Harbor Freight HVLP

Has any one used the HVLP sprayer from HF? It is the $17 one and looks like it is an ok unit. At $17 bucks, it is almost a throw away after using! I plan on spraying some tubing and 2 foot square flat parts with tractor enamel. Any thoughts?

I bought their larger unit for $79 several years ago when it was on sale. Even the sales person sneared at it because it was all plastic. I used it for several years, mostly spraying polyurethane, and it worked good. Sent it to my nephew on the farm when I closed my shop; I know that he has used it for enamel on farm equipment.

Just don't know about the model you are looking at; with HF stuff, I just make a decision to buy it or not - almost everthing turns out to be useable somehow.

a mech friend buys the cheap hvlp guns from Harbor Freight on sale uses them one time and throws them away
claims that is cheaper than cleaning one up properly
good luck
Ron

(quoted from post at 10:51:05 07/18/14) a mech friend buys the cheap hvlp guns from Harbor Freight on sale uses them one time and throws them away
claims that is cheaper than cleaning one up properly
good luck
Ron

Click to expand...

That is my though also. Lacquer thinner is expensive... My time is worth something... The guns are on sale all the time for under $15, when they get down to $10 I buy 5 at a time.

I have been using one for nearly a year now. I bought the set that has a regular one and a little one, about $40 bucks. I use it every week to spray lacquer and it has literally sprayed 10 of thousands of dollars worth of products. It has the paint cup on top and is an external mix. It takes about 1 minute to clean.

I swish some lacquer thinner around in the paint cup then pour it out. Then I put some more in and pull the trigger (no air hooked up) until runs freely. I then leave a small amount of thinner in it and it sits until I use it again. I should also say that I'm still working on the gallon of lacquer thinner that I bought almost a year ago.
Cleaning actual paint out of it probably would use more thinner and take longer.

Now here the deal: Check it out before you leave the store. I opened three different ones at the store. One was not machined all the way. One was assembled funny and had a messed up seal. The third one was a go.

Once I got it home, I tore the gun completely down and cleaned it thoroughly. It had some kind of preservative or cosmoline or something all inside it as well as some fine machining chips. I re-assembled it with some light lube in the right places and it was good to go.

Like most HF products it's just a copy of somebody else's design. The weakest spot is that the paint cup has plastic threads and I could see where one could strip it out if you tighten it too much.

the nice thing about harbor freight products is they're cheap enough to try them out. If they don't work, you really haven't lost anything.

I haven't tried their hvlp guns myself, but I hear a LOT of good things about them. And I've seen some really nice work done with them.

I imagine they're really cutting into the big guy's sales. I don't think you'll ever see them in an autobody shop, but they're definitely filling a niche with the non-pro user.

I bought one of the ones with the pressurized cup underneath. It did a so so job until, like you did, I took it apart and saw a lot of flashing and burrs on numerous holes in the spray head. Cleaned all those up and the pattern looked a lot better but I haven't done any big projects since.

Jim

All I have bought for years are their cheap guns. I have a couple in the box on the shelf right now. I decided to go with that after the guy who paints my show cars said they were the way to go. No matter how careful I am, I never get a gun clean enough to work perfectly later. With this I don't have to worry.

And please remember, before you go to Harbor Freight, go to the link below and get coupons for 20% off and a free item.

Either print out the coupons or show them to the checkout on your phone. I usually print out extra copies and give them to people I see in the store.
Harbor Frieght Coupons