Just thought I would drop this here for anyone interested. The purple gun at HF is on sale for $8.99! Cheapest I've ever seen it. https://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-hvlp-gravity-feed-air-spray-gun-62300.html
At that price, you don't even have to clean it up when you're done. Just throw it away and get a new one off the shelf for the next job.
I use one for adhesion promoter and blender. Works good and probably would use it for other painting if I didn’t have my other guns.
Just ordered 5 more. They are my go-to gun for embedding new parts in epoxy before the rust worms can find them. I ream the tips out to 2.0mm for spraying high-build primer, too. I am going to try bigger on the next job, just to see what happens. I even have Gen2 3M PPS cup adapters for them, so I can maintain my regular paint routine!
The honest truth is that for the body working phase, where you will be repeatedly sanding, the gun is of lesser consequence. So long as the gun is clean, is being fed enough air at the proper pressure, and your spray pattern is adjusted properly, spray away. Just make sure, as always, to mix properly, and enough. If you drag your stir stick across the bottom of the can and feel resistance, you have not mixed enough. Keep mixing. You need to kay down those solids!
You are right but I can’t toss out a piece of equipment that works, so I spend 11$ to clean a 9$ gun. Some how it makes sense to and no one else
Out of the box, they need to be CLEANED. The 2 I have were all crudded up. Also change out the cheesy o-rings. I clean then after each use with lacquer thinner and store them in plastic bags.
I've had several and used them as a primer gun but have also shot a lot of paint on frames and small parts with them. Good cheap paint gun and paint fine for the price.
I have two from a couple years ago The purple gun works better than me Bought two more today ,I agree with The Shift Wizard almost doesn’t make sense to clean but you know… Anyhow I bought the warranty I think $3.00 for both guns the salesman told me to bring gun back for any reason in next two years and they would replace for free even if all gunked up!
And that's the problem with society now. Things are made of disposable quality because they're treated as disposable.
I buy them for shooting primer, or undercarriage. But not for final paint work. I'll have to go grab a couple just in case I need one in the future!
I just used one to paint my new to me car trailer. Some Van Sickle tractor paint and my meager paint skills, it turned out great. The only reason I attempt to paint is because I’m too poor to pay Lloyd to do it right! @Lloyd's paint & gl***
Fixed it for you: One of the problems with society now, is that things are treated as disposable, because things are made of disposable quality. Marcus...
Our local HF is always sold out of them when I get over there, and they weren’t on sale. I guess I’ll just have to order them online. Never thought about drilling them out, gotta try that.
I have several that I have been using for years. There is nothing wrong with the quality of longevity. My oldest one just turned 6.
I was getting ready to paint a dragster one Thanksgiving weekend (timely). I had let a co worker borrow my Sharp gun and we he returned the evening I was going to start spraying, it had that yellow primer that dries like concrete all though it, where he didn't clean it after he used it months before. We were on a time table to get the dragster painted, so I ran to HF and grabbed that purple gun to use, figuring after the primer coat, I would try and clean my Sharp. The Sharp is still clogged up and a reminder to not lend out my stuff and I have been using the HF gun since, for 14 years. I've laid down some pretty slick paint jobs, and flames with it!
Painted my Uniloader with primer and Acrylic Enamel [Case factory paint] using purple gun. As long as I mixed thin enough it did a very nice job.
That can be mitigated by enlarging the hole in the tip. Allegedly HF sells tips in different sized, but you have to call them. I have never tried it, as I can just produce them at-will, in any size, as can anyone with decent tools.
To some degree. However if a manufacturer can skimp on quality and it doesn't impact the end user because the majority don't use the product for long, then they will to save a few bucks and increase their margin. The end result is that people who do expect things to last complain that they don't anymore. I was commenting on the at***ude of "It's so cheap just throw it out", not the quality of the HF gun. I take good care of my tools whether they cost $1 or $1,000. If you take care of things, they usually last a while. You need to buy gun ways anyways, so you might as well use it on the gun.
Hey, Gimpy; Would you know, or be able to guess-timate, the orifice(drill) size to make a "Veiling" gun, like was used to spray unthinned paint for cob-webbing? Or the very large Roth/boat-flake? Or maybe upholstery glue? Anyone else? Those're cheap enough to experiment & not feel bad if it goes bad, other than the cost of paint. Mostly curious right now, but info'd be handy later. TIA. Marcus...
There is a guy in Florida who primarily does Chevy AD truck frame swap builds that buys them b y the case when they are on sale and sets up to spray a bunch of stuff at one time with the same color and tosses them in the dumpster when he is done. Says he considers them to be a consumable item.
On my car, we shot all the jambs and around the windshield before it went it. Also did the floor with Duplicolor white lacquer from Auto Zone. All of it laid down well. Did all the interior garnish with Omni GM paint too. I did the final coat in close and slow, cranked down the pressure a tad.. really minimal orange peel in it. I think taking the time to field-strip and clean the gun made a difference. The supplied o-ring between the cup and gun, that is a must to change out. Ace Hardware to the rescue.
Any of the current flakes should have specs in the data sheet. Roth monster is BIG at .025"!!! https://rothmetalflake.com/collections/metal-flake/products/beatnik-purple?variant=39419619410001 Another thing to consider, is that the veiling was done with old style high pressure low volume, not modern high volume, low pressure (HVLP). I would wonder if the old pots were even pressurized for this rather than siphon vacuum, those guys would try all sorts of stuff to get different results.
When I got to HF yesterday they had one left in the spray gun section. I happened to look around a little at other stuff and found an end cap with one sitting on it also, so got two. Probably set for life at my age as not sure when I'll use it again. But at least I have them in case.
The Jalopy Journal
