guns for custom painting: HVLP vs standard???

[Carlos]

I've heard a comment that HVLP guns/nozzles are not that good for custom painting and that your standard guns run at high pressure c.40psi are best; what do you run and what's your take on this?

[AndyW]

As far as I am aware, most folk love the HVLP, the advantage being low air pressure at the nozzle so the product lays cleaner on the surface so a better finish achieved easier also product wastage, standard guns lay on a lot harder so to speak and excess product cant help but escape as wastage, however believe as they imply, that you could run a bigger gun on a smaller compressor compared tp trying to run the equivalent HVLP, needs a lot of air behind them, off the top of my head a 1.2 tip HVLP needs an out put some where between 10 to 12 cfm and a decent sized tank.

I get way, just, with a 2.0 hp comp, delivering around 7cfm, max 1.0 tip HVLP mini gun and a 25ltr tank, but it needs recovery time, get about 2 to 3 minutes which on the whole is fine for small stuff

[bigwater]

Watch your pressure on an HVLP gun. They throw a lot of paint quickly, and if you turn the pressure up too high you'll end up with a cloud of overspray everywhere. Take my word for it. I was running my HVLP gun at about 30 PSI and ended up with a need to repaint the entire inside of my shop. I haven't actually repainted it yet... but the whole thing is green now. Even my coffee pot. I figure I'll just wait until I get tired of green and crank the pressure up on a new color :)

[Carlos]

I've been running a detail gun, 1.0 tip and was unaware that it was an hplv nozzle. I was running at about 38psi same as I use for the AB, and I was wondering why I was filling my shop full of clouds of overspray! Can be a bit like rattle cans: you end up with more overspray than paint on the actual job.. what a waste! I've reduced down to about 25psi and it seems a bit better, but probably need to try lower still.

The guy who made the AA promo DVD, uses all his guns and ABs wide open, and all at the same pressure 40psi, and no hvlp. He works his guns well away from the job; I guess this is fine when you have a $$$$$ booth to blast away in.