Harbor Fright hvlp guns?

[RickB]

This might be a very polarizing question, but here goes...

Can a "decent" hvlp paint gun be purchased at HF?
I know the place is full of made in China crapola but I just want something I can use once in a while instead of buying rattle cans. The recent job painting my Sprite bonnet taught me valuable lessons.

I'm sure some would say I'm very far from having learned those lessons as evidenced by the question I'm asking... But I guess I'm 'livin & learnin' here.

For anyone not familiar with HF and their stuff it's pretty darn low priced but quality is variable. Case in point, I bought a pair of horns for $7.99
One works fine when voltage is applied. The other draws current and heats up but makes almost no sound, I believe if left plugged in it would eventually catch fire. Of course this is only when bolted to the car, otherwise no circuit is made.
It's not supposed to make a circuit from positive to mounting point but it does. Of course not worth the $7.99 to make a special trip for exchange so it's chucked in the trash.

Again, the original question is about the HVLP spray guns they sell - if someone has experience with one from them that they really like or is at least adequate and works more than once I'd like to know about it.

 

[apbos]

Rick
No experience yet......But I did bookmark this page. I was thinking about using a gun when I paint my frame on the MGA.
HVLP

Paul

 

[Trevor Jessie]

I've tried one, and couldn't get anything resembling a decent spray pattern. A good gun doesn't guarantee a good paint job, but a bad gun can give the best painter fits.

Know anyone you can split the cost of a decent gun with?

 

[RickB]

Paul, nice page - I am also bookmarking it.
I've looked at that gun at HF and wondered, but it's sounding like my little compressor won't be up to the task. Hmmm....

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Don't know anything about these, but here is an idea

https://www.tptools.com/p/2994,60_Showtime-90-HVLP-Turbine-Unit-with-ProLine-Paint-Spray-Gun.html

 

[Trevor Jessie]

https://tinyurl.com/2w66o7p

 

[bigjones]

Harbor Freight - I think it was Frank who said if it has moving parts don't buy it!

Then again, I know a mechanic who was using one of their engine hoist hooks and it straightened out. Fortunately he was not hurt.

Should admit I got a dial indicator kit from there cheap and it works just fine.

OK, back to air guns...

 

[lesingepsycho]

I've used the smaller and larger HVLP guns from HF and I've been pleased with the results. I'll qualify that however by saying that I've mostly used them for shooting lacquers and shellacs for woodworking. You can sand and buff a lot of sins out of lacquer or shellac. I run it just fine off of my small, low hp, 2 gallon air compressor. That means I stop and start a lot but since lac and shellac "burn in" to the previous coat, that's not a huge problem. There is virtually no adjustment to the spray pattern, however, as Trevor Jesse states. You can play with the air pressure a little to find a sweet spot between spray pattern and flow.

I have some two-part epoxy primer that I was going to shoot with the larger gun but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

JACK

 

[regularman]

I've had decent luck with one. Practice and getting it set right are the keys, most of that stuff is exact copies of more expensive guns. No, it won't give you a show job, but lets face it, if you were looking for that you would pay someone. I used a HF paint gun and HF 21 gallon 4hp compressor. It kept up fine until with the compressor running and all them fans and lights it popped the basement circuit breaker :wink:

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Maybe I'm too picky, or maybe the guns I tried were faulty. Once I got the gun spraying with even atomization, the pattern result was uneven. If I worked to get an even pattern then the atomization would start spattering.


So, those of you that say the HF gun is good enough. What other guns are you comparing it to?

I guess for the money it is worth a try and if it doesn't meet your auto painting needs you could find other uses for it.

 

[Falkon]

I personally haven't seen any true difference between a HF paint gun and a good expensive one. The one we used to paint my moms car was from HF, and so was everything else we used on that job except for the air compressor. Ill post the picture as soon as it reaches my email. But form personal experience there is no big difference. If you plan to use it just once or twice then or just occasionally then it would work just fine.

 

[Falkon]

Admittedly not the best of paint jobs but we did it in one night as a surprise for my mom before she got back from Vegas. And like i said we used the HF paint gun for the whole thing.

 

[spritenut]

I am with Trevor about HF paint guns.
Yes I have one because Santa Claus brought it to me and I mainly use it for primer. I did try using it for a finish job twice, it's not a $600 SATA gun and for $15 you get a $15 paint job.
It's fine for painting radiators, parts, primers and even undersides of cars but it does not make an even pattern. I got tiger stripes both times, I never had tiger stripes with my Mac gun. And if I get real picky, I borrow my son's SATA.
Now THAT is a paint gun!

 

[regularman]

I am with Trevor about HF paint guns.
Yes I have one because Santa Claus brought it to me and I mainly use it for primer. I did try using it for a finish job twice, it's not a $600 SATA gun and for $15 you get a $15 paint job.
It's fine for painting radiators, parts, primers and even undersides of cars but it does not make an even pattern. I got tiger stripes both times, I never had tiger stripes with my Mac gun. And if I get real picky, I borrow my son's SATA.
Now THAT is a paint gun!

I don't think anything does the clear like the high pressure gun. The clear is so much like the old enamel that the low pressure just doesn't lay right. If I had a real setup it would be the hvlp for the base and the high pressure for the clear. Not that I am an expert by any means, its what seems right for me.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Kim makes an important point. If you are doing base/clear there are several types of clear. Most of the higher solid clears will need a larger nozzle/needle to be able to shoot hvlp. You can spray them with a high pressure gun, but then you waste a bunch of paint and that stuff is not cheap.

 

[Hap Waldrop]

Once upon a time, I decided I needed a rally good paint gun, and bought a Sharp downflow gun, cost about $300, it was without a doubt the worst paint gun I ever owned, while I've not used a HF gun, I can tell you the best paint jobs I ever did, including the Huffaker MGB that was in Classic Motorsport magazine was did with oild fashion suction gun I bought at Home Depot for $35.

Funny HF story, back when I was building a fair amount of race cars, I would use a air powered metal shear alot, to cut aluminum sheetmeat, the HF unit I had finally gave up the ghost, after 2-3 years of alot work and abuse, I got a real fancy one off the MC tool truck, it was terrible, wouldeven cut the same thickness as the HF rs, so i returned the Mac shears back to the tool truck guy, got a refund, they were like $200, and want right back to HF and bought the HF unit and still have it today and it's working fine. Here's my rule of thumb on air tools, none of them if used often will last forever, and the ones on the tool truck are just overpriced and the HF units are just as good. While Snap On, mac, etc, make great wrenches and socket, thier ar tool s are about the same as the cheaper unit and have no more warrnety than the cheapers ones too.

Long story short if I had to buy a paint gun today, would I buy one for HF, you bet I would, spending more has not proved more quality to me yet.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

Hap, as an engine builder would you use calipers and mics from harbor freight?
I mean... I could use some new measuring equipment is the stuff they sell good enough accuracy and precision wise?

 

[BRSLimited]

I use one of their cheapy suction feed guns for regular painting with results approaching the quality of my $300 Binks and their touchup guns are pretty good. My experience with the gravity feed gun from HF is it's a good primer gun but leaves a lot to be desired for color. I'ts hard to get a good spray pattern out of it and at least on mine paint builds up on the nozzle and starts dripping. I use it for primer thats just getting sanded anyway but I'll use my suction gun for color.

 

[1974MGMidget]

When I had the engine out of my Midget, I wanted to paint under the hood so I bought a HF gun on sale. I think I splurged and spent $15. I had never painted, hooked it up and practiced on some plywood to kind of get an idea what I was doing. It came out OK, at least under the hood is now the same color as the car! It's not a professional job, and if I was painting all day every day, the HF gun might not be good, but it worked OK for me.

If you are thinking about getting anything from HF, they are now doing lots of advertising in not only Car and Driver and other enthusiasts magazines, but also the Sunday Parade magazine and other places. They have a page with coupons for various items and also a 20% off coupon for anything. And, they are usually very lenient, so if an item is on sale in the store, they will still let you use the 20% coupon. And, I've found that if you are not in a hurry, the item you are looking for will go on sale soon!

 

[livinginthepast]

Why over-complicate matters, Rick? All you need is Rustoleum and a paint roller!