Earlex Sprayer
Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 11:26 pm
For my two first builds, I wanted a gloss finish but did not want to use volatile lacquer, so chose a waterborne finish, Bright Tone instrument finish. I had assumed I could buy a sprayer to use with my compressor, but then learned that it's best to use a HVLP system, which my compressor would not run. As a casual first-time builder I had to choose between buying an expensive compressor which I did not need otherwise, or an expensive HVLP turbine system. Then I found the Earlex line, designed in Britain, and bought their model HV2901P (which is made in Poland):
http://www.earlex.com/spraystation-hv2901p/
Earlex also manufactures sprayers (including one like this) for a car finish company called Dip Your Car which has some useful videos on using and cleaning the sprayers, but using very different automotive finishes.
It was on sale for $200 CAD so pretty reasonable. I've never used any kind of sprayer, but I thought I would share a few comments. Apart from learning how to spray (holy cow - there's a learning curve . . . ), it worked pretty well. It's pretty inexpensive, good for a casual user. There is no air supply adjustment on the sprayer, just a flow adjustment. That's a plastic wheel that can be adjusted up or down. There are no markings on it to help you remember what settings work best, so I marked it myself with a felt marker. That's an easy improvement they could make. It comes with a 2.5 mm brass tip which I did not use, and ordered a 1.5 mm tip which seems to be recommended for instrument finishes. There are three settings for spray: horizontal and vertical fan sprays, and a round spray. The bottle is too large for small jobs like guitars. As best I can see, the large diameter hose is very simple and does not lend itself to fitting other spray guns. The sprayer is easy to clean. I got the finish on my guitars okay, but was expecting to be able to get a better finish out of the gun. I later realized my results were not that far out of the ordinary, and would be better with more practice, but I have no other experience for comparison. Earlex makes other models, several better and more expensive.
For low-output luthiers on a budget it is worth a look; I'd be interested to know what people with more varied experience think of it.
http://www.earlex.com/spraystation-hv2901p/
Earlex also manufactures sprayers (including one like this) for a car finish company called Dip Your Car which has some useful videos on using and cleaning the sprayers, but using very different automotive finishes.
It was on sale for $200 CAD so pretty reasonable. I've never used any kind of sprayer, but I thought I would share a few comments. Apart from learning how to spray (holy cow - there's a learning curve . . . ), it worked pretty well. It's pretty inexpensive, good for a casual user. There is no air supply adjustment on the sprayer, just a flow adjustment. That's a plastic wheel that can be adjusted up or down. There are no markings on it to help you remember what settings work best, so I marked it myself with a felt marker. That's an easy improvement they could make. It comes with a 2.5 mm brass tip which I did not use, and ordered a 1.5 mm tip which seems to be recommended for instrument finishes. There are three settings for spray: horizontal and vertical fan sprays, and a round spray. The bottle is too large for small jobs like guitars. As best I can see, the large diameter hose is very simple and does not lend itself to fitting other spray guns. The sprayer is easy to clean. I got the finish on my guitars okay, but was expecting to be able to get a better finish out of the gun. I later realized my results were not that far out of the ordinary, and would be better with more practice, but I have no other experience for comparison. Earlex makes other models, several better and more expensive.
For low-output luthiers on a budget it is worth a look; I'd be interested to know what people with more varied experience think of it.