Paint Gun Recommendations

[Tiggie]

I'm pondering buying a new HVLP paint gun. Up to now, my dad and I have been using older Devilbiss guns he bought over twenty years ago, but we both want to try out an HVLP.

The problem is budget - about $250 max. And we don't want a crappy gun.

The Devilbiss's we have now work fine. They do wonderful using enamels, but I am probably going to go polyurethane or base/clear on my car this spring. Every time we paint with the polyurethane's, we get a lot of orange peel which I think is due partly to the properties of polyurethane paints combined with our high pressure guns (and the overspray associated with that). The base/clears come out fairly nice. Lacquers look stunning.

Should we pony up for a new HVLP, or keep using the older ones? Any recommendations for an HVLP in our budget?

[JumboFriendly]

I think Devilbiss makes some of the best guns out there, at least if I'm remembering right. It's been close to 10 years since I did much paint and body, but everybody at our company either used Devilbiss or one other brand (can't remember), all HVLP. I've heard people talking about LVLP lately, I don't know if that's the new thing or not.

[Mercmarquis]

sata

[zwack88]

Yeah Sata. That is what I am going to get. I sure hope you have a big enough air compressor to run that HVLP. If not get a conventional gravity feed gun.

[Tiggie]

The compressor is a 7.5hp 50 gallon tank I beleive. It's old, but it works. I know I need to check the cfm on it.

I'll look at Sata tomorrow but now it's sleep time.

I have a feeling we may just keep our old guns since they still work well on everything but urethanes. Not worth the investment right now.

[LTDMan83]

What's the cfm on your compressor?With a 50 gallon tank you can get away with powering a HVLP provided the compressor can put out enough cfm.

But,If your old guns have'nt let you down yet,I'd stick to em.

[Tiggie]

I don't know the cfm on it, I'll have to check when I go home this weekend.

I'll probably just stick with the tried and true ones. As much as I'd like to spray down a perfect finish, I'll probably have to buff it out anyway. Paint just isn't the same after you take sandpaper to it.

[Nathan in MI]

Moral of the story: stick to your guns.

[zwack88]

I'll probably just stick with the tried and true ones. As much as I'd like to spray down a perfect finish, I'll probably have to buff it out anyway. Paint just isn't the same after you take sandpaper to it.

Your kidding me right? Shit non of those show cars that are straight as an arrow and have not a single flaw in them, I bet most if not all have been color sanded.

What paint system are you using? If it is just a single stage then yeah I would not want to color sand as much as a 2 stage.

[roadsterstang420]

yeah devilbiss makes some really good inexpensive guns. That being said, a top of the line gun doesnt always make a top of the line finish. It all has to do with the painters abilities, gun setup, and how much you "know" your gun. I've got a $40 import gun that I can make spray as well as my sharpe. Alot of it has to do with the fluid tip size and pressure. I'd get the devilbiss 3-pack. I think they're around $150 and it should give you enough fluid tip combos to play around with till you see what works best for you. And I always believe in wetsanding the final clear. Unless you're the man and you can get every coat to come out like glass without sanding.