I bought this Hvlp paint gun from Rutlands, thinking it would work pretty well for me to be able to coat the odd little thing I make, and save me the costs of getting some things sprayed by a pro.

I just cannot seem to get any decent results with it and just wondered if anyone that’s got some experience with these machines might have some good tips?

I do have spraying experience. Done a fair bit over the years in various jobs, paint and lacquer so I know bits and bobs about technique.

With this though I feel like I’d be better off sticking to my foam roller.

I tried an oil based primer in it, thinned with white spirits, onto bare mdf. Pretty horrible streaky finish, with wet lines and dry lines like a ploughed field. I feel like it’s maybe the limitations of the £40 gun and spray pattern, as I know how to spray evenly….usually…..I thought.

Anyway, the oil based primer was just horrible to clean up, so I would far rather use water based. I just don’t really have a good set up to deal with cleaning up oil based faff.

I tried water based primer next onto bare mdf and again, the finish just is a bit rubbish. I need to flat it back a few times as I do with a roller, but the application just isn’t that great even despite paying a lot of attention to the viscosity of the paint and my arm and trigger action.

Anyone got any tips for hvlp painting?
Have I just bought cheap, bought twice?
👍

I have a similar one. £60 from Amazon. I sprayed 23 internal doors from our house during the Easter Hols. I got better the more I used it. I experimented with viscosity, nozzle size, distance from surface and speed of pass. I got better as I went on. The surfaces were well prepped and clean. I used Zinsser 123+ as a primer, then Screfix No-nonsense white satinwood – both water based.

Stick at it. Get some material to practice on. I had some large 6’×4′ sheets of cardboard and these let me get a measure of the spray pattern.

Clean it fully each time you use it. I wrote down my viscosities so I knew how much to mix with how much water. Clean up thoroughly each time, and remember many thin coats are better than one terrible thick one.

People who have seen the doors are impressed by the finish. I recently did the front door too. The sprayed produced a “factory” finish compared to a brush. Keep trying, although it probably isn’t suited to small items.

My next project is to paint the kitchen cabinets, but that might get vetoed…

Edit: On mine, a Tilswall machine, I can also adjust the amount of air that flows through the nozzle. Essentially it is a trigger limit, but it did help dial out any splattering.

Yeah I don’t think I can adjust the air, but I can adjust the amount of paint allowed to come through.

Basically the adjustment limits the trigger travel.

Thanks for that. Yours is sounding a bit better than mine in terms of adjustment.

I feel like the fan pattern isn’t consistent. Maybe it puts more down in various points across the fan.

I watched loads of Wagner YouTube vids, plus a bunch of other HVLP stuff. My neighbour has a semi-pro set up that I think is LVHP, and he was scathing of my purchase, but when he saw the results, he wanted a shot of it.

It doesn’t vary the air, it actually is the paint volume to the nozzle, now I think about it, so it is the same as yours.

This will end up as a brain dump I’m sure.

Were the paints suitable for spraying? I’ve not done much with retail products but the average punter will be using a brush/roller and so that is what they will be formulated for.

The Tech data sheet for products will be available online. It will give you some idea of setup for performance.

The paint you thinned. Was white spirit listed as an acceptable thinner? It depends on what was already in there. The proprietary thinners are often a blend.

How much control do you have – air pressure, tip size, atomisation? That’s going to limit you.

Assuming you are doing everything ok in terms of movement, coverage, distance then you need to get the material out the gun properly.

This can be the paint. I’ve always come at this from the other side – using a standard set up and changing the formulation. But you need to make sure your paint is good to be sprayed. Then play around until you get a good spray fan. You want a nice oval pattern when sprayed onto blank card/wood. Even with no splattering. There is a pretty standard set of corrections for the wrong fan or hornering/fingering. I’ll see if I can find a link when I fire up my laptop.

I’ve no idea about sprayers but I want to see a picture of Trout Towers with it’s 23 rooms! 😀

Cheers jonba.

You’re right in that the paint isn’t likely to be formulated for spraying. I never thought it was so crucial at this diy end of the market.

I mean, I want a good finish but I don’t expect it to be like a car or owt.

I’ve actually given up with the oil based paint as I just cannot be doing with the faff of cleaning up. I’ll stick to water based.

I’ve got some paint strainer filters coming so that’ll help I’m sure.

This morning I’ve thinned my water based primer to about a 30 second viscosity, turned down the flow of paint a bit (that’s the only adjustment other than pattern I have) and taken nice horizontal strokes, changed my fan, then vertical.

It seems to be better. As Troutwrestler says, I think I just need to keep practising.

I wonder if maybe my expectations are a bit high. Mind you, Peter Millard seems to get a good result with his budget gun.

I’m just not sure I’d trust it with anything other than a primer. 🤔

I bought a Wagner sprayer, £110 ish, I had decent results on window sills and coving where a brush or roller would have left marks.
I tried spraying some chalky paint and I guess user error trashed the motor! The fan and all sorts of bits came flying out of the nozzle area!
I have bought a £40 replacement, not Wagner, to practice with. Seemed ok with fence paint.

There are some good tips on YouTube, channel called Bradshaw joinery. Mainly air assisted airless but I think some of the tips would be applicable.