What HVLP Spray Gun Tip Size to Use?

In this video, we answer viewer questions about what spray gun tip or air cap set to use when spraying paint with a High Volume Low Pressure (HVLP) spray gun. Paints may require different tips or air cap sets, so we show you how 2 brand-name paints spray with 3 different air cap sets with an HVLP spray gun.

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#HVLP #SprayGun #FujiSpray

[adamcoe]

Just getting into HVLP and looking to see how I'd use it, this was super useful. Definitely a little bit daunting when you see all the adjustments and whatnot but this definitely made it a little more clear.

[KellyDannemann]

Thank you for the intense detail showing the difference in the capsets and the textures. Was a great demonstration.

[jimsimpson]

I really appreciate your clear, concise but very informative descriptions. The ability to see the differences between paint types being applied and the differences using various air tips was a missing part of every other review I have watched. Your video editing is also top notch. You provided great value to this viewer. I just subscribed! Thanks again.

[elguapo]

Thank you very much for doing this! As a novice to spraying it seems to me that experimentation is the key to success.

[katoom-juvo]

Your attention to all the small details is exactly what i was looking for. I have a very similar Fuji spray setup you use in this video and i'm looking to spray Advance with it so this video was very helpful. The results you achieved with the 1.3 cap set was very impressive. Thanks for posting.

[priscillaknoble]

I appreciate how informative you are as well as the close ups visually.

[hugot]

Some history, I’m a painting contractor of 45 yrs, we had some great acrylics in the early 80’s, thinned down nicely but needed airless higher pressure to squeeze them to properly atomize them through smaller orifice tips to produce a finer finish to match oil base somewhat.
It all came down as you say playing with different tips sizes to material viscosity. If I thinned a lot, I layered medium wet coats, waited until a lot of the water dried out, applied another wetter coat at the right time so the second coat would melt into the first creating a nice flow out creating less orange peel. This was applied to vertical doors which is much harder to do than flat spraying. Thin coats as you were spraying requiring so many coats and sanding between them is not so cost effective depending on your bid. Water borne products thin out quite a lot when dry. So you see why it’s important to get a good mil thickness before you lose your shirt taking so much labor time doing so many coats. We do custom work at production speeds. We learn over many years to get the best finish in the shortest amount of time .Actually I found a left over can of what I believe is a hybrid material, smells kinda like oil base paint, but might just be an alkyd resin formula. This product has super good hide, and finely ground pigments. Probably a great spraying material. Water clean up, I really didn’t think it was water base, the smell and ease of brushing application made it feel like oil. These hybrids just might be the key for the hvlp’s. They usually need a lot of thinning for water base materials, which I hate for many reasons. I use the graco 9.5 pro comp hvlp. I use a remote cup with a separate air supply for fluid separate from turbine air. The 5 stage air supply and fluid pressure to the remote cup allows you to spray heavier unthinned material. Sometimes a lot more air to fluid pressure is needed
Having the freedom to spray in tighter areas without a cup under setup is so ideal. I’m yet to try my air-assisted airless with the newer graco FFLP tips at half the airless pressure. Hvlp is just too slow and thinning material is not the best way to go. I use the rac x tip guard but that introduces air differently than the flat tip air nozzle for the graco g-40 gun. This gun and setup produced an auto body finish without thinning a water base acrylic finish right in front of me with a graco rep doing the spraying. This again was sprayed on a large sample card, spraying vertical, no runs possible with unthinned material. I’ve just about sprayed everything over my career. If you get an air assisted airless, it needs a hopper on top. You can put a qt in the gravity fed hopper, run smaller diameter super flexible airless/combined attached air hose. 25 ft lengths so smaller material amounts can save on waste. This is the ideal way to produce a super finish that resembles automotive finishes.

[deeantler]

Thank you for this presentation. I just finished this process and concluded there are many more variables at play than merely using a stop watch and Ford cup and trying to match them with generic viscosity / tip / sprayer tables. The reality of this process is that each gun, tip, AND paint behaves differently, AND together they all behave differently depending on site conditions and the materials being painted. The best "formulas" require the care and diligence of some trail and error. There are no short cuts to the time spent doing test runs to achieve one's desired results. You are a real pro. Thanks again.

[awesomearizona-dino]

Awesome Comprehensive test, i have a bunch of cabinets to paint. Thanks. Subscribed.

[thespanielinquisition]

Best and clearest info on spraying I have seen yet - so useful to me thank you

[peterdoyle]

Scott, hey. So you are one of the few sources out there trying to do exactly the same as me. A quality HVLP System (not adding a cheapo gun onto a high-pressure compressor and add-on regulator and cheapo gun), spraying on raw wood and not respraying old kitchen cabinets, and using Waterborne BM Advance hybrid paint. I am using 1.3 Fuji spray tip on my Q4 Platinum and still thinning down by eye until I think the paint appears to run off the stir stick with the viscosity others using Latex paint not Advance demonstrate. The first project I was likely not using enough paint and ended up working the sprayer like an airgun dusting it on and never got a wet coat so the leveling properties of Advance never likely had much of a chance - it turned out okay but appeared a bit rough. This project is a much bigger one and has tons of parts, so I am mixing a lot of primer and paint. Now I am thinning out more than before and getting wetter coats on and they are much smoother especially after lightly sanding the primer and getter that layer very smooth. BUT now I am still seeing grain pattern similar to what you demonstrate after 1 prime coat, 1 paint coat. I was planning on 2 coats of paint. What have you ended up with over the past couple of years now using Advance on raw wood? still using the 1.3? adjusting the paint dilution up or down any and changing the tips? how many coats? Thanks for any help.

[russellnentwich]

You are the only person I have found that really seems to have a great grasp on HVLP spraying. Thanks for the info man! I have asked so many people in the paint industry questions like how to mix paint and for my Titan 115 HVLP. I just keep hearing if you add to much water it ruins the paint. All I know is if the paint is not the right viscosity then it sprays like shit if it even sprays at all. 👍🏻

[denisd]

Got the same HVLP with 3 stages, very useful, thank you. 
I haven't tested it yet but I got worried that it might be not powerful enough to spray a thing SW paint, happy to find that it is possible to get the decent result.

[ILruffian]

Thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge. Many people don't realize how much time goes into making videos like this.

[MrTrek]

Preparation is the key to a good finish . I use a hvlp turbine system and have done for 8 years now and have found to get the best results use the smallest air cap needle set you can get away with and maximum air flow to give greater atomisation.If I'm spraying metal flake then a1.8 will be max size .Automotive paints I tend to use a 1.mm set up for all stages even with all the high solids products while achieving glass like finishes.It is also dependent on what size turbine you are using, if you have a 5 stage unit then you very rarely need to thin a product to spray which in turn gives you greater coverage with less passes .The psi is also around 10psi for a 5 stage unit and between 5-7 psi for a 3 stage unit with varying cfm airflow which really effects atomisation.The key is to get a happy medium where you get minimum overspray and bounce back with less thinning as possible with maximum atomisation to achieve a great finish .The only area that can cause issue is remember that turbines also dry the paint your using so distance from your work piece and speed of application will have an effect also .

[CarnivoreBruno]

Your video is amazing I wish you would make more spray finishing videos! To start off, I know nothing about spray finishing but wanna buy a Fuji Q5 to use for projects. YouTube and the Internet have been my teacher and this video breaks it down the best.This video was very creative and informative! showing us important information especially that last shot with a 1.3 reflection. This video was extremely helpful for me since I am now researching the different tip options

[StoriedFurnitureCo]

Thank you. That was perfect for the info I needed.

[personalt]

I highly recommend a kitchen scale for dialing in and having every coat come out same. Here is what I do - filled my cup 3/4 of way with BM advance and put that on a kitchen scale. Found closest 10 grams and topped it off. Then i used viscosity cup once to get a feel to how i thought the flow was good compared to times in manual. When happy I put the mixed paint back on scale and now I have a replicatable mix. I know this sounds like overkill but it is way faster to mix each batch when using viscosity cup, it is even faster then eye balling. And it is 100% replicatable. You also have something you can find tune between batches if you feel that the first batch didn't spray the way you wanted

[williamspencer-qtg]

This is a great explanation of the caps. Thanks for taking the time to make this video.

[Simonfrios]

Fantastic YouTube tutorial my friend. Well thought out and to the point.