berner

I've been thinking about asking Mrs. Santa for a paint gun for Christmas. Does anybody have any recommendations for a reasonably priced, versatile gun? I need it for general sealers, urethanes, paint, some autobody....etc. How are these HVLP guns? I'm not planning to do complete show quality paint jobs, just something I can use around the house. Thanks

jfpointer

I used a rented HVLP gun to spray some metallic latex paint on the walls in one of our bathrooms, and it sure worked great for that. The lack of overspray was nothing short of amazing--masking beforehand turned out to be almost a complete waste of time. I'm not sure what kind of results they'd create on autobody work, though.

tarpilot

Berner,
I'm assuming you don't have a big compressor? If not you'll need a turbine HVLP. I think Wagner has the best bang for the buck on a three stage HVLP set up, they call it the capspray and it has gotten good writeups in a few of my woodworking rags. Your gonna pay $500 bucks for it though. Whatever you do, get a "non-bleeder" gun. This means when you let off the trigger, the air won't bypass and hiss and keep running the turbine. They sell them through toolcrib (Amazon). If you do have a compressor, you can get away with spending less than $200 and get very respectable results. It takes a lot of power to push latex and polyurethanes though. Great for autobody. Hope this helps.

berner

I've got a 3600RPM 1 HP belt drive Sanborn with a 20 gal tank. I can't find a CFM rating on it but I'm thinking it's about 5 CFM @ 90 psi. I have it running on a dedicated 20AMP breaker and may be able to speed it up a bit by changing pulleys. I don't think it'll keep up to a regular high pressure gun if I was doing a complete vehicle. That's why I was sort of leaning towards a HVLP. I hear you have to get 2-4" away from the surface with them. Are they hard to use getting that close? Any brand recommendations?

tarpilot

DeVilbiss makes inexpensive, compressor driven HVLP guns that work quite well ($150 or so), but you're not going to cut it with that compressor unfortunately. Especially if you run the gun continuously. They say you need 3HP min. but I have one that I run off an 8HP compressor and sometimes I have to stop and wait for the compressor to catch up. If you plan on using it a lot, I would consider a turbine driven system. The Wagner I was referring to is model #2600, they deliver excellent results. Less than $500. If you don't need to spray heavy bodied materials, they have a cheaper model that's also really decent. I don't own stock in the company, I've just sprayed quite a bit and so have some of my friends and I've seen the results. BTW the Wagner model 2900 is a four stage turbine unit and will spray heavy stuff all day for $579. It's a steal. That's what I'll be buying before too long. By the way, the key is to hold the gun six or eight inches from the surface, absolutely perpendicular. There are a couple of good books, SPRAY FINISHING by Taunton press I think is a good one. Feel free to PM or email me if you want. Good luck.

Helicopter Dan

your air compressor is a little small but will work for small parts go to a local body shop suppy or napa there are alot of good cheaper spray guns out there , astro, sharpe,sata,binks , devilbiss, other's I have forgoten some auto parts places can also order them for you

berner

Thanks for the advice and recommendations. I think I missed the boat though cause she's got all my gifts wrapped already and none look or feel like a paint gun. That woman loves to torture me.

I did notice when I was in Sears their paintguns all had a shipping label from DeVilbiss on them. Must be lower end DeVilbiss.

tarpilot

[quote author=berner link=board=10;threadid=23116;start=0#msg217982 date=1070541054]
Thanks for the advice and recommendations. I think I missed the boat though cause she's got all my gifts wrapped already and none look or feel like a paint gun. That woman loves to torture me.


Maybe one of them is a really nice paint brush.
My local tool supplier, who does auto body work, says he has a $79 HVLP gun that is incredible. Here's the phone number: 1-800-593-4566, ask for Robert, tell him Bryan sent you. I'm gonna pick one up and give it a try.[/quote]

berner

Thanks Tarpilot

I better wait until after Christmas just in case the sneaky woman has it hidden somewhere. She's probably laughing her head off at me as we speak. I think I'm going to wrap up an old vacuum cleaner and put the jewelery I got her in the box with it. Christmas morning is fun at our house. ;D

magnum

Hey guys,

Since I'm an autobody instructor at a private technical school in MN, my recommendation would be that you don't waste any money on the "cheap" HVLP" guns. HVLP stands for "High volume low Pressure" The high volume refers to the amount of material your gun is putting on the surface. The low pressure refers to the amount of air pressure coming out of the gun's spray tip. HVLP guns are not new, they were produced because of their ability to atomize paint with less overspray. You will still need to have a good air supply to the inlet side of the gun, i.e. 40 psi in, 10 or less psi coming out.
Spend 4 to $500 for a good SATA and you will never be sorry.
PS-- the tip oriface should be about a 1.3 to 1.4 for general purpose base and clear coats. For primer surfacers and higher viscosity paints, you'll have to go with a 1.7 fluid tip or higher. If you buy a good SATA and don't like it--I can ALWAYS find a buyer to recoup your funds. Good luck--Magnum