[tallpaul]

I just moved and lost access to my brother's air compressor. that leaves me with my 3 hp craftsman. i know most people will tell me that i should just go out and buy i bigger compressor, but after recently buying a house i just can't afford the one that i would want. in the meantime, i need to base and clear my recent project car. i have an hvlp gun (sata knock off) that needs 13cfm that i'm not real impressed with and i wouldn't mind getting something else. i've been looking into a few of the low cfm guns i was hoping that people here could give me their thoughts. there's the harbor freight 20oz. HVLP gun (5.9 cfm), the sharpe fx100, asturo eco, sata minijet, ect. those are all HVLP, would a convetional siphon gun work as well (i'm a beginner).

i'm open to suggestions.

thanks,

Paul

[baddbob]

What color is the car? Just wondering if painting it one or two pieces at a time might be an option for you. Bob

[tallpaul]

the car is light grey. i've tried painting in panels before and ended up getting slightly different colors, but i probably just screwed up the mixing.

[Bee4Me]

Some of those guns are touch up guns and NO WAY can you do a panel much less a complete with them.
DeVilbliss has the FLG Finishline which is designed for "home" compressors. It shoots at 20-25 PSI and around 8 CFM if I rember. It shoots paint good and clear is a little peely but you can do a deicent job with one. It was my first good gun and I still paint with it today.
You can do it,but it will take some planning on the shooting so's you can get the right coverage,start and stop at the right area's when it's time to build air.

[crashtech]

I doubt a 3 horse is going to get it done all at once. Anest Iwata makes a nice gun, the LPH 400, that uses only 9.5 cfm and will lay it down nice. Theoretically a good 3HP would do that much cfm, but in practice seems to be a different story.

[jcclark]

PAUL: I sprayed with a 3 hp for years and had no problems with the
compressor keeping up. The reason, I used a "conventional" gun that
didn't use much air. They were all "Binks 7" import copies
Astro makes one and they're cheap. Around $35.00
I have used one and they spray great. I have a Binks 7 and
the Astro copy sprays just about as well.
You can find them anywhere that carries Astro guns,
like "Spray Gun World"
They say 4-12 cfm 50-60 lbs.
But they spray great at 30 to 35 lbs and at that use 4cfm or less
and have lower overspray than some hvlp's. You'll like it.

http://www.spraygunworld.com/product...%20APAS7SP.htm

[delanda]

Hi ,these guns are great and they do not use too much air. on ebay they sell them for about $ 315

http://www.homesteadfinishing.com/htdocs/walcom2.htm

Body: forged anodized aluminum
Nozzle: 303 stainless steel monoblock
Needle/springs: stainless steel
Air cap: nick led OT 58 brass
Gaskets: self lubricating Teflon
Cup: Polished aluminum 750cc (26 oz)*


Working pressure: 21-36 psi.
Air Consumption: 7.1-8.5 cfm
Needle/nozzle/air caps: 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, 1.5, 1.7, 1.9
PRICE: $479.95

[tallpaul]

so far i'm liking the idea of going with the binks 7 copy. what sort of differences should i expect to see with that gun (siphon) versus an HVLP (assuming it had enough air supplied)? my understanding is that the HVLP would waste less paint due to overspray and would be better for the enviroment (again, less overspray). but since i'm only going to be painting one car every so often, i'm not that concerned about those reasons. will the finished paint job be any different (remember i'm a newbie and i'm not expecting anything close to perfection). my paint is kirker urethane if that makes any difference.

thanks for the info guys.

[teched]

If you are lookin at painting alot then go with previous mentioned, but I painted cars with a 3/4hp Craftsmen with a 20 gallon tank. I used a wal-mart suction type gun. It would run low on air every once in a while but with acrylic enamel it Looks pretty good.

[5dogsisenuff]

Tallpaul, I have this gun I found on ebay, it sprays really nice, and lays down clear like glass http://cgi.ebay.com/LVLP-LOW-VOLUME-...QQcmdZViewItem

[kenseth17]

when I was younger I only had a 3 horse, the biggest could get that was still 110. You can spray a car with one using a conventional gun whose air requirements aren't that high. You won't break any speed records spraying, and there are times when you get a bit low on air and need to let the air compressor catch up. Before that I tried with a one horse, not up to the job, besides running the whole time, the compressor ended up burning up. Also try to pick a paint and activator that doesn't kick too fast so when you do have to pause and wait for the compressor, you will still have everything flowing together when you continue and get around the car.

[tallpaul]

I looked at that gun and was considering it. what size air compressor are you running with it?

thanks,
Paul

Originally Posted by 5dogsisenuff

Tallpaul, I have this gun I found on ebay, it sprays really nice, and lays down clear like glass http://cgi.ebay.com/LVLP-LOW-VOLUME-...QQcmdZViewItem

[5dogsisenuff]

im running a cheapie 3.5 15 gallon compressor , I dont paint every day so no need for a king kong compressor, as for sanders and such i just use electric

[tallpaul]

I've been doing quite a bit of searching and it looks like some people have bought this gun or the W400 version (non HVLP).

http://cgi.ebay.com/LVLP-LOW-VOLUME-...QQcmdZViewItem

they look the same and both come with the 1.5mm tip. would this size be ok for bc/cc considering my wimpy compressor? are there replacement tips i could buy, would the iwata lph400 tips work?

thanks,

Paul

[baddbob]

Originally Posted by tallpaul

the car is light grey. i've tried painting in panels before and ended up getting slightly different colors, but i probably just screwed up the mixing.

Light grey, I would assume is probably a metalic color which yeah you wouldn't want to panel paint. If it were a solid nonmetalic color then you could definately panel paint it as long as complete coverage was obtained.