I am going to buy a proper HVLP gun for spraying clear on my parts as right now i have a basic and cheap system and i am not very satisfied. Which one would you recommend? I think this package on eBay is a good deal. Anyone have used this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370299906758&_trksid=p2759.l1259
First give more information about your current setup (gun, compressor, booth, clearcoat used, your technique, etc) and why you’re unhappy with it. A new gun might not solve the issues you’re having, depending on what they are.
Secondly, if you’re only shooting clearcoat, you don’t really need this setup because you won’t be shooting multiple types of paint.
Right now i have a small hobby-type compressor which i plan to change soon with a bigger system. The gun is a cheap gravity-feed conventional one.
I want to go with an HVLP because i hear that they spray better and they save a lot of material too which is a very important factor as well.
My gun is not that efficient at spray pattern adjustability and i am losing quite a lot of material in the process. With a good HVLP gun i assume i will solve these 2 problems at least.
While clearcoating sometimes i get some pinholes on the clearcoat surface even though i have by 90% solved the problem i had with resin porosity. I don’t know whether this gun will help me solve this problem but i just want to renew my equipment to be sure that i will improve my products quality.
I will mainly use the gun for clearcoating but maybe i will need a second gun for other purposes, painting metal parts etc. That’s why i liked this 2 gun setup.
The type of compressor won’t make much of a difference with an HVLP gun, unless you’re spraying a bunch of parts at once and even then as long as your compressor has a good SCFM rating, it’ll be able to recharge itself pretty quick. My compressor is a small 4 gallon portable one, but its got a decent motor on it so it handles all my spraying flawlessly.
I can’t speak for the guns that you linked to, but I had much better results when I upgraded to an HVLP gun. I believe its a Finex FX3000 (about $100). Much more control, able to get the flow where I want it and get amazing results pretty consistently. Spraying one piece at a time and setting it aside really helped with overspray as well.
The main issue for me was dust and I’m sure its an issue for you too if you’re spraying in an open area. Any type of filtration? What type of filter are you using on the air line? Are you using tac-rags? Are you able to wet down the floor of the room you’re spraying in? Are you sanding between multiple coats? What type of clearcoat are you using? How fast is the cure time? All of these will greatly effect the quality of your results, much more so than the gun or compressor.
Picture of some pieces I just shot an hour or so ago:
wetting out the floor is a big no-no. the vapours from the water make the sprayed particles half dry before they hit the surface, resulting in orange peel.
personally i use devilbiss starting line guns, 200$ for a set of three from ebay, one airbrush, ideal for PVA, one primer gun, and a paint/clearcoat gun. check them out. i use a pressure regulator that has a built in humidity filter.
I agree… paint one piece, move it to another room or area, then paint the next part.
Astro Pnuematic makes some good guns. They are Chinese but they are the best gun you can get for under $250. They run around $100. Spraygunworld.com sells them. Top of the line spray guns go for $500 and up, not worth it unless your painting whole cars all the time.
The gun you buy will have a cfm rating… just make sure your air compressor puts out at least the same cfm or more.
DeVill Biss starting line has steel needles that can rust.
Go with an Astro Pneumatic gun for $100 and it’s a much better gun.
i havent had any problems with rust so far… i always dissasemble the gun completely after each use, clean everything and leave it like that until next time. i would buy a SATA jet 3000 but they are soooo damn expensive. but it’s a professional gun, what do you expect. still, sticking to the ole devilbiss , i keep on improving my technique.