Hvlp spray station

[Yonkle]

SHalom fellow chiselheads!
I am thinking on getting a HVLP sprayer for spraying mostly varnish and some lacquer. Woodcraft of America has a "ready to use" total set-up spray station at a very good price. It is called the "Spray Station Pro 5000" by:Earlex. An English Company.
The salesman I talked with has one himself, and I told him it would be for Shallac and lacquers on musical instruments only and of course he said "this will work perfect"
He said the only drawback to this machine is if you are doing large jobs, said it is a "2 STAGE TURBINE MOTOR" which is plenty (he claims) for finish on a mandolin, yet said if you will be doing any heavy jobs a 3 Stage Turbine would be a better choice!
This whole set-up is a canister about the size of a vacume cleaner with
the air hose and gun, ready to use. He also said the gun is not a "cheezy" gun, said it is high quality.
I don't want to spend a fortune on this and this one is in my budget range. Anything would be better than what I have been using, either French polishing or spraying with a "cheezy" prevel sprayer and flat sanding her out! Either way is a lot of work and results are so so.

Have any of you guys seen this sprayer? Heard any pros or cons. IS 2 tubine enough? Thoughts and opinions welcome!
I don't want this thread to turn into a "which is better HVLP or compressor type" or who makes the best gun, I've read all of those threads.
Just wondering if you "pros" think this would do the job or would I be sorry and want to upgrade later. I know a lot of you have changed to HVLP and seem very pleased with the results, I'm not questioning the theory behind HVLP just the quality and muscle of this size system for instrument finishing! Thanks for any thoughts! JD

[thistle3585]

I have a Graco/Croix two stage turbine HVLP system and a Binks conversion gun with a 1.5 gallon pot. The conversion gun basically mimics an HVLP system but runs off compressed air. I don't like the turbine system because it heats up quickly and starts blowing hot air into the pressure pot, or cup, and affects the viscosity of the material. Its much more temperamental and requires more maintenance. If choosing between the two systems, I would say get a conversion gun. If choosing between the 2 and 3 stage turbines I would say the 2 stage is sufficient.

[Yonkle]

So the conversion gun is a gun that works like a hvlp gun but you hook it up to a compressor instead of the turbine?

[Hans]

Just get a Sata Minijet. You don't need a 1-1/2 gallon sprayer. You're finishing mandolins, not kitchen cabinets. The Sata is a conversion gun, and is a BMW. Trouble with turbines is that a good one costs a lot of $$$, and the cheap ones have lousy filters on the air draw. Bad filters will put all the airborne particles right through the gun and onto your instrument.

[dogwalkin]

I sell graco turbines and my dad has been doing it for about 25 years. If I were you finishing mandolins I would get me some kind of spray gun that hooks to "shop air" finish the mandolin then wet sand and buff. ALL spray guns are going to leave a little orange peel and the only way to fix it is to wet sand and buff. Now I am sure that some guns leave more orange peel than some but there will always be a little. And turbines do heat up some. They are also slower but, They dont produce moisture like compressors do. They are also smaller and easier to handle, also they will be slower than a "conventional" spray gun. Anyway I dont know if that helps any but hey I hope so. Thanks