Yesterday, I was at Costco and spotted a spray-painting tool set that got my attention. It's a Mastergrip 22pc set (4 of those pieces are spray guns) that requires a 1-2hp compressor. I'm unfamiliar with the brand. Would this be a good toolset to have on hand for any body-priming I may need to do? On a similar note, what are the best and worst brands/models to be watchful of when I start to do some serious shopping for this stuff?
If your just starting out and haven't bought anything yet i would recommend buying an inexpensive paint gun to start off (Astro or Sears). Only because they are great for spraying primer and you may not like doing your own painting. If this is the case you won't have that much invested so it won't hurt as much when you say "this painting crap is for the birds". If you enjoy painting then the sky is the limit. I use only Devilbiss equipment and it works great. There are other options out there but you could have a small fortune in some guns ($400+) and i don't think your looking for that. Anyways good luck in your venture.
Thanks. I wasn't going to let myself do more than priming when it came to large surfaces such as the body. The only sprayers I could find at Sears were electric... which brings another question to mind... Which type of sprayer is better - electric or pneumatic - and why? I already have a compressor at home. How much power would a good pneumatic sprayer require for painting/priming automotive parts? The Costco kit requires about 50-70psi and 1-2hp. I'm not after a top-of-the-line model for what I intend to do. I just want to be sure that I don't invest $100 into a box of bad junk. (I had to be specific here because there is such a thing as good junk.)
I'd pass on that kit...even my "cheap" guns cost me around $180. I needed at least a 5hp compressor at home with a reserve tank, I usually use HVLP guns to cut down on overspray. The electric ones are fine for spraying a house, but keep it away from your car.
For the high solid primers I have a nice Devilbiss HVLP with a 2.0 tip and an old regular Devilbiss. I have 2 "Sata" knockoffs here as well, it took a little while to change my style for HVLP but I'm happier with it.
What are the Sata nockoffs. I want to get a good gun but as usual do not want to pay the full load. Want to get one good gun for color and clear.
They're basically duplicates of the Sata guns, I don't remember the brand name but I use Sata replacement parts in them and they fit perfectly. I think one might have been an Astro Pneumatic branded one, I'll see if I can dig up the paperwork.
If you are just priming, a Craftsman gun from Sears should be fine. I painted my car with a $80 or so Craftsman gun, and although it ain't anywhere near show quality, I'm sure that has much more to do with my skill than the gun. The box the gun comes in will state the compressor requirements; just make sure the gun's requirements can be met by your compressor.
I was checking out the details on my compressor. It's an old model with a part number I can't even find online and its spec sticker is scratched up up so all the useful information isn't readable anymore. I'm guessing that it's about 1/2hp to 3/4hp. I did some shopping around. The best deal I've seen so far is a Husky brand (through Home Depot) that is 2.75hp, 8gal, 125PSI max at $90. I have not yet bought a Husky tool before. Does anyone know where they fall in the quality arena? Would a compressor with those specs suffice? So far, I've only seen guns requiring 1-2hp and 50-100PSI to operate.
Spray equipment What about the CFM of the Air Compressor? Is that a consideration with HVLP paint guns? I got one two years ago but only used it on two projects so far. I still had a lot of volumization even though the air pressure regulator I had showed the required 10 LBS of pressure. My compressor is a 5 hp 60 gallon, capable of 13.5 CFM @ 45 PSI, and 10 CFM at 90 PSI. Should I be cutting down on the air supply to minimize the overspray? JD
CFM is very important!!!! It's easy to make a compressor that makes lots of psi, but making CFM is the key. The $20 compressor that runs off your cigarette lighter sold at the auto parts store will say in big lettering on the box that it makes 100psi, but they don't tell you that it makes very little volume, and will take half an hour to fill up your tire!!! Check the required CFM on the spray gun box. HVLP guns require much more volume (as the name says) and generally require costly compressors to run. No real need for an HVLP gun to spray primer, unless you are really worried about overspray.
How much do I need to worry about overspray? I hate to waste, but that's unavoidable in certain cases. What kind of paint loss should I anticipate if I were pointing straight at a large flat surface? 5%...25%...more? Since I'll only be priming, what could I settle for as a baseline?
It depends on the gun you use. I think the best gun ($$$) out there only has a transfer rate of 75-80%. As for the cheaper guns (example:sears $40)there transfer efficiency is probably only 40% so you will lose 60% of the stuff you spray. There is a wide variety of guns so the range is pretty broad. You must also consider your compressor like stated in the earlier post. One thing alot of peolpe don't understand about the HVLP guns is that you should change your couplers and hoses to accomodate the volume of air needed for the gun(High Volume). If you use a regular coupler/hoses like the ones you find at any parts store you are only choking your gun.That is why a lot of painters don't care for the HVLP guns.They never changed there hose/couplers to allow for the mass of air needed to run the gun. Don't get me wrong your gun will still work but it won't run at it's peak. You could paint a whole car with a quart of paint if all your equipment was at it's peak performance using HVLP guns. The paint you use is also a factor...... some paints are more translucent than others so you will need more coats to achieve hiding. I painted a 1999 gran prix 2 months ago and only used 1-1/4 quarts to do the entire job (and it was a color change). The sealer you use is also a big factor if you were to spray a car "red" you would need to use a white sealer to get you quickest coverage. Sounds funny but it's true. Oh yeah air pressure will effect your overspray but not in a good way. The product you spray will go one thicker and add to the dry times and sometimes run/sag which only ads work to your busy schedule. Not to mention it won't be even coats and there's another problem: dry spots.Another thing is most people don't wait the required amount time to pass for the product to dry before spraying another coat. This just doesn't end so i'm tired of typing so i'll quite right there. :Comp:
I want to thank you guys for the advice. This site is an incredibly helpful place to visit. :bglasses: (Oh. And if you have more advice, please bring it on.)
