Bigtommyb Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 Hey im looking to buy a spray gun but im not 100% sure what 1 i should get need 1 thats good for clear coats. Ive looked at what LGM Suggested in this post. But i was also wondering what the rest of you use. Big Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 I used a Husky gravity feed gun that I bought from Home Depot for $70. Is it a pro grade gun? Not really, but I'm not a pro painter. Can you get a decent finish out of it? Sure. For me, it's a nice gun to learn with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 For a good, inexpensive quality starter gun, I'd say the Campbell-Hausfeld pint (doorjamb) gun is great. About $50.00, also from Home Depot. I've bought three in the past few years, it's versatile enough to do almost anything, and will lay on fat clear coats. Inexpensive, easy to clean and maintain, does the job. Most of my guitars were shot with these guns. I use a more expensive pint gun for doing really fine 'bursting, but the gun above is what I use 80% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdw3332 Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 I'm using an inexpensive $50 - 60 HVLP. I'm still getting used to it but it seems to work OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morben Guitars Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 I use a gun from Grizzly that I picked up for ~$50. Works great, very happy with it. http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G5352 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 I use This little fella.. Does the job very well, though the fan adjustment seems pretty tough to master. I haven't tried anything elaborate with it, like bursting or the like, but it's great for laying down clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtommyb Posted May 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 was looking at the Sata Mini JetIII but im mainly going to be using it for clear coats... but LGM (and the manufacturers) said its not very good for it... Will check out all the guns that have been (and will be) posted and find 1 that suits me Big Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Luthier Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 was looking at the Sata Mini JetIII but im mainly going to be using it for clear coats... but LGM (and the manufacturers) said its not very good for it... Will check out all the guns that have been (and will be) posted and find 1 that suits me Big Tom The mini jet aint good for clears? That's what I was looking at, but I was also looking at the ones designed for clears, like LGM uses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Here is the bottom line on paint guns really, HVLP sucks for clear, great for base coat but not clear, it doesn't atomize the paint well enough and it won't flow as nicely. Gravity feed has it all over syphon feed for ALL paintguns and airbrushes. You can buy Campbell Hausfeld, and all the other brands and they work fine, I've owned a lot of paint guns, Devilbiss, Walcom, Sharpe, Binks, CH, etc. They all work. How good they work is another story. If you are not painting for a living (and by that I mean if you are spraying less than 20 gallons of paint in a year) you probably don't need to consider something like the Satajet RP's. However, if you simply want the best gun for laying on clear, that is the one to get. I sprayed a lot of paint in all my other guns, each time I upgraded, I asked myself "why didn't I do this a year ago". When it comes to paint guns, it really does appear that the more they cost the better they work. Iwata airbrushes are probably the most expensive airbrushes on the market, they are also the very best you can buy and they will out last all others. Same with Sata, you pay for the gun, but it will last forever if you take care of it, and it will give you the same consistent results time after time. There are a few people that swear by the Walcom STM, it's a fine gun, very nice, and next to impossible to get parts for, that makes it worthless in my book. Outside of the Sata line, I have never seen another company that has as fine an air and paint orifice and can atomize the paint better. As I say, there are many good guns out there, for a high end less than Sata priced gun, the Devilbiss finishline 3 is good. The Iwata LPH series are also very good but nearly as expensive as Sata. If you think you will use it more than a couple times, despite the flaming I've gotten in the past for saying this, buy good, and buy once, buy cheap, and buy over again. I would pay pretty close to new price for an excellent condition used Satajet RP digital, but I wouldn't even pay half of new price for an excellent condition used spray gun of another make. I'm not biased towards any company for any reason other than the only thing I have time for is the best equipment I can get, even if I was only hobby painting guitars, and jets, I'd still own the Sata guns, there are simply no better guns on the market. As a point of interest, probably most of you know who Darren Johansen is, from About Time Designs, the swirl guy. Darren is one of my best friends. Darren has always loved his clear gun. I bought the Satajet RP Digital, called him and told him to just go buy one, that I would buy it from him if he didn't like it. He went and bought it, and said he wished he'd bought it a year ago too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavnerGuitarWorks Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 Just a thought.... does anyone have any experience with the Wagner Power Painters or their HVLP systems? I finish my guitars by hand..... by choice, but I have been curious about these systems just from a price standpoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 My dad bought one of those Wagner power painting units a while back... I would never consider using it on a guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GEdwardJones Posted May 27, 2004 Report Share Posted May 27, 2004 We used the Wagner power painter to paint my infamous hotrod flame walled office. It's GREAT for painting walls, the paint goes on pretty smoth and thick (we used latex, but you can use anything with it). I guess you could paint a guitar with it, but it wouldn't be my first choice (although Coen proved that you can get a GREAT finish with a roller and the thought did cross my mind). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewVintage Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 You need to decide on a finish product type that you will be using first. Some products such as polyester require a large needle size ( 1.8 to 2.5) compared to lacquers which spray stock tips (1.5 or so). The wrong tip size will result in poor finish no matter what gun brand or price you pay. Having to replace the tip with the right size can cost as much or more than the initial price of the gun. Settle on a product, get the specs. for the gun needed then buy. Personally, I have had best results from HVLP gravity fed guns. Cheap ones seem to work about as well as the more expensive stuff and up to 95% of the quality of your result will be in your technique. Best, NV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted May 28, 2004 Report Share Posted May 28, 2004 You need to decide on a finish product type that you will be using first. Some products such as polyester require a large needle size ( 1.8 to 2.5) compared to lacquers which spray stock tips (1.5 or so). The wrong tip size will result in poor finish no matter what gun brand or price you pay. Having to replace the tip with the right size can cost as much or more than the initial price of the gun. Settle on a product, get the specs. for the gun needed then buy. Personally, I have had best results from HVLP gravity fed guns. Cheap ones seem to work about as well as the more expensive stuff and up to 95% of the quality of your result will be in your technique. Best, NV I have to dissagree on some of your points. First of all, in my experience, the cheap guns do not even come close to the quality of finish as GOOD guns. When I say good guns, I am not talking about the Devilbiss finishline guns, or Walcom guns or Sharpe guns. As for the HVLP debate, I have a few HVLP's and as I've said, they are fantastic for base paint, but they suck for clear, I have a Satajet RP digital and the Satajet 2000HVLP digital, for clear the RP digital is the only choice in high end guns. Also, while I agree on the large tip size for polyesters you do not need as large as 1.5mm for Urethanes and certainly not for laquer. Laquer will spray great with as small a tip size as .8mm and Urethane seems to really like 1.3 to 1.4mm tips. My experience has been that most guns come with a 1.2 to 1.4mm tip, I've also never seen any tips that cost anywhere near as much as the gun unless you are buying $100 or cheaper guns. I do agree that your end result is only as good as your technique, but just as important as the type of gun you are using is learning the type of paint you are spraying. I've owned a lot of paint guns, and I've spray a LOT of paint, and the ONLY guns I would even consider, even if I was just starting out at this point are the Sata guns, even if you decide you don't want to paint after doing a couple guitars, as long as you've cleaned it well, you'll get a good amount of money back out of it if you should want to sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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