Subject: Compressors vs. HVLP systems

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 08 Feb 97 12:52:22 GMT

I'm looking for any and all advice concerning the two items in the title. I'm 
sick of using brushes and cotton diapers and all sort of other applications to 
try and get the best finish I can. I've finallyseen the light and plan on 
moving on the wold of evenly sprayed on finishes. However, I can only choose 
one or the other because I'm not a rich man. Will a HVLP do the job well enough 
to make me forget about the advantages of a compressor. Or should I get a 
compressor with a rewgulator that will allow me to back off on the psi to give 
me the same pressure as a HVLP. Also there's the money thing to consider. I 
really don't want to spend more than $300 if I can get away with it. Any and 
all adice would be greatly appreciated.

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 1997 00:32:37 -0500

> all adice would be greatly appreciated.

There is so much involved in deciding between a compressor for spraying
or an HVLP system. But since you mentioned price, there is little chance
of achieving a quality finish with any system for $300 or less, unless
you don't mind doing four times the additional work to sand out the poor
quality spray you will get.

You can get a decent HVLP system for under $600 if you shop around (I
can make some suggestions, but I risk losing credibility if I hawk). 

To use compressed air, a decent gun might run $150 to $200. Then you
need a hose which could be another $25. Then you need a moisture trap to
filter out water that comes from condensation. That's an additional $25
to $40. Then you need a compressor that has the requisite cfm so that
you can power the gun enough to atomize your finish (so you don't have
to thin your finish so much that you don't get any build when you
spray). That means you need a good powerful compressor, perhaps 3hp to
5hp. That could be $300 to $500 minimum. "Bango!" as Jackie the Jokeman
says. Now you've lost your portability which means that on-site work is
now onerous.

But wait! There is an answer. And it comes in the form of the Binks Mach
1 HVLP setup. It is a conversion gun (uses regular compressed air, but
the gun has a venturi valve in the air passages which steps the air
pressure down while boosting the cfm --volume of air -- way up) that has
a specially tooled air cap that will atomize your finish at 10psi or
less (that is the true definition of HVLP). It can be powered by as
small as a 1.5hp compressor. Now you have your portability back! The
quality of the finish is beautiful. The system gives you tremendous
control and versatility, but expect to pay about $450 to $500 for the
gun, and then a minimum of $250 to $300 for the compressor, plus the
hose and filter costs. A complete package system can be purchased for
about $700 to $800. There is no control over the width of the fan, which
is about 8" to 10" (some guns from turbine units can have as wide as a
15" fan).

Some turbine units can be as quiet as an ordinary household vacuum,
which is loud but not oppressive. Compressors, while they are loading up
their tanks are quite loud, but silent when not loading (until the
loading pressure kicks in again). Turbine units use less amperage than
compressors do, which can be important when you are finishing in remote
locations (on-site). But with compressors, you can run your touch up
gun, air brush, brad nailer or other air tools, as long as the
compressor is powerful enough (in-line double-pad rubbing machines use
an awful -- as in awe inspiring or ful of awe, not the coloquialism --
amount of air, for example).

I'm sure that I left some features out, that some of my generalizations
are too broad and that some of my comparisons and contrasts may not be
accurate, but this should be a good enough exposition for you to make a
good choice.
-- 
Daniel