CudBucket Posted February 8, 2005 Report Posted February 8, 2005 These are the guns that Stew Mac carries now. The smaller one is virutally identical in appearance to the Badger 400. The prices are great and the compressor demands are moderate. Does anyone here have experience with these? I can still get a badger 400 on the internet for about $70. Thanks. The link is below. Dave http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_supp...es.html#details Quote
ddgman2001 Posted February 8, 2005 Report Posted February 8, 2005 I've never used a Badger larger than an airbrush, but I do own both of those types of Chinese knock off guns. They're good for rough work. For fine work, you'll need to spend more. Quote
bigdguitars Posted February 8, 2005 Report Posted February 8, 2005 I just bought the mini sata hvlp gun: This one on ebay.... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...sspagename=WDVW nice gun, does not need a killer compressor Quote
CudBucket Posted February 8, 2005 Author Report Posted February 8, 2005 Ya think I really need to drop more than $200? Quote
Maiden69 Posted February 8, 2005 Report Posted February 8, 2005 Yes and no. I think that for one guitar or 2 a year, a regular gun in the $100 (not HLVP, since this ones good are darn expensive) should suffice. I had a $50 De Vilbiss that kicked butt laying paint nice, thin and even. But that was 12 years ago, so I don't know now. Quote
bigdguitars Posted February 8, 2005 Report Posted February 8, 2005 true 200 bones is a lot, my first gun was a 24 dollar menards gun. worked fine. I might go that route if you are serious though buy one good gun that way you don't end up buying 3 or 4 "lesser" guns Quote
CudBucket Posted February 9, 2005 Author Report Posted February 9, 2005 Well, for the immediate future, I can't see myself with enough time to do more than 2 or 3 guitars in a year so I don't know that I'll need a higher-end gun yet. And if you've seen my project guitar web site, you'll see that I have no aversions to spending money on tools. But I've always been skeptical of spending alot of money on spray guns. I'm sure I'm being somewhat naive but when I consider all the prep work before spraying and then all the sanding and buffing after spraying, I imagine that a gun only needs to apply the paint. Orange peel and the like can happen with any gun, and it can be sanded out. I think it becomes more about the magician than the wand. And then, when you consider the stew-mac tutorial where a beautiful trans blue was clear coated through a rattle can outside in 38 degree weather, you have to wonder: "How good does a spray gun have to be?" I don't mean to belittle the work that a pro does. In fact I'm praising it because those guys can make art if they had to apply paint with a Q-tip. The craziest thing I might do would be a burst or something so I have to believe a "cheaper" gun would be fine for now. Plus if I only spend $40 or so on one of the Stew Mac guns and get 3 or 4 nice guitars out of it, it'll have been worth the investment. No? Am I way off here? Thanks. You guys are great. Dave Quote
bigdguitars Posted February 9, 2005 Report Posted February 9, 2005 you are most likely right on. I think it takes time like everything else in guitar building. I went with the nicer gun cause I have heard good things, and maybe a nicer wand will help me a little bit... Quote
LGM Guitars Posted February 9, 2005 Report Posted February 9, 2005 true 200 bones is a lot, my first gun was a 24 dollar menards gun. worked fine. I might go that route if you are serious though buy one good gun that way you don't end up buying 3 or 4 "lesser" guns ← Careful, Sata guns are addictive, $200 is nothing for a Sata Wait until you're considering dropping the $600 for the digital guns I figured that minijet would be all I wanted too, now I own 2 minijets, the RP digita, 2000HVLP digital and the KLC RP primer gun. They are addictive, so are airbrushes, Iwata is my vice LOL Quote
bigdguitars Posted February 9, 2005 Report Posted February 9, 2005 was waiting for you to reply here... :-) I don't have a monster compressor but I needed gun that I could depend on. I saw this gun at the woodworking show and for 200 bucks I figured it was worth it. you ever use this gun? Quote
LGM Guitars Posted February 9, 2005 Report Posted February 9, 2005 That's their newer version of what I have, I've got the minijet III, and yes, I use it all the time, I use it for most of my base colors except some Kanies and Neons, I don't use it for primer or clear though, the .8mm tip is a little small for my liking for clears and primer, I like 1.3 for clear and 1.6 for primer. You'll never regret buying that gun, and if you ever do, just let me know, I'll take it I should add that, I don't recommend bigger than a .8mm tip on the gun simply because it's meant more for base coat, or touch up repair. It doesn't hold that much paint, it's fine for base, but if you want to use clear, you'll be needing to refill many times, it's not a big deal but the more often you have to open the gun during spraying the more chances there are for contaminants to get in. Reading that auction there doesn't seem to be much difference between the 3 and 4, the 4 has the fan adjust on both sides so if you spray left handed it is in a better location, ergonomics of the handle, meh, it's a small enough gun I never noticed. The longer trigger would be nice, but again, it's a small enough gun you're never painting so long that my hand cramps, but yeah, I would like that. The quick change air cap is nice, both my digitals have that, but the only time I remove the nozzle or cap is on cleaning so it doesn't really matter, although, there is NO chance you'll ever cross thread the quick change, the minijet 3 has pretty fine threads, If you're a gorilla grip guy you could cross them I guess. The one thing the 4 has that I WISH my 3's had is the quick change color cup. That is sooooooooo nice, I hate putting the cup on my minijet, it's a pain at times, the digitals are quick change and man, I Love that, that was one of the smartest things they ever did!. Quote
LGM Guitars Posted February 9, 2005 Report Posted February 9, 2005 ok, now I'm getting envy LOL!!! that new 4 looks pretty sweet, I just really don't need another gun!!! god, they really are addictive LOL Quote
rahimiiii Posted January 2, 2007 Report Posted January 2, 2007 Well, for the immediate future, I can't see myself with enough time to do more than 2 or 3 guitars in a year so I don't know that I'll need a higher-end gun yet. And if you've seen my project guitar web site, you'll see that I have no aversions to spending money on tools. But I've always been skeptical of spending alot of money on spray guns. I'm sure I'm being somewhat naive but when I consider all the prep work before spraying and then all the sanding and buffing after spraying, I imagine that a gun only needs to apply the paint. Orange peel and the like can happen with any gun, and it can be sanded out. I think it becomes more about the magician than the wand. And then, when you consider the stew-mac tutorial where a beautiful trans blue was clear coated through a rattle can outside in 38 degree weather, you have to wonder: "How good does a spray gun have to be?" I don't mean to belittle the work that a pro does. In fact I'm praising it because those guys can make art if they had to apply paint with a Q-tip. The craziest thing I might do would be a burst or something so I have to believe a "cheaper" gun would be fine for now. Plus if I only spend $40 or so on one of the Stew Mac guns and get 3 or 4 nice guitars out of it, it'll have been worth the investment. No? Am I way off here? Thanks. You guys are great. Dave The way I do it is, I would do the burst with a cheap 10 dollar airbrush using propel cans... Do not underestimate the usefulness of an airbrush! They are perfect for laying down fine detailed burst or whatever else you might want on a guitar. Even a cheap hobby airbrush is better than a cheap spray gun when it comes to burst. Then I use rattlecans to clear coat. I dont care about the orange peel cause I am gonna sand it off anyways... Quote
PaintIt Posted January 2, 2007 Report Posted January 2, 2007 I agree to to a point that it is the painter not the gun that creates a great finish. No matter the gun if you do not have any experience in tuning it through hour and hour of use it can spray just as bad as the cheapest gun. If you are painting 3 times a year and have the best gun in the world there is very little chance that you will get it perfect due to lack of practice. In the end you are going to sand and buff so a little peel is not that big of a deal. I have several Sata mini jet 3 , Iwata LPH 50 an 400 and they are all great guns but take practice to make them spray correctly. Not only do you need to learn the gn but also the material that you spray. Primer , base and clear all spray different. Quote
johnsilver Posted January 2, 2007 Report Posted January 2, 2007 Cud, I have the StewMac touch up gun. I bought it to do a burst on the LP I am working on now. It worked fine. It was easy to adjust the spray pattern and held plenty of material for a burst. I use a different gun - toploading Grizzly (about $50) to spray clear. The more I use it, the better "it" gets. Quote
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