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Paint gun suggestions?

1K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Irelands child 
#1 ·
Hello, I have been fighting with a couple cheap guns and not getting a good result. This is my first experience with HVLP and gravity feed. It must work or so many people would not use it. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a nice gun. I have heard that Sata is a great gun, but i am in the $200- $250 ballpark and I paint about l car every 5 years. Thanks,
 
#2 ·
Couple of things to do..One is run the air pressure at the wall at about 100 psi and regulate the air at the gun to get the correct air pressure at the aircap ..

Adjust your gun according to this:

http://southernpolyurethanes.com/adjusting your gun.htm

That should help..Walcom and Astro have guns that are reasonable and work well..also some are having a decent success with the HF 43440 gun..

let us know what your specific difficulties are ans someone can guide you better..

Sam
 
#3 ·
If you are not use to HVLP, it will seam to suck. You have to really slow down. It also takes 3/8 hose and the full volume stlye fittings. The non- HVLP gravity guns will put it on just as nice and are more forgiving. I have bought some HVLPs in the past, and they suck so bad, I sold them. One was even a SATA NR 95
 
#4 ·
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/paint-gun-99888.html

Scroll down to the blue gun on the first page. I own two of these guns, available for $40 at Menards, including 14. and 2.0 tips and air caps. The regulator is caca. These guns spray really nice, and are easy to use.

I have a somewhat more expensive (read still cheap) Cobalt gravity gun from Lowes that I use for clear; it seems to do better for that. The Menards gun atomises metallic basecoat really good if you crank up the air pressure.

They broke a couple times, but nothing I couldn't fix in 10 minutes. I keep them clean and lubricated, and so for, so good.

As long as the gun is clean, adjusted properly, and not too terrible, the person pulling the trigger makes a lot more difference than the gun does. Also, the more you use a gun, the better you become acquainted with its performance and limitations. I think these guns are perfect to learn on, because if you get yourself to the point of extracting maximum performance out of them, you will not only have a decent performing gun, but you will learn enough to justify buying a better gun.

I have never shot with a brand name gun, or gun that cost over $100 for that matter. My next step will probably be Astro. :cool: I would have bought DeVilbiss Finish line guns from the start, but I don't have enough air for them.
 
#5 ·
I've had some pretty good luck with a Devillbiss Finishline 3. You can get 4 different tips, 1.2, 1.5, 1.8 and a 2.2. The price is in the $125 to $200 range depending on how many of the tips you buy. Of course, my favorite is an Iwata LPH 400 1.4, but that gun gets up there in price. It's a low pressure @16psig and low volume @9.5 cfm compared to the Sata's 25 psig and 13.5 cfm if you are compressor "poor".

The HF 43430 Purple is an air hog (some need up to 45+ psig to atomize correctly) and an overspray demon, but once you figure it out, most of them work well, tho there are some real clunkers in each batch.

Economy wise, that HF uses a lot more paint and spreads it far and wide vs. the Iwata or even the Devil FL3. And yes, this is from my own experiences with these guns.

Dave W
 
#7 ·
vintage guy said:
Thanks for the help so far. I will try adjusting the gun I have. It is the HF 43430. Does anyone know if they make a 2.0 or a 2.2 mm tip for priming? Thanks,
Bill

They do - but trying to find one is a study in futility.

The existing 1.5 should work just fine tho if you play around with inlet pressure and paint controls.

A note - the "regulator" that came with the gun - it isn't!! It's a variable restrictor that actually restricts the volume of air passing through the gun. I set mine at the wall and check with this gadget:


then check pressure at the gun with this removable gauge set up:




And with my Iwata, don't have a problem with 1/4" fittings on my 1/2" air line
Dave W
 
#8 ·
That's good info to know! I bought a purple Harbor Freight gun but haven't used it yet. Hope it doesn't give me too much grief.

I have a small compressor but will be only spraying primer (Dupont epoxy primer) and only small sections at a time...maybe like 1/4 of the vehicle at a time. I've read about the problems with a too small compressor, but is it really a big deal if you're only spraying primer?
 
#9 ·
ScotY said:
That's good info to know! I bought a purple Harbor Freight gun but haven't used it yet. Hope it doesn't give me too much grief.

I have a small compressor but will be only spraying primer (Dupont epoxy primer) and only small sections at a time...maybe like 1/4 of the vehicle at a time. I've read about the problems with a too small compressor, but is it really a big deal if you're only spraying primer?
If you are panel spraying, i.e. a small area at a time, you probably will get along fine with a small compressor. You could have a problem if the pressure varies too much and you might end up with some sags or orange peel. The DuPont epoxy is not a sanding epoxy primer like the SPI as it literally dries rock hard.

Small compressors :D - I did 3-4 reasonably good complete paint jobs with a 1 hp 12 gallon Sears unit in the early '70s but using siphon feed guns and acrylic lacquers(and I still have that little compressor to drag out in the drive for filling tires !!)

Dave W
 
#10 ·
Thanks again, Dave. I'll give it a try and see how it goes. I understand SPI epoxy is the best stuff to use but, unfortunately, I can't get any and had to "settle" for Dupont. Is it really that bad to sand? I was thinking it might be better to spray a urethane right over it since that will sand easier.
 
#11 ·
ScotY said:
Thanks again, Dave. I'll give it a try and see how it goes. I understand SPI epoxy is the best stuff to use but, unfortunately, I can't get any and had to "settle" for Dupont. Is it really that bad to sand? I was thinking it might be better to spray a urethane right over it since that will sand easier.
The DuPont, probably DTM, really can't be sanded unless you are outside of the recoat/topcoat time of 24 hours. Then you have to scuff and recoat with epoxy. If you use a 2K urethane primer on top, you should get it on pretty fast - i.e. within the 24 hours. Do you have the tech sheet from your supplier? They were on line but I just checked and they are "temporarily" off line - and I believe being rewritten. If you need a copy, give me a PM with your email and I'll scan my older version and forward.

Dave W
 
#12 ·
Hi Dave,

I got the tech sheets from here:
http://www.performancecoatings.dupont.com/dpc/en/US/html/visitor/b/dr/s/product/chromasystem.html

Just checked and they're online. Thank you for the offer, though...much appreciated.

Confusing, but I think I'm understanding how to use the stuff. I've got the 2540S DTM primer and I forget which hardener. I've read and re-read the tech sheet a bunch of times. I'm thinking, since I need to do filler, that I'll have to be doing some sanding of the epoxy. I think I've got a plan of action now, after a lot of thinking about it. New to all this and kinda slow at times, too. :D
 
#13 ·
ScotY said:
Hi Dave,

I got the tech sheets from here:
http://www.performancecoatings.dupont.com/dpc/en/US/html/visitor/b/dr/s/product/chromasystem.html

Just checked and they're online. Thank you for the offer, though...much appreciated.

Confusing, but I think I'm understanding how to use the stuff. I've got the 2540S DTM primer and I forget which hardener. I've read and re-read the tech sheet a bunch of times. I'm thinking, since I need to do filler, that I'll have to be doing some sanding of the epoxy. I think I've got a plan of action now, after a lot of thinking about it. New to all this and kinda slow at times, too. :D

Stick with the folks here if you have a problem - these guys were my mentors.

The tech sheets must have come back on line after I looked tho have seen that message before. I think they leave them ambiguous on purpose so they can always claim that it's not their fault when things go wrong.

As far as sanding after prime, scuff with some 180 - 220 to give it some tooth and open up a fresh surface as this DuPont dries fairly smooth - then use a good filler like one of the Ever-fil products like Rage Gold or Extreme. That stuff even needs to wear off your skin if you are sloppy.

As a note, if you are going to use ChromaBase as your base coat paint, you do have to be careful of the primer colors. I used the recommended light gray, Value Shade 2, under my Venetian Orange and instead of a 2 coat cover, I needed at least 4 before it "sparkled" clean without a gray shadow.

Dave W
 
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