Spray Gun Recommendations, Calling all painters out there Options

[somd914]

As I mentioned above, I will have help from an experienced hobbyist painter but my goal is to learn to paint better for the future thus I want him to help and teach, not paint my car, which also means acquiring a better gun than what I presently have. Sure, I have my friend's opinion, but I feel it's better to reach out to a wider community, which I'm glad to see has also branched out to paints also.

Thanks for the feedback.

[jmill]

I love and use PPG products myself. I have a gallon of single stage Zambezi green for my project. One problem is its 3 years old. I hope it's still good. All told I have $800 in 3 year old product.

[porschetub]

As I mentioned above, I will have help from an experienced hobbyist painter but my goal is to learn to paint better for the future thus I want him to help and teach, not paint my car, which also means acquiring a better gun than what I presently have. Sure, I have my friend's opinion, but I feel it's better to reach out to a wider community, which I'm glad to see has also branched out to paints also.

Thanks for the feedback.

PPG is a nice paint to lay on and gives a good finish of the gun (wet coat ),I personally use a Chinese knock off Iwata gravity gun and have been pleased with it,parts are way cheaper as well as the obvious lower purchase price.
I may be unlike others but I place more importance of a good constant dry clean supply of air to the gun,I prefer a 10-12 cfm compressor minimum,with a good water separator.
Don't stress too much about the end result as its down to the finish work with wet & dry and your buffer @ the end of the day.
I have noticed many don't put enough paint on so the finish work can suffer for that reason,nothing worse than sanding thru the clearcoat (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) .
I steer away from 2 pac for health reasons,been poisoned once that's enough,for DYI single pack is a more friendly solution IMO.

[Catorse]

Porsche tub brings up a good point.

My setup is a 7.5HP 80 gallon 2 stage compressor wired to 240 directly. I could paint a house with it. Have water separators, etc.

SAFETY wise, 2 part paint is a killer - or at least it can be. I paint in my garage, and have installed a 3500cfm explosion proof fan. The whole setup is negative pressure, and while it occasionally can get a little more dust than a positive pressure setup, at least no one in the house smells anything.

The air is filtered when it leaves the garage so no issues there.

I wear a full tyvek suit, and have a FULL face respirator with the 3M pink cartridges. These are rated for isocyanate paints IF they are changed out on a regular schedule. I use them for ONE application, then throw them away.

Your life is just not worth screwing around with. My setup is probably overkill but I have never gotten sick, and I spray safely and comfortably with lots of ventilation.

Great point!

[scotty b]

IMHO DuPont is garbage.

Spies Hecker or PPG will be the best color match, best coverage. Lay out the best etc.

DUPONT Chromabase may take 5-6 coats for full coverage where PPG will take you 2-3 coats. Price each per quart, then do the math. You WILL end up spending just as much on cheap paint, and will spend twice the time spraying it. IMO Your car deserves a quality job with quality materials

The best way I have come up with to described it is this:


skim milk vs. whole milk


That tends to help anyone understand the difference

An expensive gun will not make you a good painter,

A cheap gun will not make a good painter a shitty painter.

SATA or Iwata are top shelf, but you'll pay for it. I have well over 3000.00 invested in guns. Each for it's own use. Either of those brands will run you 400-700.00 depending on how much you shop around

IMO The Devilbiss FInishline shown earlier is the best all around for the DIY-professional;.

There are no PRO PARAMETERS when painting. The supplier may give you a basic ground setup on air pressure and spray distance, but your area, temp, humidity, paint used, how you mix the paint, air flow in your "booth " how you personally spray etc, etc, etc...... will ALL change those magic PRO PARAMETERS

[jmalone]

JMILL,My painter recently painted several panels with very old (10 yrs?) PPG single stage. He had no problems and the work tuned out very well.

Scotty B would obviously be the expert on this. Hope it works out.

[somd914]

Sounds like Spies Hecker or PPG are the way to go, now to look into their various products and retailers.

Also sounds like I might be buying a Devilbiss gun.

I concur that the tools and material don't make up for skill, knowledge, and experience, but from my experiences with house, boat, and car projects, they do help.

As for protection, I've been using 3M respirators for car panel work and boat bottom painting as well as for sanding - wouldn't think of doing such w/o a decent respirator.