The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Best HVLP gun for under $200?

I'm looking for suggestions as to what would be a good deal in a HVLP gun for under $200 for shooting single-stage non-metallic urethane finish coats. Must be under $200... please.

The best one? You could get opinions all day long on that question and end up more confused than informed. Everybody has a preference. And that is usually the one they have now.

Any good brand name gun, that you can get parts for, that will last and will not consume more air than your compressor can provide will do what you want.

Eastwood has some good DeVilbiss two and three gun sets for under $200.00. That is if you want to get a bigger bang for your buck. (I'm sure I'll get some flac for that suggestion.)

Or check Ebay if you trust not holding it in your hand before you buy it, or you could try the local pawn shop. That is, if you don't insist on brand new.

I picked up a top of the line Binks suction gun for $20.00 at a pawn shop. Got a rebuild kit, cleaned years of built up paint off it in a can of carb cleaner, and have a great gun that has lasted me for 30 years. Got another one at a swap meet for less than $50.00, same deal, cleaned it up, rebuild kit and good for years.

So high end ones are out there if you don't mind used, and good ones for new if you look around.

I still have my MBC which I've had for more than 40 years and she will still put out a cloud of paint that will make ya think your in a snow storm. Now last year I moved into the 21st century and bought a few new guns. Since I taint painting for a living anymore and they are just for occasional use I couldn't see spending two or three hundred on a real good gun.
Like Dave mentioned, Eastwood often has sales on the DeVilbiss three-gun group, a painter and primer and a touch up HVLP gravity feed set for under $200. So I bought the set, not bad guns, they have a nice feel good control of the paint and do the job just fine.
Now how can you pass up the HVLP gravity feed spray guns that Harbor Freight has on sale for the cost of a case of beer. So, when no one I knew was looking I bought a few of them. I Figured what the hey, they would be good enough for priming or spraying the garage floor, the house or the lawn furniture. They are a little heavier feeling not as smooth and rounded off as the better guns, but I gotta say, I've used the big gun and the little touchup guns and they seem to spray just fine and have just as good of control as the DeVilbiss guns that I paid ten times as much for. Mind you now, none of these are suited for professional use but for the occasional home user, I think they are all just fine.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

That's good to know about the DeVilbiss sets and I've got them on my short list. I too succumbed to the HF gun and have been using it for primer... works great.

Since I already have a decent primer gun I've got THIS or THIS but I'm not sure if a 1.3 or a 1.5 tip is best for my needs.

If you already have THIS or THIS then those are all your ever gonna need to do any painting or priming. The sets we were talking about or at least I was talking about, were not the Finishline but the cheaper Starting line sets and they are more than adequate to get the job done. If your not shooting every day for a living and trying to make time it’s my opinion that it don’t matter what tip you use you just might have to shoot a little slower or a little faster and a little richer or a little leaner. But if your gun can’t handle something like a heavy filling primer then thin it out a little more and shoot an extra coat or two.
Your all set to go bud, mix it up and start shootin’!
Denny G

Good advice Denny... Now I can get back to more serious things like getting it ready for paint.

China and Taiwan have done a pretty good job in copying the spray patterns of the expensive guns, so most of them do a decent job with that. The pros are still going to pay the extra money for the feel and cleanup ease of the more expensive guns. The gravity feed system with disposable bags is really nice for cleanup. However, for the occasional DIY guy, you can get the HF guns on sale and just toss them when you are done with the job, no clean up necessary.

Yup, the one I have I paid like $20 for it and if you think THAT'S cheap, they just had a sale and were selling the same gun for.... $9! Of course by the time I got there they were all gone, but still... $9!?

I used the two gun Devilbis startingline set for my painting. The only problem I ran into was one of the cups experienced a failure where the threaded nipple is connected to the paint can. The connection came loose. Devilbis sent me a new can for free, even the shipping. I am looking forward to using it again soon.