Touch up spray gun vs airbrush

[Luke Pighetti]

Hey all,

I do a lot of really small woodturnings (say 3" diameter, 2" length), I am in a semi-production situation. I'm looking to move away from rattle cans and pick up either a touch up spray gun or an airbrush. Seems I can spend about the same amount between the two. I'm planning on applying the finish on the lathe.

Finishes that I use thus far (different combinations for different things) are

BLO
dewaxed shellac
minwax fast cure polyurethane
deft clear gloss lacquer
and General Finishes' Wood Turners Finish

Any wisdom before I plop $100 on some gear? I already have a 24 gallon compressor but no water trap or filter.

[sheldon pettit]

Hey all,

I do a lot of really small woodturnings (say 3" diameter, 2" length), I am in a semi-production situation. I'm looking to move away from rattle cans and pick up either a touch up spray gun or an airbrush. Seems I can spend about the same amount between the two. I'm planning on applying the finish on the lathe.

Finishes that I use thus far (different combinations for different things) are

BLO
dewaxed shellac
minwax fast cure polyurethane
deft clear gloss lacquer
and General Finishes' Wood Turners Finish

Any wisdom before I plop $100 on some gear? I already have a 24 gallon compressor but no water trap or filter.

I used Devilbiss EGA's for touch up my whole career, they are available or were with 2 sets of air caps and fluid tips and needles. One very small for fine work [1/8" or so, the other for a bigger fan and more fluid for things like car door jams etc.. They have both metal and polyethalene cups available also and some glass jars will fit the cap screw on lid but i can't remeber which ones. For an air brush i'm a Passhe' man The VLR dual action is my prefference also available with many different tips and fluid needles etc and jars. Do yourself a favor and invest in a multi-purpose oil/water/dirt filter. As to prices, you can pick up the passhe online for under 80 bucks in a kit with extra tips and needles and jars and hose etc. The DeVilbiss will run you alot more say 200 plus with all the accesories. The cheap ones will work, but nowhere as good as the DeVilbiss will.

[Luke Pighetti]

One thing worth mentioning is I dont need a fan larger than a spray can. In fact, I'd like a smaller fan with finer particles and less flow. I want to be able to do very even, very thin coats without any overspray. Being able to dial in the fan size and mixture from the gun would be pro. I guess that means a dual action airbrush? I want to knock out as much final sanding as possible.

Do the touch up spray guns have a dial for adjusting fan size? That would be ideal. I'm not drawing anything, just spraying finisher so I don't care much for the crazy action you get with high dollar airbrushes. I don't need to adjust while spraying, just before spraying.

Somewhat related, I made up a mandrel to fit 4 parts at once on my mini lathe. I'm spraying poly directly on. The difference in finishing time is HUGE! Things you learn...

[John Coloccia]

I use an EGA for touch up and sunbursts....basically anywhere that's a bit too large for an airbrush. It actually behaves like a very big, very high quality airbrush. As far as I know, though, the only available option on EGAs are now 1mm tips, and that's it. That's just right for this kind of work, actually. The problem is that it's not even a $200 gun anymore. It's more like $300+ by the time you buy cups and things. I also don't like that you can't fit DeKups to it, though 3M's PPS does work.

Personally, though, I would probably lean towards a gravity fed detail gun like you can get from Homestead. For production work, you can add the DeKups system to it and save yourself a heck of a lot of trouble cleaning up, plus it's a closed system so you can essentially leave something like lacquer in there all day and just keep spraying. Honestly, you could even leave lacquer in there overnight, though you didn't hear it from me. The only reason I have the EGA is that it's so good at doing nice sunbursts. There's nothing else I really like about it and it's generally a PITA to use compared to a gravity fed with a disposable liner system.

[Luke Pighetti]

Thanks for the reply, John. I've attached a photo of the parts I am spraying to give people an idea of what I'm working with.

Those rods are about 16-18" long

[John Coloccia]

Honestly, and this is just my opinion, I think the EGA would be ideal. I think the round pattern off the airbrush will make it difficult to get a perfect finish in the large, flat areas. That said, the EGA is wicked expensive for this application, but I think you want a little better than a cheap jam gun because you want a great finish off the gun. Honestly, I would personally, and this is just me, lean towards one of the smaller gravity guns Homestead sells, and not to beat a dead horse, I would fit it with DeKups for ease of cleaning AND so you can spray in any orientation. I would also, personally, spray them off the lathe. I would make little holders, maybe as simple as a stick with a little foam wrapped around it to provide some friction, and spray them, holding the item in one hand and the gun in the other. I'm pretty sure I can spray each one in just a few seconds like this. I would definitely not spray on the lathe with the motor on, at any rate.

Again, just my opinion, and probably biased from the kind of work I'm accustomed to doing.

[sheldon pettit]

John i don't think your wrong at all, i to needed the best precision and atomization i could get for my work, nothing beat the EGA. That said, Luke i would take his advice and get an intermediate gravity gun now that i see what it is your doing. To tell you the truth any gun sized to use with a compressor your size would work since they are all able to be dialed in as to fluid volume and fan width, have fun.

[Scott Shepherd]

The airbrushes I have do not have any fan pattern adjustment on them. The dual action is nothing more than letting air start flowing before you allow the paint to come through the gun. That prevents the often higher pressure spurt that is common with airbrush systems. It'll build up pressure and that's the first thing that comes out, then the pressure comes down to normal levels. That can be a pain to deal with. The dual action stop that and gives you a little better control over that type stuff.

As mentioned above, they shoot a round pattern, regardless. It's either pencil tip thin or a dime size (off the top of my head-don't hold me to that) pattern and anywhere in between, based on the tips and how close or far away your gun is from the work.

The finishing gun, however, is like a small professional gun. You can control the fan pattern and the amount of flow just like a big gun.

The airbrush is VERY picky about what it needs. The product needs to be very thin to spray. The finishing gun will certainly take thicker product.

For your use, I'd go with the finishing gun, in my opinion.

[Harvey Pascoe]

I have the Badger model 400 which is identical to the DeVilbis EGA. This gun was originally designed by Badger, the airbrush maker. The gun is basically one step up from an airbrush in terms of volume and control. Its very low volume and has a round or eliptical pattern. I don't know how well the eliptical works because I never use it. This gun WILL NOT handle any thick mediums like most water based. A cheap alternative is the Central Pneumatic K3 mini gun with gravity feed cup. It also is low volume and has trouble with high viscosity mediums.

I buy these guns by the half-dozen for $15 from Harbor Freight and when they clog up, just toss
'em and grab a new one. Sounds crazy but its cost efficient compared to the time and solvent cost of cleaning.

[Luke Pighetti]

Is there any way to get quick change bottles for those $15 harbor freight guns? Or is that way too schwanky for something like that.

I guess the important thing is that spray cans work fine, i just want something a little bit better that can take home blended mixtures.