I’ve finally decided that I’m doing enough painting and refinishing to warrant a sprayer. I’m hearing a lot about the new HVLP paint sprayers and have decided that’s the likely direction I need to go. But now it seems there is further decisions to be made on the type of gun, gravity or traditional suction type. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for an HVLP paint system? I’ve seen some Wagner Flexio systems for a very reasonable amount of money, but not convinced they can switch from painting rooms to spraying wood finish. So any suggestions are appreciated.
Second, I’ve decided I need some air nailers. My wife does a lot of upholstury using a Fasco Maestri electric stapler that actually does quite a good job but gives quite a kick when it fires compared to an air. For myself, I’ve been doing a lot of kitchen and bathroom remodeling where I think a framing and finish nailer would be handier than good old hammer horsepower. I’ve seen a nice Porter-Cable three gun system at HD for a decent price but have no experience with PC. Dewalt has a pancake compressor combined with their lower end framing nailer, also for a decent price.
I’d welcome all comments and suggestions at this point to avoid spending foolish money.
Gary
HVLP Sprayer:
IMO its hard to go wrong buying a FUJI. When I had access to a commercial shop - with a spray booth, nice Sata guns, catalyzed finishing etc. I did not consider buying anything new for my home shop. When I first retired - I had been struggling using a Titan (now part of Wagner) 345 Xi high pressure sprayer pump setup - that is really meant for house painting. I still use it - but more recently bought a Fuji Q4 setup which is much better/easier to control for furniture finishing.
They also sell a smaller system that seems to get good reviews:
Regarding nail guns- there are two kits that I spotted to consider -
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Bostitch-6-Gallon-Portable-150-PSI-Electric-Pancake-Air-Compressor/50396512
These are also available on Amazon for the same price - and both Bostitch and Porter-Cable are part of the Stanley-Black&Decker Family - so thes kits may be very similar.
If you want to buy individually - Hitachi pneumatics are very good - available at Lowes - or online:
You might also take a look at some of the Toolguyd posts on compressors:
http://toolguyd.com/?s=compressor
In my professional life - for small jobsite compressors - we used Eagle and Emglo, compressors - Bostitch, Grex, Hitachi, Makita,and Paslode nail guns - plus a few oddballs from Cadex, Porta-Nails, Powernailer, Senco, and Tigerclaw. We also used cordless (Paslode Impulse) nailers for punch-list work and for tight spaces (like some bathrooms and powder rooms - where an air hose would have been a nuisance. If buying today - I think I’d be shying away from the Paslode Impulse guns because of the smell and service requirements associated with their use of gaseous fuel cartridges. I now hear some good things about Ryobi cordless nailers:
On sprayer - do you have a large air compressor to run a sprayer? Air driven ones take lots of volume. Otherwise airless - or electric pump driven ones work pretty well. I’ve used a few Grayco products with good results.
On the compressor - if looking at pancake devices I suggest moving up to the 6 gallon ones. Just to reduce cycle and to have plenty of air for driving things like a framing nailer. Also they tend to have better pumps and will have more PSI. To that end I do like the new dewalt model but I had already bought a PC model that was on sale for 90 dollars. SO look for a sale like that - and get one.
On the nailer - I’m a novice and my nailer gets little use - considering near disposable I bought both framing and finish nailers from harbor freight - expecting to have issues with. Both have worked well and have been used on 3 projects.
buying a quality item I would have considered the Bostich product or Grex was on my list.
While my home shop has a big IR stationary compressor, I haven’t used an air compressor paint sprayer at home in at least 30 years. At one time I had a few automotive-type deVilbiss sprayers - and a pressure pot - but long ago gave them up.
My Titan 345Xi setup pumps the paint out of a 5 gallon pail through a hose to a high pressure gun. This is probably much like the Grayco that Napalm talks about - but despite having bought quite a few different tips - I like it better for house painting than furniture finishing.
The Fuji HVLP sprayers (like my Q4) - use a turbine to produce air at High Volume and Low Pressure (HVLP) to propel the finish - much easier to control IMO for a non-professional sprayer like me…
I have the Fuji Semi Pro 2 and love it. I spray mostly water based finished out of it but have sprayed two part epoxies and some thinned oil based finishes no problem. It is a bit of an investment, but it is a time saver and gives great results.
I have a bunch of Hitachi nailers and find them all to be good. I get them refurbished from bigskytool.com If you know what you want and check the site they usually have a “deal of the day” and you can get Grade-A refurbished nailer for a song.
I sort of wonder how the grayco or other pump device would do with stain - never tired it. But for latex and some lighter oil based stuff it does work good and I think it would work well on urethane. Might have to thin it - I’m sure there are videos and other info on doing just that. Someone’s done it by now. Those devices like the Fuji that are their own dedicated air source - I think you might as well pocket that money and buy a bigger compressor to run a normal AIR HVLP gun. But that’s a cost thing to your out.
I guess their are pros and cons for every approach. For me - the Fuji is easier to move around - have taken it to my Kid’s houses to spray finish. Not as quiet as I would really like it to be - but tolerable. My stationary IR compressor is pretty good and I have enough filtration and desiccant air drying to produce pretty decent quality air - but contaminants like lubricating oil and water, are an issue when using compressed air for spraying finish. I’m not sure about the air quality coming out of my portable compressor - OK for nail guns - but haven’t tried it for spraying. The high pressure airless pump type - of course eliminates the contaminant issue - but does add some other issues like need for training about safe use and dangers of paint injection.
I recently picked up a corded graco ultimate sprayer. It’s a hand held unit intended for small punch list jobs, but it uses fine finish low pressure tips. It’s not an HVLP though. But the lower pressure means it’s not supposed to have as much overspray as an airless. The handheld units aren’t new, but the tips are, so maybe there is something to it. Fred might have some insight into these handheld “airless” units?
You mention painting rooms and wood finishes. The first is not suited for HVLP and the second is not suited for airless, so you might have to prioritize. But the middle ground might be the unit above. Of course the middle ground can mean compromises on all fronts.
I wish I could give you more feedback, but it might be weeks to months before I get a sense how this thing handles latex. Poly may come later just to satisfy my curiosity. But I’m not giving up my HVLP if that tells you something. And I don’t need an airless rig, too much mess and clean up. My primary use will be punch list jobs with latex so I’m not messing with thinning latex to make it work in an HVLP.
No insight from me - my experience with handheld self-contained units dates back to old Wagner Units that I prefer to forget about (worked OK - but cleanup was tedious). I’ve seen pictures of those new Graco sprayers that use Dewalt batteries - but not in action. Maybe Stuart over on the main ToolGuyd site can test one out for us.