# Excellent performance at a decent price



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Great review Sharon. I'm glad the system worked out.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Thanks Jim. I'm glad it did as well. it was a 50/50 chance ,and although I was ok with either direction it would take, I'm glad it took this direction. this will come in handy in future projects.


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## Brad_Nailor (Jul 26, 2007)

Wow..great review Sharon…you covered all the basses! I have been wondering what the difference would be between paying the money for a self contained turbine style HVLP like this, and just buying an HVLP gun and running it off my compressor?


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

David, the benefit of the turbine IS that it's self contained - no need for a big a$$ compressor. but if you have a large enough compressor, coupled with a good gravity gun I personally think you'd get better performance. For me the portability of the turbine and not having to rely on a big compressor which I don't have make the turbine a great unit. I can also move it to my basement or garage if I need to, or anywhere for that matter (for spraying anything other than finish).


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Great review, Sharon!

Following your entry into the world of spraying has gotten me pumped to try some waterborne finishes. I've still got an unopened can of lacquer sitting on a shelf that I've been too intimidated to play with.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

Thanks Charlie. I would like to spray lacquer and shellac with this at some point - but will have to have a dedicated ventilated controlled booth for that since I don't feel like blowing up the house just yet (even though it's the 4th today). If you mean waterbased lacquer - I say go for it although it does have some unique characteristics: a. unless stated otherwiser- it's water white - I kinda like it on lighter woods as it keeps the original color just add some sheen to it. and b. the application (sprayed) looks different when wet - as opposed to solvent based which looks nice and even when wet, the waterbased counterpart looks like it has a texture - but when dried, it forms a nice flat coating.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

On a non-spray note, I noticed in a magazine that Minwax has a wipe-on water based poly out. I've tried wiping a thinned water-based poly and not been really happy with the results, so I'm curious to try this out and see if it is more than just a thinned version of the regular brush on stuff.

I also saw somewhere that General Finishes is making a water-based poly with an amber tint to more closely resemble the look of oil-based. I've used brush on water-based poly on quite a few projects, and its clarity can be kind of "cold" looking on some woods.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

*Charlie* - GF has the Enduro-Val which is waterbased but supposedly has the warm tint look of solvent based finishes. it's ~$26 per Qt compared to what I've used at ~$20 a Qt and since this was more for testing purposes, I went with the less expensive choice. FYI. I finished (no pun intended) the entire Qt container on these 2 chairs making the finish on the chair more expensive than the chair itself. I would like to try the Enduro-Val, but may also opt for other brands just for cost reduction on my part. I hear there are other options our there.

As I said - some people are put off by the water white 'cool' look of water borne finishes, but I think it has it's place for certain woods. I really like the pale color of maple and birch, and was always put off by the yellowish tone oil poly would give them.


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## woodsmithshop (Sep 10, 2008)

a few years ago there was a review on water based finishes, they were rated 1through 5 on several different things, I went through the list and added up the points for each finish, Crystallac, (from McFeelys) added up to the most points, I have been using this finish ever since with no problems, they have brushable, and sprayable, I have only used the spray on, they also have an amber tone that can be added, about 4oz will do a gallon, or you can adjust any way you like for the amount of amber tone you want. the cost is around $ 50 shipping included, there may be better ones out there now, but I have had very good results, with no complaints.
just my 2 cents worth.


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