I have an old Binks #18 siphon gun that I bought in 1972 for big bucks and painted a lot of cars and bikes with it, mostly laquer. It is now retired. When HVLP came along I bought a Devilbliss gun and was impressed with the "little over spray" and it worked well. It is now a primer only gun. When I started my '40 Chevy project I wanted to use PPG bc/cc finish and shopped around and bought a Iwata 400LPX from a company on the Internet for about $450 with 700ML cup. It is a jewel, light weight and uses 19# of air pressure at the gun. Almost no over spray and lays down clear like gl*** with no runs yet. The SATA may be just as good but I'm satisfied.
Still loving my 10 dollar swapmeet DeVilbiss MBC . It's a running joke between me and a friend - we keep running across them for 10 bucks - I have 2 or 3 and had to STOP buying them. They can be set up for siphon or pressure and absolutely rock on pressure - IMHO the ideal gun for a weekend warrior - great feel - easy to manipulate - EASY on your out of shape arms since your not a professional painter painting daily. When I would spray a car with a conventional gun - by the time I got to the finish coats it was physically difficult to keep it steady (week end warrior - remember!) - with the pressure pot I had no issues. Sure it's a pain to clean - but when you're doing an entire car - it doesn't add up to enough to matter for me. Anything smaller - I use a siphon gun. I tried the HVLP guns - never liked them - at least not compared to the pressure pot. I think it's difficult for a weekend warrior (such as myself) to exceed the capacity of an older pro set up - I won't argue that the newer stuff is better - I'm sure it is - but my skills are far from being limited by my old MBC's or JGA's or even my itty bitty EGA. When I was young I paid good money for my JGA's -which today I use for primer mostly. Since I started going to swap meets - I haven't paid more than 20 bucks for a gun in nice shape. I bought a nearly brand new BINKS touchup gun 20 bucks - same for the EGA - and as I mentioned 10 for a couple three MBC's. Spending huge money for a paint gun wasn't a luxury I could ever afford - so it's more than likely I am a bit jaded!!!!
Spray it on right it don't need more. We think alike. The gun? It ain't the gun so much as it's the hand that's holding it. If the nozzle is clean and the paint is mixed right with a regulator at the gun to keep the pressure/flow right, the gun is an extension of the hand. My cheap*** harbor freight hvlp guns, one airbrush, other bigger, automizes droplets to the same scale as a high dollar gun. If I had a thirty year old syphon Devilbiss, I'd use that, but it got lost when I moved once.
I dont paint for a living.. so I use a Harbor Freight throw away gun. Buy a new one everytime I paint a car. some wheels: firewall:
Something that also needs to be brought up. No matter what type of gun you use make sure that your using a quality paint product. Cheaper products shoot for the lack of a better word poorly and take more "tricks of the trade" to shoot nicely. While a better quality paint,yes more expensive, will work better with any gun. Invest in a good quality paint and primers and no matter what gun you use your results will be rewarding.
You got me thinking. On average I paint one car a year. How much solvent have I used to clean my guns? I'm guessing enough to be ahead, like you, in the long run. Next time around, since they're already clean now, after I use that last time, I toss 'em.
I'm a retired auto body /fabricator. I've used many many different brands and types of paint guns over the last 45+ years. I've found that you can get a good paint job from even a cheap imitation gun. Make sure it's clean!!!!Always!!! It really doesn't matter that much what you use. You will need several guns, save the one that shoots the nicest as your top coat gun. I've even had to use my primer gun to paint with sometimes. Just keep your best gun for clears only.
i have used the binks gravety feed for base coat, cost about $300.00 each, and the, sata digital for clear coats u dont want to spray your color and clear out of the same gun, eventually in the middle of spraying your clear coat on a lite color the gun will spit a chunk of color out, its happened to me many times thats why i have two color guns and two clear guns, and a piece of **** $20.00 harbor frieght gravety feed gun for primers, if it ****s up u throw it away and get another one but buy a quality gun for your finish coats, its well worth it, ive been painting for over twenty years, hopefully that helps a litlle bit! good luck
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