I thought that a high volume low pressure spray gun required air at about 60
cubic feet per minute and around 4 psi. This, I was told, could not be
obtained with a standard air compressor (no easy way to convert 4 cfm @ 60
psi to 60 cfm @ 4 psi). Now days I see lots of "hvlp" spray guns that say
they operate from a standard air compressor at 40 psi. Is this all
marketing hype and these 40 psi spray guns arn't true hvlp guns?

The reason for asking is that I just saw a unit from Chicago Freight that
comes with an air source (60 cfm @ 4 psi) at a price that would justify
"just trying it out". I know...Chicago Freight...but I've had remarkably
good luck with their products and theis prices can't be beat.

Dan

On Aug 26, 10:06*am, "Dan Kuechle" wrote:
I thought that a high volume low pressure spray gun required air at about 60
cubic feet per minute and around 4 psi. *This, I was told, could not be
obtained with a standard air compressor (no easy way to convert 4 cfm @ 60
psi to 60 cfm @ 4 psi). *Now days I see lots of "hvlp" spray guns that say
they operate from a standard air compressor at 40 psi. *Is this all
marketing hype and these 40 psi spray guns arn't true hvlp guns?

The reason for asking is that I just saw a unit from Chicago Freight that
comes with an air source (60 cfm @ 4 psi) at a price that would justify
"just trying it out". *I know...Chicago Freight...but I've had remarkably
good luck with their products and theis prices can't be beat.

Dan

I saw a cheap self contained Wagner Hvlp at HD, it should be decent
quality. HV is high volume LP low pressure, the big hvlp units basicly
use a vacume cleaner motor, I dont think a small compressor set up
could be an actual hvlp.

In article ,
"Dan Kuechle" wrote:

I thought that a high volume low pressure spray gun required air at about 60
cubic feet per minute and around 4 psi. This, I was told, could not be
obtained with a standard air compressor (no easy way to convert 4 cfm @ 60
psi to 60 cfm @ 4 psi). Now days I see lots of "hvlp" spray guns that say
they operate from a standard air compressor at 40 psi. Is this all
marketing hype and these 40 psi spray guns arn't true hvlp guns?

I don't know **** about spray guns, but I don't believe the person who
told you that you can't trade volume for pressure. With the following
caveat, I think that's nonsense.

Regulation down around 4 p.s.i. likely requires a regulator designed for
precision in that range, rather than in the 80 p.s.i. range that a lot
of compressed air is used. (the old "center of the scale" thing - which
is why cars designed to run at 60 have speedometers going to 120.)

On Aug 26, 10:06*am, "Dan Kuechle" wrote:
I thought that a high volume low pressure spray gun required air at about 60
cubic feet per minute and around 4 psi. *This, I was told, could not be
obtained with a standard air compressor (no easy way to convert 4 cfm @ 60
psi to 60 cfm @ 4 psi). *Now days I see lots of "hvlp" spray guns that say
they operate from a standard air compressor at 40 psi. *Is this all
marketing hype and these 40 psi spray guns arn't true hvlp guns?

The reason for asking is that I just saw a unit from Chicago Freight that
comes with an air source (60 cfm @ 4 psi) at a price that would justify
"just trying it out". *I know...Chicago Freight...but I've had remarkably
good luck with their products and theis prices can't be beat.

Dan

I have Harbor Freight and Astro HVLP spray guns and they bith work
quite well. Astro tools are professional items that have been around
for many years. I believe they are made in Taiwan and the quality is
impressive. Quite popular with automotive repair folks.
The Harbor Freight spray guns are well made Chinese and get the job
done, but some fussing with tips and solvent dilution helps. I suspect
the difference is in the regulator performance. There's no reason a
well designed regulator can't provide the correct air supply for a
spray gun. However, for fairly large jobs the matched compressor-spray
gun rigs should be considered. As always, renting a unit you are
considering for purchase will be a dandy way to make the best
judgement.

Joe

On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:06:12 -0500, "Dan Kuechle"
wrote:

I thought that a high volume low pressure spray gun required air at about 60
cubic feet per minute and around 4 psi. This, I was told, could not be
obtained with a standard air compressor (no easy way to convert 4 cfm @ 60
psi to 60 cfm @ 4 psi). Now days I see lots of "hvlp" spray guns that say
they operate from a standard air compressor at 40 psi. Is this all
marketing hype and these 40 psi spray guns arn't true hvlp guns?

The reason for asking is that I just saw a unit from Chicago Freight that
comes with an air source (60 cfm @ 4 psi) at a price that would justify
"just trying it out". I know...Chicago Freight...but I've had remarkably
good luck with their products and theis prices can't be beat.

Dan


You're talking about a conversion gun. (DAGS HVLP conversion gun) They
are HVLP and they work by converting air at high pressure to a larger
amount of air at a lower pressure (which is what happens when you just
allow compressed air to expand again). But they do it in a controlled
fashion. If you already have a compressor setup, they are a
relatively inexpensive way to get to a HVLP setup. But I think the
general consensus is that the systems that use turbines to provide the
air work better.

Paul F.