using hvlp

[superfly]

hi Dev,

I am no expert but this is my view.
To me there is no specifically really around hvlp. All your preparation will remind the same regarless of which tool you are using to spray hvlp, spray gun, paint brush, it does not matter.

To me here is the best place to get some information around your painting question.

Regarding the trade paint shop, there is surely some local supplier near you. There is some on ebay too like nu-agane, jawel, and stuff like that if you search on the forum you will find them for sure.

I hope it helps.

 

[Dev]

Cheers for that. The tutorial on here is geared more towards car panel painting. I won't be looking for anything that needs to be that highly finished, just stuff that will be outdoors and needs to be durable.

 

[keith19]

Cheers for that. The tutorial on here is geared more towards car panel painting. I won't be looking for anything that needs to be that highly finished, just stuff that will be outdoors and needs to be durable.

If you'll not be doing the finicky stuff the hvlp sprayer should be ideal. Just remember that even using the bigger nozzles it won't be putting on as much as a brush, so you'll maybe need several spray coats for an equivalent thickness.

As already said, preparation is much the same as for any kind of paintwork. Several light coats are better than a couple of heavy ones which may run.
With celly and similar let each coat 'go off' nicely before spraying another, otherwise it may sag.
Oil-based enamels take patience, as they are slow to dry, even when thinned out, so several coats mean several days.

 

[Dev]

I've been offered an Apollo 1500 for £250.... Anyone ever used this and know if it's worth the money?

 

[pedrobedro]

Is it single phase and do you need something that expensive ? In your previous post you say you don't want anything too highly finished and will be using it around the place so you might be better of buying something like the B&Q Earlex £50 bargains.

 

[Hotmetal]

I have been using HVLP for several years now, it is so good that I never use the conventional compressor/spraygun any more. You can not beat it for site work, light to carry and not much overspray. You can get different nozzle sizes on the more expensive setups so I would think that painting a car would not be a problem. Go for one that is not bleeding air through the gun all the time because this will raise dust off the floor etc.

For railings, general steelwork etc. I use Rustoleum paint. It does not need thinning (white spirit) much and goes off hard enough to handle the following day. Some gloss paints stay soft for days and are a pain in the backside. Earlex is OK but the gun constantly bleeds air.

I don't use Hammerite anymore because I think it is chlorinated rubber and you need a special thinners etc. It can react with other finishes and I think you have to wait six weeks before you can apply another coat or do it within a few hours.

 

[Dev]

Thanks for that hotmetal. I probably don't need to get such an expensive one. My thinking was that a stronger turbine would be needed for more viscous paints but on further reading, you just use a bit more thinnner! I'll need to find a good local stockist for rustoleum, should I be looking for a car parts place or a commercial painters suppliers or what?

Looking at how much use I couldn't really justify spending hundreds which means I more than likely will end up with an earlex. But I'll bear it in mind about the dust. Since I don't plan to be spraying cars it maybe won't be an issue so much.

 

[Hotmetal]

I would not use Rustoleum on a car but you can buy it from Johnstones Decorating Centres. I tend not to buy the large tins of it because the lids are difficult to seal afterwards and you end up with a skin on the paint. They seem to be aware of this issue but nothing seems to have been done about it. I only get what I can use in a reasonable time.

 

[Dev]

Going to call into a Leyland supplies shop that stocks rustleum at lunchtime. The manufacturers website says Combicolour "dilutes white spirit". Does this mean white spirit can be used to thin it? I see you can also buy Combicolour thinner...

 

[pedrobedro]

Dev, if you don't want too much of a range of colours get some of Aldi's metal protection paint next time they have it in. There are only about 4 colours but it is cheap at under £5 a litre and you can thin it with cheap gunwash cellulose thinners and still get a shiny finish. Best ting to do with the Combicolour is buy a small amount and pour some into a container then thin it with your white spirit to try it out. It's only enamel so it should work.

 

[Hotmetal]

Going to call into a Leyland supplies shop that stocks rustleum at lunchtime. The manufacturers website says Combicolour "dilutes white spirit". Does this mean white spirit can be used to thin it? I see you can also buy Combicolour thinner...

Yes, I thin it with white spirit, you don't need to thin it too much.

 

[Dev]

So... Tuloene. Just how evil is it? I thought I had taken suitable precautions by wearing purple nitrile gloves (as seen in hospitals) until it ate through them. On a scale of water to paraquat am I already dead for getting it on my skin?

Hafta say it didnt feel close to the 10% bleach I use for disinfecting the dog runs (diluted obviously) when I got it on my hand once.

Found a local place that sells manor paints. A 5lt pot of their 'one coat' cellulose was £25 inc vat and they mix it to whatever colour you want. A nice engineering blue in this case - which looks better on the bits I tested it on than it does on my hands...

 

[pedrobedro]

You can drink Toluene (it will kill you though ) Toluene hazards worth a read. Apparently it's the Benzene that will get you.

 

[Dev]

Well I'm not dead yet so that's a bonus. Obviously I have nothing to compare it to but I'm really pleased with that paint I got. It goes on really well and seems pretty resilient when it's fully dried. I'm looking round now for things to paint blue to use it up. I've already done the metal pegboards I have and it really smartens them up. The old filing cabinets I have might be next. Considering that I just sprayed over the coating that was already on the pegboards it seems to be adhering really well.

The same place does a high temp paint in whatever colour you like with differing levels of gloss. I'm seriously tempted to get a dark green for my wood burner. I could respray the old barbeque as well. And a mate thinks a gas bottle cut in half top vertically would make a good barbeque, so that would use a bit of high temp paint.

One thing I have learned is cleaning the mixing jug is more of a PITA than the gun which basically just needs sloshed out and a 1/2 pot of pure thinner sprayed through it. So I've ordered a bunch of disposable mixing cups.

I only wish the paint supplier I found did sizes less than 5L.

 

[zx9]

Good to hear that you are pleased with your paint Dev, but what I want to know is how well you got on with the HVLP sprayer? Much over spray? Was it easy to use and what sort of coverage and finish did you get? And how does HVLP Airless compare to conventional spray gun or the dreaded rattle cans?

 

[Dev]

Well I'll try my best to answer but bear in mind I haven't used a full professional filtered compressor setup.

Compared to rattle cans there is no comparison. Both in ease of spray, cost and in my limited experience, finish. I chose a 25% gloss rather than 40% so the finish is more like eggshell than shiny shiny.

There's before and after pictures in my album if you want to take a look.

Overspray- again I can't directly compare ahving never used a pro painting booth but I was pleasently surprised at how little paint seemed to be atomised in the air. I was prepared for a little foggyness but it seemed no worse than a rattle can. On ghe edges of the panels I used a bit of card to mask off the adjacent blockwork and cut in. I suppose it's hard to tell how much paint was in the air as I couldn't smell anything through the mask but it certainly wasn't visible. I don't know if the paint I got was intended for use on wood, and I don't care much since its only for myself, but applied to the bit of plywood I use for a shelf it went on really well also.

The fan produced by the gun was about 4" wide to get a good covering but in saying that I have the volume knob about 1 or 2 turns from closed only. I presume if it were opened more the fan would be bigger? I like it as it is, small enough to be neat without making the spraying take too long.

The only thing I can see might be a problem is the paint pot feeds from a syphon at the bottom so I imagine it wouldn't like working at an angle too far off horizontal.

And going into a trade paint place is a bit weird. It's a bit like speaking a new language when you only know a few words and don't want to look stupid. But that's how you learn...

 

[zx9]

Thanks Dev.

And going into a trade paint place is a bit weird. It's a bit like speaking a new language when you only know a few words and don't want to look stupid. But that's how you learn...

Yep been there, on Thursday I was in a paint supplier and somehow invented an imaginary friend who was going to spray epoxy primer, rather than tell them I was going to put it on with a roller

 

[Hotmetal]

Just another tip, you can get away with no thinners at all with a lot of paints and get a better finish if you stand the spraygun cup in an old saucepan of near boiling water for about 15 mins. before use. I leave the gun attached, just hanging over the side of the pan, give it stir now and again. It works really well with the normal household gloss paints (Dulux etc.) Give it a go, I guarantee you will be surprised.

Boil the water first, then take it outside before putting the paint cup in the pan.