Spray gun opinions

[jayhay]

I will be in the market for a spray gun shortly. Main use will be for furniture and accesories that I build. I am looking for any opinions ya'll might have on what I should look for in a gun. Dont think I want to go the HVLP route as I just sold one that was one BIG headache. Maybe a conversion gun? Any help appreciated.:dontknow:

 

[Robb Parker]

Jay, Not sure your bad experience w/ hvlp but I could not lay down or atomize w/ inexpensive hvlp guns. THEN, Sata rep gave me 2 hvlp guns to try in Atlanta and said try them, if you don't like them send them back. Needless to say amazing gun! High $$$$ though but I gladly paid not looking back. 5 mil spray no problem, lays down inside cabs w/ very little over spray, great atomixation w/ real good transfer rate, very little thinning out of can w/ ML Campbell products except clawlock (52% solids).

Others reg and hvlps to try, defilibus (sp?), Binks, Kremlin, real high $$$$ is- Dux also sprayed this gun but $11-1200, amazing gun though. All above better than average guns.

Also look into new 3M disposable cup system. Great time saver! Change between cups mid stream, painless clean up.

Robb
Heritage Woodwright LLC

 

[DavidF]

I went the conversion gun route and bought a set of three "Titan" guns from Amazon. Great price at the time $150 ish in a case. I have been spraying WB lacquer from Target coatings and couldn't be happier. I am no expert or a professional so your needs may be greater than mine, but for the amount of use I have, I couldn't justify the big $$$ of some of the more "professional" guns. If you want to borrow my set to play with you are very welcome.

 

[jayhay]

Thanks alot guys, great info and thank you David for the offer but unfortunately (or fortunately I think) I live in the Mountains and that is a bit far. I am going to check out the guns on Amazon and see what they have. The problems I had with my HVLP was all I could get it to do was splatter the finish. It was a TIP model bought off of ebay for $100.00 and they said when it sold new it was $1,100.00. Guess it was probably more operator error. I finally got aggravated and sold it for $250.00 on ebay. Anyhow,thanks again for all the help.:gar-Bi

 

[TracyP]

Sata is the way professional automotive painters make their money. Accurate, dependable, easy to use, expensive, etc. etc. etc. If it is in the budget, Sata is the way to go.

 

[Gofor]

If you an afford it, a Binks Mach 1 with the appropriate needle, fluid tip and air cap for what you are spraying will do everything you need it to do. Requires 50 psi/8.5cfm at the gun air input. I have sprayed everything from heavy metallic laden coatings to clear lacquer with one, and its capabilities are only limited by the operator's skill. A pressurized cup or 2 qt pressure pot will add to its capabilities, especially for heavy or thick coatings.

Go

 

[Tarhead]

In my very limited experience with a $39 HarborFreight #43430 HVLP Conversion gun (no longer for sale BTW) I have found that I tend to want to spray coats whch are too light. This causes a bumpy, uneven surface and inconsistent droplet size for me. I don't know what makes a good gun (other than spending more than $39:gar-Bi) but you have to match gun, needle/nozzle size, air pressure, air volume, fluid volume, sweep speed, fan size, product viscosity, temperature, humidity and how you hold your mouth for the best finish. The gun is just one of a bunch of variables.

On my kitchen cabinet refurb I sprayed white pigmented ML Campbell Resistant (Catalyzed Alkyd Varnish) thinned ~10% with lacquer thinner. I increased the gun fluid control to the point of runs for my sweep speed/fan size on a piece of butcher paper and then backed off just to the point of no runs. It seemed like too much at first but it layed down and was smooth when it dried.

If I had to do it over I would probably go with one of the all in one turbo units (Turbinaire, Accuspray, Fuji). Having a large compressor is nice but the only thing I really need it for is spraying and I don't spray enough to justify the floor space it occupies. I have a small compressor for nail guns, tires, footballs, etc.

Good luck with your decision! HVLP really saves in the long run by not wasting product to overspray.

Mark

 

[DavidF]

In my very limited experience with a $39 HarborFreight #43430 HVLP Conversion gun (no longer for sale BTW) I have found that I tend to want to spray coats whch are too light. This causes a bumpy, uneven surface and inconsistent droplet size for me. I don't know what makes a good gun (other than spending more than $39:gar-Bi) but you have to match gun, needle/nozzle size, air pressure, air volume, fluid volume, sweep speed, fan size, product viscosity, temperature, humidity and how you hold your mouth for the best finish. The gun is just one of a bunch of variables.

On my kitchen cabinet refurb I sprayed white pigmented ML Campbell Resistant (Catalyzed Alkyd Varnish) thinned ~10% with lacquer thinner. I increased the gun fluid control to the point of runs for my sweep speed/fan size on a piece of butcher paper and then backed off just to the point of no runs. It seemed like too much at first but it layed down and was smooth when it dried.

If I had to do it over I would probably go with one of the all in one turbo units (Turbinaire, Accuspray, Fuji). Having a large compressor is nice but the only thing I really need it for is spraying and I don't spray enough to justify the floor space it occupies. I have a small compressor for nail guns, tires, footballs, etc.

Good luck with your decision! HVLP really saves in the long run by not wasting product to overspray.

Mark

Your experience sounds just like mine. No amount of thin (read dry) coats will fix the problem. If you are not worried about runs then you aren't putting enough on!!!! Once I conquered that fear and layed a good wet coat on, the finish was superb from my relatively cheap gun spraying WB lacquer.

 

[JimD]

I like my Wagner convesion gun I got from Gleem paint. It is about $125 with one set of nozzles - all I have. It took me awhile to get the settings right but now I can spray a good wet coat fairly consistently. It works with my little Bostitch compressor which I got as a set with a finish nailer. I am sure if you spend 10X as much you can get a better gun but I get good results with my Wagner. I ususally spray Resistane but have sprayed Minwax's water based poly (thinned some) with it. I spray both clear and tinted Resisthane with I get from Hood finishing.

Jim

 

[Bas]

Since nobody has mentioned this yet, I've been pretty successful with the Earlex 3000. It does not spray latex paint, but clear finishes (poly, shellac) come out great. It's not too expensive, small, and it only has one adjustment to make. As everyone else has said, the trick is laying down a good wet coat that is just shy of running.

 

[WoodWrangler]

I would recommend trying the HVLP ... but with a good gun. In the past I was using $99 Wagner FineSpray and was getting pretty dang perfect results. Later I upgraded to a Fuji 4-stage HVLP which just makes the process even better. I would recommend getting a non-bleed gun (doesn't spit air when not in use). Mine is a bleed gun and it's rather annoying.

Sata are awesome guns too ... I would take one in a heart beat. I've seen a few recently on CL around here. Just keep an eye out. Just make sure your air compressor has a water filter and lots of umph!

 

[dstrbd488]

One thing that will also make a big differance is the air fitting belive it or not. I used to paint cars for a living and when we went from the convential SATAS to the hvlp guns we were not real impressed with the results and were going to send them back to the paint supplier. They came out and asked us to try some different fittings which insteasd of a 1/4 inch opening it was more like a /8 opening if I remember correctly and also we got rid of the cheater pressure regulators at the gun and adjusted the pressure at the main line regulator. These to things really made a huge change in the way that these guns sprayed which I guess makes sense since the HV stands for High Volume.