Pneumatic spray gun selection

[Keith Blaszak]

Hey everyone I'm in the market for a spray gun(s) but i don't even know where to get started. I'm hoping someone here might be able to point me in the right direction.

I'm looking to use the spray gun(s) to help out with work on my house renovation/improvements ie: fence painting, kitchen cabinet painting/clear coating, furniture refinishing(painting/staining), painting molding ect. I don't know if this can be done with just one gun or if multiple are needed im completely new to pneumatic spraying.

I guess my questions are these:
What brands should I look for / stay away from?
Can these tasks be done with a single gun or will I need mulitple?
Is looking for used guns(craigslist) a good idea or should I look for new?

Any advise would be greatly appriciated.

[Jon van der Linden]

You'll need different guns for paint and furniture finishes. The guns available depend highly on how much you have to spend and compressor size is very very important. If possible I'd go somewhere where you can try them out - having someone knowledgeable show you how to spray will make a lot of difference.

The other thing is that your needle set needs to match your finish. Even if you're sticking with wood finishes you may have different viscosities which require different needle sets. (You may need to learn more about finishes than you wanted to in order to get optimum results.)

If you don't know what you're looking at, I'd buy new simply because you have no way to determine the condition of the gun. It might need a rebuild to work properly.

My only specific recommendations are to consider LVLP for the wood finishes, the air consumption is very low and can be used with small contractor style compressors. Top of the line Iwata will cost over $400 but will allow you to work with a cheap compressor, budget is a big factor in your choices. If you're using a conventional compressor you also need a good filter to keep oil and water from the line.

[Jack Clark]

Get Jeff Jewitt's new book and companion DVD.

"Spray Finishing Made Simple"

You can get it from Amazon.

Pay attention to the part about viscosity.

I wish it had been available 5 years ago. Would have saved me a lot of money and spinning of my wheels.

[Frederick Rowe]

My suggestion is first decide whether you are going to go with a compressor or a turbine system. If you need mobility, go with a turbine.

If mobility isn't an issue, do you presently have a compressor which will supply 10-15 CFM? If you do, most mainstream HVLP (high volume low pressure) spray gun will provide you with a selection of cap/needle/nozzles to spray thin to thick. Sharpe, C.A.Technologies, and DeVilbiss all produce high quality HVLP guns.

If your compressor is below 10 CFM there are LVLP (low pressure low volume) guns which can run down to 6-8 CFM, but that may not be enough punch to break up water borne finishes. There are some touch up HVLP guns which will run on 6-8 CFM but they have limited spray fan width. Another thing to remember, chances are, unless you've got a large compressor, it was probably intended to run low CFM - high pressure air tools like nailers. The cut in pressure is probably 100 psi, which means the compressor will be cycling on and off frequently. Unless your compressor has a 100% duty rating, it'll drastically shorten it's service life.

Be realistic about what you'll be able to run on your compressor. Yes, you can spray from a porter cable 6 gallon pancake compressor - but only for about 10 seconds then you have to wait for the compressor to recharge the tank. Not fun running out of air mid-spray pass. Even a 20 gallon tank will only last about 30 seconds before cut in pressure is reached.

No big compressor or need mobility, then there are turbine guns. The good news is there are many excellent quality turbine guns for less than the cost of buying a big compressor and gun. Fuji, Accuspray, and Apollo all make high quality turbine systems that will spray virtually all but the thickest products. A 4 stage turbine will produce about 100+ CFM at about 4 - 6 psi at the gun.

There are some inexpensive spray guns, both compressor and turbine. My advise is enter at the mid-level offerings I named. The power and materials used in these guns/systems will last longer and give you more flexibility as your skill increases. An extra $250 will make a big difference. If you choose the compressor route, budget for a good water trap and oil filter. Either type of contamination will ruin a finish.

Regardless which you select, take some time to practice. As others have mentioned get Jeff Jewitt's book on spraying, the DVD will walk you through everything you need to know. The learning curve bends around recognizing when the gun is properly atomizing the fluid you are spraying. Wrap your head around that and it'll open up a whole new level of finishing.

Finish Systems has a good website and will be spend the time to speak with you about what you need.

http://finishsystems.com/

Phelps Refinishing is a Fuji distributor (despite it's name, a Canadian company) who has lots of information and videos on it's site.

http://www.phelpsrefinishing.com/fuji.html

[Keith Blaszak]

It's funny that Jeff Jewitt's book is mentioned, I actually had just ordered his "Complete Illustrated Guide To Finishing" before posting. I'll have to read through and put another order in for "Spray Finishing Made Simple".

I currently have a porter cable 6 gal compressor and was on the fence about whether I should give that a go with some decent guns or buy a seperate compressor/turbine setup. I think Frederick might have just answered that question for me.

The other thing is that your needle set needs to match your finish. Even if you're sticking with wood finishes you may have different viscosities which require different needle sets. (You may need to learn more about finishes than you wanted to in order to get optimum results.)

I'm actually looking to build a larger general knowledge about finishing and then plan on focusing more specifically on spray finishes. I did a little research and found Jeff's books and I hear their highly recommended. (even more evident from reading the posts in this thread)

I think I now have a good base understanding to work from here I think between the advise in this thread, the two Jeff Jewitt books, and a little good old fashioned trial and error I'll be all set.

Thanks everyone for all the advise it's given me alot to think about.

[Joe Chritz]

A conversion gun (runs on Hi pressure air) takes a pretty substantial compressor to do any amount of spraying at all.

I came to the conclusion that if I didn't already have a suitable compressor a turbine system was the way to go.

There are spray systems that will spray just about everything. Air assisted airless is about as good as it gets with a price to match.

You can do about 90% of your spray finishing with a top cup gravity conversion gun. I even spray SW pro-classic but it is far from the best set up for that and it requires a bit of thinning.

Specifically I am using a DeVillbis finishline 3 top cup.

Joe