Paint guns

[T-Keith]

I recently came upon a cheap air compressor, and I'm getting some tools to go with it. I don't want to spend alot of money either.

I found a paint sprayer for cheap, it's a gravity feed model. What works best? Gravity feed, Siphon feed, HVLP, conventional. What are the advantages and disadvantages of them?

thanks,
-T

 

[Amkeer]

It depends on what you are going to do with it. If you are using it in automotive applications then the gravity feed is nice. The compressor needs to have enough CFM to be able to spray with a standard spray gun. You are not gonna get BEST for CHEAP. HVLP is nice if you want to spend some money. I have an HVLP setup and it lays down the paint with minimal overspray.

 

[T-Keith]

Mostly painting metal, eventually I'd like to be able to paint my car. I checked the gun I got, and it was lower than the compressor output. Is HVLP that much better?

-T

 

[Mike_dup1]

A cheap compressor and spray Gun will be of little use to paint a car. A paint gun needs a constant and clean air supply. These small home center AC are not going to work. They create a lot of heat and that mean moisture in the line and in the paint. About all they are good for is air tools and filling tires IMO.

 

[T-Keith]

It's a 20-25 gallon compressor, and is rated at more flow than the gun needs. If I install a water seperator, will this be a problem?

I got it for cheap(used), I don't think it's a cheap (quality) model.

-T

 

[Amkeer]

Just use a good filter. Practice with the cheap gun on not to critical jobs and see how things go.

My setup is fed with a turbine which heats the air coming through the gun. The hvlp is needed since I was doing alot of spraying and will save materials. The only thing that was fed by compressor is a pressure pot which is where the paint materials go.

 

[Bogatyr]

T-Keith,
As Amkeer mentions, the turbine systems are great. I borrowed one from a friend to paint my truck and I was amazed at the results I achieved on my first paint job. The tool I used was from TIP tools in Ohio...Google should turn them up pretty easily.

The nice thing about the turbine systems is that the air comes out warm and without moisture in the lines, so the paint sets up almost immediately. The gun was also an HVLP gun, so there was little overspray and waste.

If you do end up painting anything, make sure you get a respirator. I'm amazed when I see web pages of people who paint cars with nothing more than a dust mask...you can't put a price tag on your lungs...

Bogatyr

 

[T-Keith]

That looks good, but unfortunately I'm not looking to spend that kind of money. I got the compressor, and am looking for things to work with it.

thanks,

-T

 

[JohnBrowning]

If you do not want to get to much money into gun until you see how it goes get a Develbis(sp) HVLP gun. I am not fond of gravity feed guns especialy to learn on. You have to have a really strong wrist to use the gravity feed guns and most newbie lack that. It is hard enough when learning to paint with out haveing control issues. I also think that gravity feed is harder to use to do rockers for new painters.

The most important thing for you will be new hoses, water/oil seperators at compressor and at gun and keeping your gun clean.

Talk to your automotive finish supplier and tell them your experince level. They can help you pick beginer friendly products. Initialy invest in 3M disposable resperators. If you decide to paint oten you can mess around with non-dispossable respirators. Protect your skin as the reducers have a lot of chemicals that will be absorbed through your skin and can and do cause health problems!!

Good Luck and have fun!!

 

[wagner7123]

i've been painting cars for about a year now in a shop that builds show cars. we build high point (970 plus) 55-57 chevrolet belairs. we use SATA gravity feed guns. the sata guns are very, VERY, expensive but they are amazing. i learned on these guns, and have never tried any others, but i found that i really had no control problems. the trick is to apply light coats(urethane paint) with about 5-10 minutes inbetween each layer. be sure to use enough reducer to spray on very thinly other wise you will be sanding texture out for hours. a run here and there is nowhere near as time consuming as an entire surface covered in sanpaper like texture. it took me about 6 months to get the hang of spraying but once you get it, it really is simple. as far as needing strong wrists goes, if the gun is too heavy when it's full don't fill it all the way. keep the paint in the mixing container while you spray what's in the gun, and then fill it half way agiain. this also gives you an excuse to kill the five minutes between coats.
good luck