rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Hi. I'm going to pick up one of these compressors tomorrow:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00915310000

The specs are:
1hp
3 gallon tank
2.4 SCFM @ 90 psi

What would be a good $50 or less gun for this type of compressor to spray dope and paint? Should I stay away from hvlp guns?

I'm looking at this touch-up gun:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00915002000

Thanks

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

That is a pretty small compressor. No way you'll be able to run a HVLP gun for more than a few seconds at a time unless it is a really small HVLP gun. HVLP guns suck a lot of air. It should work with the gun you posted, but you may have to wait for the compressor to catch up while you paint. Not a real big deal, but annoying. I use a 6HP 20 gallon compressor and can almost kill it with a touch up gun if I am painting nonstop. A full size HVLP gun will kill my compressor, but I've used them. Just have to occasionally wait for compressor to catch it's breath. Your gun is listed at 3.4cfm at 40psi, and the compressor at 2.4 at 90psi. The compressor will do better than the 2.4 at lower psi, so for the most part, you'll be OK. However, you may need to spray at higher PSIs, so hard to tell for sure. Worst case, you may have to wait for compressor to catch up occasionally.

LesUyeda

You might want to have them turn that thing on and listen to it. The last direct drive compressor I had is now sitting alongside the garage. It was too loud to have inside. I will never get another one.

Les

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks guys. Well, I have the compressor now. I set it up and ran it in the kitchen; not too loud for indoor use, but I'll be spraying outside or in an open garage anyway.

I also bought a water trap/filter since it gets very humid here in NC.

I'm too confused about all the various spray guns out there. I'm now thinking about the Hobbico DA500:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXHEY0&P=0

If it will run off an airbrush compressor without a tank, it should do fine with my compressor.

What do you all think?

kahn41

My Feedback: (4)

Check with harbor freight first

carrellh

Heres one for 10 bucks:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...?itemnumber=86
Required pressure: 30 PSI
Average air consumption:
2.8 CFM @ 30 PSI
4.0 CFM @ 50 PSI
Cup size: 7 oz.

The airbrush you linked has a tiny paint cup and cannot cover much area without a refill. I'd go with one of the detail guns and just stop painting for a minute if the compressor doesn't keep up.

The water trap is probably a good idea.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

Get a good midrange spray gun. The touchup gun you posted in your first post will work just fine, I have a similar one myself and love it. It works well on 90% of plane sized projects. EDIT- just saw the post that sneaked in from of me... that gun would also work well and the price is right - EDIT

For the last 10% on small projects, a good airbrush will fill the bill. Touchup gun would work here too, but a bit large and combersome for light painting.

You will never really need a full sized gun, but they can be used.

I've tried guns similar in design to the one you posted from tower, but not that exact gun. I though they sprayed like crap... threw it away. For most painting you want the oval pattern delivered by a touchup gun. If you want a smaller gun like a airbrush, get a good midrange dual action unit, like a Badger or Pasche, etc. You won't regret it. However, they can't easily be used to paint larger items as their spray pattern is round and about 1/2" - 3/4" in diameter at best. For most items of any size, you'll use the touchup gun will pattern out to about a 1" by 3" oval.

Water trap very good idea. Be sure to put it as close to the gun as possible. I generally attach them directly to the paint gun, or in the case of the airbrush, between the brush hose and compresson line, which is as close as I can get it.

carrellh

If you do go with an airbrush, heres one for 10 bucks
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47791

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks everyone. I have an old Paasche Model H, but I need a wider spray pattern. I will be doping wings (silk, Koverall. etc.), priming and painting glassed fuselages, etc.

I looked at Harbor Freight again and they do have some low CFM guns. I must have missed them the first time I looked.

That $9.99 gun looks good. They also have this one for $15 rated at 3CFM @ 50 PSI but only has a 4oz cup:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92126

If it was between the $10 one carrellh linked to and this $15 one, which would you go with?

Thanks everyone!
David

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Sears only gives the CFM of 2.4 at 90 PSI for my compressor, but they sell a few other 1hp compressors with this same CFM rating and also show them having 3.7 CFM at 40 psi. I'm going to assume that since they are very similar to mine I should be getting around 3.5 CFM at 40 PSI, or there abouts. This would mean that I would be fine with the Harbor Freight gun that requires 2.8 CFM at 30 PSI. I feel certain my compressor will operate this gun for what I need it to do. Mainly, it is such a pain trying to brush nitrate dope onto silk over open framework. Also I'd like to get nice even layers of paint on fiberglassed parts without getting brushstrokes.

Thanks for all the input. I'm going to pick up the HF $9.99 gun tomorrow and see how it does. If worse comes to worse, the compressor came with an inflating needle so if I can find ten neighborhood kids to charge a buck a piece to blow up their basketballs or bike tires I'll recoup my losses.

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

You'll be fine with the compressor... it has a tank. If you pull more air than what the pump can keep up with, you'll just need to stop spraying occasionally and let the pump catch up as it refills the tank. $9.99 harbor freight gun, I assume that is the touchup gun, not the mini airbrush which was alos $9.99. The touchup gun will work great and will spray dope just fine. Let us know how it turns out.

rainedave

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks again for all the helpful input. I picked up the HF touch-up gun today. Surprisingly, it appears to be of very good quality. A lot more than you'd expect for $10.

I hooked it up to my compressor with the filter attached to the gun. I could hold the trigger down for a pretty long time without the regulator needle dropping. I'm going to try it out later this week and I'll let you all know the kind of results I get. I'm sure it will take me a while to work out all the variables like PSI, paint viscosity, air/paint mix, etc.