re: looking for finish sprayer/gun advice

P.S. Twenty-six hundred is robbery, even for a five stage.

My four stage true HVLP was fifteen new, plus seventy for needles and cap for fine spraying. Now, they are selling five and six stage units (you could push an elephant through the nozzel). That latter is listed for around sixteen hundred.

Apollos are going for a grand for four stage units and eighteen for five.

Fuji’s are going for about a grand plus fifty.

Earlex units go for around five hundred fifty.

Don’t go less than four stages (turbines). Five would, probably, be nice. Having four stages, rather than five or six, just means you have to thin a little more (e.g., two teaspoons per quart of latex vs one teaspoon).

I had a three stage Graco and it was a nice enough unit, but the performance, against my four stage, was notable. To be fair, it was running a Harbor Freight gun.

I like the idea of being able to control the air flow from the unit to the gun (Apolo), but my guns do such a remarkable job of controlling patterns and volume it probably doesn’t matter. In the end, I doubt you’ll see any difference in the quality of the finish produced by big name units, if handled correctly.