[5dogsisenuff]

dont be like me and fall into the trap that the high dollar gun is gonna make you a better painter cause its not, I fell into the Sata rp trap, and yes its a very well built gun, If I did this for a living it was well worth the price however I just cant justify the expense since Im a weekend painter, every time I look at it I get a bad feeling at how much I spent on it, I get the same finish with my hf and tuul shed guns...

chris

[x711]

There was a similar discussion on another board. This was posted by a pro
painter, its a interesting read.

A link for reference.

http://autobodystore.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2011

><


Here is the real truth about Harbor Freight gravity feed HVLP spray guns. Keep in mind that I'm a professional painter with 35 years full time experience. I'm not a "tool snob" or a person who uses certain name brand tools to try and impress other people. I have a couple Taiwani tools (most of my tools are American made for obvious reasons). Now, back to the HF HVLP guns. I bought an HF graivty feed HVLP gun because it was on sale for $39.00 a couple years ago and I was curious about the quality of craftsmanship used in making the gun but more importantly I was curious as to how well the gun was capable of spraying different paints. I used the gun several different times with different types of paints. It did an excellent job with primers (epoxy and urethane mainly). It did an excellent job with lacquer and acrylic enamel topcoat paints in solid and metallic colors. However - it fell sorely short when it came to spraying acrylic urethane single stage or clearcoats. Here is why - its true the gun is a taiwani copy of an expensive German Sata HVLP gun. BUT the Sata gun they copied was the Sata NR-92 - which was a crappy gun to start with. It did a poor job of properly atomizing urethane topcoat paints (which require finer atomization that say lacquer or acrylic enamel). If the original expensive Sata NR-92 did a crappy job with urethane topcoat paints then you can't blame the taiwani knock-offs of doing a crappy job also. What you can expect from a HF Gravity feed HVLP spray gun when shooting acrylic urethane single stage or clearcoats -- excessive orange peel and/or runs, usually both in in the same paint job. The guns are just not capable of fine enough atomization for that type of paint.

The guy in that article who stated " many professionals use the HF gravity feed HVLP guns for panel painting urethane paint " had absolutely no idea of what he was talking about. NO professional painter would use one of those guns to panel paint anything while spraying urethane topcoat paints.

So the bottom line is that they make excellent primer guns and good guns for lacquer or acrylic enamel. But they just can't measure for spraying urethane topcoat paints. Keep in mind that I can spray paint with just about any gun and get acceptible results (within reason). I gave that Hf spray I bought to a buddy of mine who uses it for a primer gun. I was actually impressed with how well the gun was machined and I was impressed with how well it spray everything BUT urethane topcoat paints. DON'T buy that gun expecting to get good results spraying a BC/CC paint job, if you do you will be disappointed with how the paintjob turns out. That applies ever more to novices and hobbiests who don't have a working knowledge from years of spraying paint with different guns.

[oldred]

5dogs, Exactly my point, My daughter's Mustang is as slick as you could hope for and it was done with the HR gun. I did not know a heck of a lot about paint guns when I got into this hobby and maybe I still don't but before I started I knew nothing about what to look for and would have had no idea of what features on a gun would be important to me. As I said the "purple" gun is a cheap way to learn

[oldred]

X, Ok now from a novice point of view (me ) You are are trying to say this gun just simply WILL NOT spray clear coat very well but I have found that even with my limited experience that is just not true. All these people that like this gun do so for a reason and that reason is, like it or not, the dang thing does spray well. I can afford any gun I want and price was not the reason I bought the HR gun, I heard a lot of good reviews about it and decided it was the way to go until I knew which "real" gun I wanted (the IWATA) and I was very pleasantly surprised at the results I got from this thing. For the occasional painter or someone on a very tight budget this thing can be just the ticket since you most certainly can lay down a slick finish with it.

[5dogsisenuff]

If that guy has been a painter for 35 years, he should make any kind of gun work regardless of what type it is and what he is shooting, if a person has 400 hundred to blow on a gun god bless him, but for the hobbiest such as 99 % of the people here, I think the point is being missed here, that for a person that is gonna do 1 or 2 projects, its silly, and yes im calling myself silly to cause I did it , to blow 400 plus dollars on a gun thats gonna be used once in a while ...

chris

[scrot]

every time I look at it I get a bad feeling at how much I spent on it, I get the same finish with my hf and tuul shed guns...

================================================== ========

5dog, I appreciate your honesty. Most people just play it safe and buy what everyone else is buying, regardless if they need the expensive gun or not.

[x711]

Well guys.. good points all around. Hey to each there own. If you like it
spend the $50.00 if it works thats cool.

My point was I guess for a newbie, you may have a better chance with a
higher quality gun. For example.. You have a project to do and your new to painting. You go out and drop the cash on good quality paint, and then you
run into problems laying down the paint..

Now imho that can discourage a new painter from even trying again.
You could use the low cost gun to practice technique of applying the
coating and gain a little experience that way. For $50.00 you really cant
go too far wrong I guess.

As I said above, to each their own.. Thats why there are so many flavors of
ice-cream, something for everyone

One thig that will really save your day is "Know the viscosity of the material"
before you spray it.. Get the viscosity down correct for your spraying temp
and your over 1/2 way there.

><

[jcclark]

Well like I've said before, about these HF guns, and most import cheapies,
There's a world of difference between these guns on a given brand.
The quality can vary a lot from one to the other right off the shelf.
You may get one that sprays great and the one right next to it not
spray good no matter what you do. I have had that happen to me.
Their quality control is lousy and it varies all over the place.
So if one guy talkes about how good or bad a gun is, it may be just the
one he got.

[shine]

when doing it yourself and saving several thousand dollars on the cost of the paint job i don't think a few hundred more invested in a good gun is not out of the question to me. my point is IF you have any intension of being a painter or doing it to make extra money why spend the time learning with a cheap gun only to have to relearn when you get a new gun. a quality gun will save you time and materials thus paying for itself. my tools make my living so their cost are irrelevant.if you've never shot with a top shelf gun it's hard to imagine the difference. the difference is between putting down a slick thin coat or a thick coat with urethane peel. my biggest grip on the hf gun is it weighs a ton

[acsteve]

I wondered if I could "rent" a good gun for a few months and then resell it on ebay and come out ok? But after selling items for 1/4 of the price of idenditical items on ebay, I began to wonder if there is a trick to getting your price? Anyone have luck with this. Though I really dont need a $400 Iwata hanging on the mantle, I would just a soon keep one if it only brought $200. ( I never did spring for one)

[oldred]

Shine does have a good point, to me there is no comparison with my HF guns to my IWATA for both the way it sprays and the way it feels still the HF gun will do a good job and some guys may be stretching their budget almost to the breaking point just to buy the material. I would agree that $400-$500 for a gun is not all that much when compared to top of the line paint and material but for the same reason some people have to use a cheaper grade of material the HF guns may make sense, just a matter of economics. As I said earlier I bought the HF gun because so many people recommended it and I was not sure which "real" gun to choose so I considered it a learning tool that worked out real well, for me anyway, and I think most guys who plan on doing one or two jobs with the economy finish material will find this thing more than adequate.

[jcclark]

Originally Posted by acsteve

I wondered if I could "rent" a good gun for a few months and then resell it on ebay and come out ok? But after selling items for 1/4 of the price of idenditical items on ebay, I began to wonder if there is a trick to getting your price? Anyone have luck with this. Though I really dont need a $400 Iwata hanging on the mantle, I would just a soon keep one if it only brought $200. ( I never did spring for one)

That's actually not a bad idea, if you buy a decent name brand
gun on Ebay to start with,
you probably can get most of your money back by reselling it.
If you watch, you'll get a feel for what an item sells for and can get that
when you sell it, if you're skeptical you can always run it with a min price.
I buy and sell stuff on ebay all the time and the prices for a popular name
brand item generally run pretty consistent.

[35olds]

Thanks to all who replied. The Iwata would cost me $427, the 43430 cost me $49. It is my garage now.If I must , I'll hookup 2 compressors to shoot my car.That is what I do when sandblasting. It works,,THANKS AGAIN, 35olds,BOB