# Harbor Freight HVLP



## Bleedinblue (Mar 4, 2014)

I just bought this, it's the exact same sprayer as Rockler's.

I bought it to spray latex interior paint on a couple dressers I am refinishing, and if I can figure that out, I'd like to spray several of my home's 6 panel doors.

I know latex paint doesn't spray easily, but reading reviews of this sprayer I know a lot have figured it out. I'm not one of them, apparently. I need to figure out what those people are doing that I am not.

Obviously the big issue is viscosity. 

I ended up thinning the paint a LOT using Flotrol and water. Using the included viscosity cup, I timed the time it took to empty the cup. I started trying to spray at a 20 second mixture and went all the way down to about 7 seconds. I got the exact same results with the 7 second viscosity as I did with the 20 second viscosity. Just lots of splatter.

I tried the two biggest tips that came with the gun. The medium was 1.5 mm, the other wasn't marked but is probably 1.7 or 1.8. Same results with both tips.

Any other ideas?


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## Bleedinblue (Mar 4, 2014)

I just read in Rockler's description that the 0.9 mm tip works best with latex paints and the larger tip works best for oil (the instructions with the unit were awful and didn't touch on any of this). Counter-intuitive, I think...but I guess I'll give the 0.9 mm tip a shot tomorrow. The paint didn't seem to be atomizing into small enough droplets, so maybe the smaller tip will fix that.


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## shopsmithtom (Nov 3, 2009)

Atomization may also be a function of air pressure. I know the gun is supposed to be "lp" (low pressure) but this is a cheap (but decent) gun and may need a bit more air to work well. Try giving it a little more air pressure.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Really the only cup gun that sprays latex well is one that you can pressurize the cup. I believe Sears still sells one. Latex paint is better sprayed in a pressure pot or an airless sprayer.


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## Bleedinblue (Mar 4, 2014)

shopsmithtom said:


> Atomization may also be a function of air pressure. I know the gun is supposed to be "lp" (low pressure) but this is a cheap (but decent) gun and may need a bit more air to work well. Try giving it a little more air pressure.


It's a one speed blower. If I can't get this to work with latex, I'll still keep it for other projects. Reviews say it does quite well with poly, that alone would make the $90 worth it to me.



Steve Neul said:


> Really the only cup gun that sprays latex well is one that you can pressurize the cup. I believe Sears still sells one. Latex paint is better sprayed in a pressure pot or an airless sprayer.


I have a good airless sprayer but it seems like it'd be overkill for furniture. Others have figured this out with the same sprayer, one reviewer even used the same brand/finish paint and said it worked great.


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## Ktb153 (Oct 22, 2015)

I bought this as my first sprayer when I ran out of patience using a brush on a cabinet and didn't want to spend 400 plus on a better sprayer. This was a good sprayer to introduce me to spraying but I have since upgraded to the Fuji semi pro and it is night and day difference. If you have it in your budget and plan on using it a lot I would recommend looking into a sprayer like that so you don't do what I did and spend more money than if I just bought the good one to begin with. That being said it is possible to get a good finish with latex using the harbor freight sprayer. The paint I use is Sherwin Williams pro classic acrylic latex which I find is a very nice paint with good leveling and probably had a lot to do with my success spraying it. I can't tell you exactly how much I thinned it because I didn't measure but I'd guess around 10-15% with just water, I think I checked the viscosity once around 25 seconds. I start around 10% water and test on some cardboard then adjust from there. The most important thing I found with that sprayer is to spray latex you have to adjust the spray pattern to the circle, it just doesn't have enough power to spray the fan. Also on the adjustment knob on the back of the gun I would start almost closed and adjust until I got some spatter then back off 1/2 to 3/4 turn. This sprayer just doesn't have the power to atomize a lot of paint so I was spraying very thin and just going over the area twice for each coat. I want to say I used the medium tip but it may have been the small one. So as long as you take it slow it is possible to get a very nice finish and I would never go back to using a brush now, I hope this helps you out.


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## Bleedinblue (Mar 4, 2014)

Ok, thanks. Tomorrow I'll try the nozzle at 45* and try the smaller tip. I did play around with the adjustment knob quite a bit and it didn't help much. Might have better luck tomorrow. 

No real budget or need for a better sprayer, I don't paint furniture much...and I just found out how much daycare is going to cost when baby gets here :blink:


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

I have had good luck using a product from Wagner called "Paint Easy" to thin latex paint for spraying. have also had good results with Sherwin Williams Pro Classic.


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## Bleedinblue (Mar 4, 2014)

Using the small tip and the nozzle at 45* and I'm getting "passable" results. I think part of it is recognizing the properties of the paint. The paint still isn't atomizing like other sprayers I have used, the droplets are noticeably bigger...however when it hits the surface, the droplets are mixing together and covering fairly well. Obviously this is what happens with smaller atomization, but it's just easy to see. The result isn't a glass smooth surface, but a surface very similar to what is left by a paint roller...which is what I was going to use if the sprayer didn't work anyway. I can work with this.

I don't think it'll work for my 6 panel doors, though.


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## nwoodward (Feb 2, 2014)

Y not try harbor freights lvlp? 2mm tip sprays latex superbly.

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## pinwheel (Jan 17, 2010)

Steve Neul said:


> Really the only cup gun that sprays latex well is one that you can pressurize the cup. I believe Sears still sells one. Latex paint is better sprayed in a pressure pot or an airless sprayer.



This. HVLP will not spray latex well.

If the OP wants to buy from harbor freight, they sell 2 small pressure pots, one hvlp & one not. For small latex jobs, I use the HF pressure pot with good results. Bigger jobs, I fire up the airless.


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

It's a "sheer" problem,moreso than any particular size "tip".Hard to explain.Best of luck.


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## todd.carpenter (Oct 6, 2015)

Part of your issue is using water to thin the latex. Water, believe it or not, will cause the latex to dry faster, and not flow out like it should. The best thinner for latex is cheap, cheap windshield washer solvent. Sounds strange I know, but it works really well. You still use the Flotrol. You should then see your paint flatten out a bit more.


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## nwoodward (Feb 2, 2014)

Screw all this air compressor hvlp. Go buy the airless Graco true coat 360 VSP . As a DIYr It sprays unthined latex, and primers better than any any ANY other mid quality sprayer and its doof proof with a finish that will make you whistle and brag. This hvlp nonsense led me down a road of trials errors and all be a son of a britches and gave me a clean up time far longer .

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