any advice on paint guns?

[jrinaman]

always bought cheap guns because I don't use it often enough to justify top shelf. the down side is using more paint to get a nice finish, bigger chance of runs, orange peel and pattern/tiger stripes. this all leads to more wet sanding and in extreme cases, adding yet another coat. usually I toss the gun in the parts bin and grab another harbor freight purple gun when I have issues. I can buy a pallet full of them for the cost of the sata so it was more practical for limited use to go cheap. a dozen cheap guns later, thinking of spending a bit more. trying to buy in the $150.00 range but would consider more. I am looking at sharp finex, warwick 904, develbiss finish line, iwata air gunsi and astro euro. anyone have experience with these guns or recommend another? all have good reviews/forum posts but not sure which fits my needs best. while I average one full car per year, I paint enough panels to equal 2 or 3 more. fast is NOT my main concern. better atomization and pattern are key with better quality/still working decent in a year also on my list. I am leaning towards the astro but not because it is the cheapest, 2 guns, lvlp and hvlp for 200. the rest are about $150 each and $200 for the develbiss. IF any of the others are better, I have no issue paying more for it. what advantage would I have "if" I stretched the budget to $250.00?

[Russell]

I use cheap guns also, I started my recent paint job with a brand new one out of the box but couldn't get it to fan the way I wanted. I ended up using the one I've been spraying primer and sealer with because I know it was working well. Paint came out nice. As you know, the amount being sprayed on is the key and watching how it flows and dries, Type of hardener and weather, temp are also big factors.
I bought a hvlp gun a couple of years ago and didn't like it at all, good for small jobs like bike tanks and fenders but I went back to regular cheap guns because that's what I'm used to.
I don't feel so bad about throwing out a $20 gun when it stops working instead of trying to keep an expensive gun clean and working.

[RAY68108]

I will be buying my first paint sprayer soon. I am considering the Eastwood concours combo kit...its a 1, 2 or 3 gun kit...the 3 gun kit is $350 ish...anybody have any thoughts on that setup? Its looking like under $600.00 to get everything Ill need to get started priming...The guys at the Eastwood store are very knowledgeable, they actually restore vehicles in store with the equipment and supplies they sell. They never try to hard sell me on anything, as opposed to other supply stores Ive been to, that have no usefull knowledge about the tools they sell.

[smiley]

I use a Sharpe Cobalt 5814L that my brother gave me decades ago. Admittedly, I was too scared of messing something up, so it stayed in the box until 2014. I've never used an Iwata or Sata gun, but I can tell you that the Sharpe is lightyears ahead of the harbor freight gun in all aspects. However, I do have a purple Harbor Freight gun that I used for spraying flake. It has a 1.5mm tip, which allows the flake to pass through. You never get every single piece of flake out of a gun either, so I keep it for that purpose.

[jrinaman]

hadn't really considered the eastwood concours. what little I have read on it was good. I could not find the cobalt 5814 but am lead to believe sharpe finex is the one to have from them. ya, all the posts on any of the guns claim better than harbor freight but not a sata. had many chances to borrow better guns but wouldn't as i am hard on tools. partially why I kept the budget lower. skill level and painting conditions are probably a bigger issue. harbor freight was easy, only one choice. now it isnt just tip size but hvlp, lvlp or conventinal?

[Vanner68]

I used an old DeVilbiss siphon gun to paint the 87 I had. It came out ok even though I am probably the worst painter on the planet. Look for used paint equipment on C-list or in pawn shops.

BTW, the paint was rustoleum in the gallon can.

[jrinaman]

I used an old DeVilbiss siphon gun to paint the 87 I had. It came out ok even though I am probably the worst painter on the planet. Look for used paint equipment on C-list or in pawn shops.

BTW, the paint was rustoleum in the gallon can.

my van is painted with rustoleum. I thinned it with acetone and sprayed it with a $15.00 harbor freight gun. perfect paint job until the bugs landed in the wet paint. HUNDREDS of nats! they buffed out fine.
not really wanting someone elses wore out gun, I have plenty. will buy new from a reputable dealer, ebay is full of 'fake' counterfeit guns. painted 2 fenders, bumper and lower half of a rav4 2 weeks ago and gun wasn't cooperating (after I mixed the paint) so I shot it with my touch up gun. although slower, it went on nice and no orange peel. this is what got me thinking a better gun could save me a ton of wet sanding before buffing. the same clear on my truck bed needed 400 grit and still didn't get it all. really not wanting to paint the rest of the truck with a touch up gun and i am done buying no name guns. any of the $150.00 guns will be an improvement and a $500.00 gun wont make a pro.

[madillow]

I bought an HVLP gun from Eastwood. I think it was one their "Concours" guns, but was reasonably priced. Came with three different size tips. Used it to paint a '69 Cougar. Sprayed high build primer, sealer primer, basecoat, and clear coat. The gun worked great. I still had some amount of orange peel. Seems like that is the curse of modern paints. I used high end Dupont Chromabase paint and clear coat for this. Orange peel was worse on side panels than on the roof, hood, etc. Spent a bunch of days with 1500 and 2000 grit, and then a buffer. Ended up with a near show quality paint job. Will be doing the same thing with my '65 van in a few months.

Not sure if the gun made a huge difference. I am a novice at this. I bet an experienced painter could get a good finish with a low cost gun.

[jrinaman]

Not sure if the gun made a huge difference. I am a novice at this. I bet an experienced painter could get a good finish with a low cost gun.

several of the reviews on mid range guns said 'almost' as nice a finish 'in the right hands'. some were slower so not the best for 40 hours/week and some a bit harder to adjust correctly. not being 'in the right hands', slower is probably a plus. most of the cheap guns I had could be adjusted enough to be usable but certainly not ideal, fine mist is usually closer to small droplets splattered on evenly! heavy on reducer helps a little. the HF guns aren't bad new but don't last. patterns/tiger strips start to develop, air requirements increase and biggest complaint is the large droplets instead of a fine mist. painted this with a $40.00 touch up gun having a 1.0 tip. wet sanded and buffed where the new paint met the old yesterday and buffed only, no wet sanding on a small area and think I can skip most of the sanding.

[panelmanrd]

I bought a pair of devillibis sold in a kit from oriellys was about
230.00 been using them for base coat clear coat and one gun has
a larger tip for primer both are gravity guns with aluminum cups,
worth the money

[Wookee]

I really liked the Sharpe spray gun I had.
I went from spraying stuff in Ideal conditions to spraying stuff in not so Ideal conditions
I was all ways happy with the work I did with that gun
There are advantages to using a good performing spray gun.
Treat your self and buy the nicest brand name gun you can afford to buy.

[jrinaman]

the more I look, the more I realize how little I know! hvlp, lvlp or conventional? what size tip? which cap? what I have found is that any name brand gun is a vast improvement and most are copies of the iwata w400. the exception being devilbiss. starting line is a cheap import and not much better than my hf. finish line/flg4 is not an iwata copy and is considered good but consumes hug amounts of air. not a concern for me but would be for others with small compressors. at $460.00 for gun and $130.00 for each additional tip size, I wont be getting the iwata! cheapist first, the astro euro, sharpe finex and warwick 904 are all similar to the iwata. $125-150. start adding tips/caps and $200-300. that's about all I want to spend so its between those 3 and the fg4. all are a vast improvement and none can compete with higher priced guns. http://www.onlinesprayguns.com/904 or http://www.spraygunworld.com/ I can find endless links comparing those 4 guns to HF purple, iwata or sata. comparisons of those 3 to finish line but NOTHING comparing those 3. a this point, just going to pick what is on sale or includes the most freebies.

[jrinaman]

ended up getting the devillbiss finishline. flg670 with 3 tips and 2 air caps from summit for $212.00 and free shipping. I felt it was the safest choice as it is the best in my budget, had several tips and can get parts easily. the time I spent researching and comparing was worth more than if I just bought 1 of each and tried them out! what I have found with no hands on experience or comparison but what I gathered from internet: the astro europro is probably the best value. at around $100.00, better tan devilbiss starting line or eastwood and is far better than the off brands. hvlp (green) has a smaller pattern and slower compared to others and lvlp (orange) slower and smaller yet but finish/orange peel is top notch. actually bought one of each as it would of been perfect for me but had issues with spraygunworld and summit offered same day shipping. the sharpe finex is better gun but wide pattern and faster would be more suited to larger jobs like an entire van (or several). what little I read about the warwick said it beats all my other choices but only available threw their online site and didn't want to risk another online scam or delays so I bought from a trusted seller. I had no issues with warwick, I did with another online retailer and decided known sellers are worth a little more money for in stock items. the astro is available threw Walmart online and problably get one anyways just because I want to try it. I strongly recommend you google your retailer for reviews!! leaving now on a 2 hour round trip to pay my phone bill as I had to cancel my credit card, sure wish I googled them first!

[jrinaman]

well finally got a chance to use the spray gun I just had to have last spring. I did use the astro mini several times and much better than the cheapies but too small for an entire panel. I patiently waited for one of my kids to wreck their car so I could use the devilbiss. they finally did and I had my chance. fl3 is so much better than what I had. much better finish/pattern and used less paint! more suited for an entire car but did just fine for the door. may still buy the astro lvlp or smaller finex for an in between or single panel gun but no rush.