the house without some good ventilation. Never used it for paint and would think an airless sprayer would be better suited for thicker enamels. I used my Titan airless sprayer to paint the cabinet doors for a customer. They came out really nice but sprayed in a detached garage. I painted the frames by hand inside house. I know HVLP can be used inside homes just be very careful with masking off and ventilation. Id use a waterbased product with low VOC if possible. Good luck.

 

[AEAdam]

Hmmm... if you don’t have a lot of detailed moldings you are painting, I question the sense of spraying at all. And I dont think you want HVLP for walls. You want an airless sprayer, right?

With respect, I think you may have gone off the deep end; Buying a Starrett combination square for a couple hundred vs a cheap-o for $20, isn’t the same as buying a single use $2000 tool to do what a 2” foam brush could do.

And all sprayers make a hell of a mess. Spraying is better for new construction or large areas where masking is relatively minor.

TIP: in my last house, wife and I replaced the horrible hollow core doors with solid pine 6 panel doors and installed solid brass emtek knobs. We painted the doors and trim a beautiful off white. House looked like the inside of the White House.

We painted the doors with Kilz primer, then brushed them, sanding between coats. Third and final coat was done with a foam brush. We rubbed out the final coat with a piece of corrugated card board box (it’s a fine abrasive). Looked dynamite. Removed a tiny bit of sheen and left a flat surface behind. You probably won’t get that from a sprayer.


This is the door I just got done spraying with the HF purple gun. Try zooming to see the texture. This is straight off the gun. If you look closely at the glass and plastic, you can see the texture of the paint. It flattened out on the wood, but was a spattery mess when applied.

I primed with shellac and rubbed that out before spraying. Otherwise, I haven’t touched this. I think I did 3 thin coats.

 

[p90puma]

Hmmm... if you don’t have a lot of detailed moldings you are painting, I question the sense of spraying at all. And I dont think you want HVLP for walls. You want an airless sprayer, right?

With respect, I think you may have gone off the deep end; Buying a Starrett combination square for a couple hundred vs a cheap-o for $20, isn’t the same as buying a single use $2000 tool to do what a 2” foam brush could do.

And all sprayers make a hell of a mess. Spraying is better for new construction or large areas where masking is relatively minor.

TIP: in my last house, wife and I replaced the horrible hollow core doors with solid pine 6 panel doors and installed solid brass emtek knobs. We painted the doors and trim a beautiful off white. House looked like the inside of the White House.

We painted the doors with Kilz primer, then brushed them, sanding between coats. Third and final coat was done with a foam brush. We rubbed out the final coat with a piece of corrugated card board box (it’s a fine abrasive). Looked dynamite. Removed a tiny bit of sheen and left a flat surface behind. You probably won’t get that from a sprayer.


This is the door I just got done spraying with the HF purple gun. Try zooming to see the texture. This is straight off the gun. If you look closely at the glass and plastic, you can see the texture of the paint. It flattened out on the wood, but was a spattery mess when applied.

I primed with shellac and rubbed that out before spraying. Otherwise, I haven’t touched this. I think I did 3 thin coats.

Do you have any links for looking at airless options and what that looks like, sounds like you have some experience.

 

[AEAdam]

Do you have any links for looking at airless options and what that looks like, sounds like you have some experience.

I have no hands on experience with airless sprayers, but with an entire house to paint, I’m thinking about them. Google it. I think these are good: https://www.graco.com/us/en/contractor/products/architectural-painting-coating/paint-sprayers.html

…you may be able to rent one at your local home center just to try it. I think if you are spraying latex, acrylic latex, these things are It. Depending on what you are painting your cabinets with, the airless sprayer may or may not work.

I’d urge you to do your homework and run some tests before committing to anything expensive. Paint jobs of every sort are all about preparation, technique, and how you finish. You could probably rattle can paint a kitchen for example.

 

[bb29510]

you put paint in bucket, air hose on ******, pull trigger, that all there is

 

[cgrutt]

HVLP turbine and airless are completely on separate ends of the spectrum. HVLP provides air, creates a venturi or gravity feeds paint, atomizes it and sprays it much like a traditional car gun except it throws a high volume of material at relatively low pressure minimizing overspray. As far as I know the paint needs to be relatively thin to be atomized effectively. The Fuji sprayers and similar are far superior for clear coats, stains etc.

Airless is a high pressure pump that delivers paint directly from the bucket through hose and gun to your wall (or whatever you're painting). The pressures can be above 1000 psi to exceeding 3000 psi. It puts alot of paint down very quickly.

Graco is the "Snap on" of the airless paint world. Their equipment is excellent and very expensive. I own a Spray Tech and Titan airless sprayers that are part of the Wagner group. They are commercial machines but more affordable than Graco. (I think my pumps were about $1000 each vs similar Graco would have been $1,500 or more).

Airless is definitely the way to go for painting large rooms or houses. They've come a long way and now make tips that can be operated at much lower pressures and greatly reduce overspray. I'd go to a professional paint store like Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams and have them show you what is available.

I also have a Graco handheld which is good for small projects but no where in same ballpark as others.

 

[240sxguy]

I did a kitchen remodel as well, and sprayed with an airless outside. It laid out beautifully and looked awesome, but went through paint very fast due to overspray. There's no way I could have done it indoors with that sprayer. I was using SW proclassic I think. I've also been interested in an HVLP system for small jobs like spraying doors. My airless is the wagner type that you have to dump the paint into. Not ideal if you are just wanting to spray a single door.

 

[Sumboodie]

Well having 50 top of the line automotive spray guns from SATA, Iwata, DeVilbiss, Sagola & Walcom I've got at least 40K in spray guns. So I consider 3K kind of cheap. Besides the system he's considering goes for a mere $1700 so what's the problem? Considering the average kitchen remodel goes for $40,000 he's getting off sort of cheap.

I highly doubt the people that are able to spend 40k for a kitchen remodel are the type that would be painting their own cabinets!

 

[rockettauto]

For airless I got a HF machine and bought Graco spray tips. Works like a charm. It's probably done the interiors of 15-20 houses. Loaned it to a friend who does remodels for work....I don't actually expect or care if it comes back but it's still plugging along 4 years later.

 

[cgrutt]

For airless I got a HF machine and bought Graco spray tips. Works like a charm. It's probably done the interiors of 15-20 houses. Loaned it to a friend who does remodels for work....I don't actually expect or care if it comes back but it's still plugging along 4 years later.

Do the Graco tips fit the HF gun / cage? I use Graco tips too on my Titan but had to replace cage. They are good tips and well worth the extra $$$ IMO

 

[rockettauto]

Do the Graco tips fit the HF gun / cage? I use Graco tips too on my Titan but had to replace cage. They are good tips and well worth the extra $$$ IMO

It all fits it...washer-seal things , springs, tips etc.
I was going to slap a Graco gun on it but since all the business end stuff fit I just went with it.

I think I got a Graco wand extension too.

The only problem I ever had was once something on the back of the handle loosened and made it spit real bad on shutoff...tightened up and it was good.

 

[cgrutt]

It all fits it...washer-seal things , springs, tips etc.
I was going to slap a Graco gun on it but since all the business end stuff fit I just went with it.

I think I got a Graco wand extension too.

The only problem I ever had was once something on the back of the handle loosened and made it spit real bad on shutoff...tightened up and it was good.

Makes sense HF probably copied the leader lol. Yeah, extensions are definitely good to discuss and makes life much easier esp. when up on a ladder. Airless is definitely much faster but technique is important keeping head relatively same distance and angle from work, avoiding fanning out at end of strokes, overlapping, keeping wet edge, etc. It takes a while to get it down. Also importance of backrolling which many people avoid. Painting is fast prep takes a very long time. Idaho Painter is good channel to watch.

ETA oh and cleaning equipment is a PITA I rarely paint interiors with airless even though I own equipment. Even small exterior jobs are tradeoff between getting it done fast and amount of time needed to clean equipment. I've been using a two bucket approach which works good but still takes alot of time to clean pump and hoses...

 

[rockettauto]

Makes sense HF probably copied the leader lol. Yeah, extensions are definitely good to discuss and makes life much easier esp. when up on a ladder. Airless is definitely much faster but technique is important keeping head relatively same distance and angle from work, avoiding fanning out at end of strokes, overlapping, keeping wet edge, etc. It takes a while to get it down. Also importance of backrolling which many people avoid. Painting is fast prep takes a very long time. Idaho Painter is good channel to watch.

ETA oh and cleaning equipment is a PITA I rarely paint interiors with airless even though I own equipment. Even small exterior jobs are tradeoff between getting it done fast and amount of time needed to clean equipment. I've been using a two bucket approach which works good but still takes alot of time to clean pump and hoses...

Yeah, the interiors I know it really only gets broke out for a whole house job. Just because of that cleanup tradeoff.

I've done a lot of automotive painting and worked as a scenic artist/props, airbrush is a hobby so spraying the house was easy... probably hardest to adjust the vigilance down actually.

 

[cgrutt]

New construction its a no brainer but once you've got carpet and furnishings....

If I were painting kitchen cabinets I'd use airless but would prefer to do it out of house or seal everything off like a clean room with positive pressure. Also painting enclosures like inside of a cabinet has a whole host of other issues like getting into corners with pressure of paint and "turbulance" (for lack of better word) created during the painting itself. Personally I prefer to hand paint inside of cabinets or spray before assembly.

 

[p90puma]

I highly doubt the people that are able to spend 40k for a kitchen remodel are the type that would be painting their own cabinets!

You'd be surprised.

 

[dnschmidt]

II you’re doing this outside airless with a fine finish tip works very well. Call Graco, Wagner or Titan and ask their technical people for a tip and pressure recommendation as that’s what they are paid to do. I personally would not try to spray kitchen cabinets in place with any equipment of any type. Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore make waterbased enamels that are specific for this cabinet refinishing application and a discussion with either company’s technical people should get you a good recommendation. I typically use automotive basecoat/clearcoat but that's a unique specialty of mine and for an amateur I wouldn't recommend it. The one time I used a waterbased product it was one from PPG called Breakthrough and it did a nice job. https://www.ppgpaints.com/products/...break-through-50-interior-exterior-wb-acrylic

 

[goblue1998]

There is some pretty good info here. I was happy with the results from my graco 4900 turbine hvlp that I bought used for $100. Very happy with the paint too. I did NOT need to thin the paint at all to spray it.

How to Apply Sherwin Williams® Emerald® Paint

How to Apply & Spray Sherwin Williams® Emerald® Paint Sherwin Williams® produces a variety of quality paints for products ranging from vehicles to homes to cabinets. For cabinet painting, Sherwin Williams® Emerald® paint is a durable high quality cabinet finish, given that when you...

pittsburghsprayequip.com

 

[ike]

You'd be surprised.

Yeah, I agree with you. My remodel was around 30k, and I painted everything myself. I bought the Fuji system for that purpose.

 

[strutaeng]

The real question I have is what product(s) are you using to finish the cabinets...

 

[p90puma]

The real question I have is what product(s) are you using to finish the cabinets...

I have no idea, open to suggestions, the wood whisperer was talking about these products:

https://amzn.to/2USlWjR
https://amzn.to/30UFIiJ

Really appreciative of all the comments here, open completely to suggestions.

 

[p90puma]

Yeah, I agree with you. My remodel was around 30k, and I painted everything myself. I bought the Fuji system for that purpose.

Thanks! Yeah, our appliance choices alone will exceed 30k.

 

[240sxguy]

I have no idea, open to suggestions, the wood whisperer was talking about these products:

https://amzn.to/2USlWjR
https://amzn.to/30UFIiJ

Really appreciative of all the comments here, open completely to suggestions.

For what it's worth, I sprayed my cabinets at my old house with primer and Sherwin Williams Proclassic (at the time this was the high end trim paint SW offered). It held up VERY well. I have kids and they were young, so the cabinets definitely got abused. The only areas that really showed any wear at all were right behind the pulls. The pulls were too short, and I have big hands so my nails would always dig into the finish. I think I was in that house for 7-8 years after painting and it was holding up just as well as I would have expected from a factory finish.

I am sure there are better products available nowadays, but just something as a frame of reference.

Good luck with the project.

 

[GeoBruin]

I've really enjoyed using PPG Breakthrough. It's a little tricky to spray only because it dries so fast, but I used some extender and it seemed to improve the working time. It still dries very, very fast, and it's as hard as a rock when it dries. I sprayed a murphy bed cabinet with it, then (like an idiot) pulled the cabinet over onto the hardwood floor because it wasn't anchored yet. There wasn't a scratch on it. Blew my mind.

And mind you, I live in California so I can only get the low voc version. Rumor has it the "normal" version is even better.