I know that this sounds crazy but when I first opened my cabinet shop in the
mid 80's, I spent what little money I had on sub-standard tools and didn't
have anything but an old Crapsman cup gun. When I wanted to start finishing
my built-ins instead of letting the painters butcher them, I went looking
and realized the only way for me to get an adequate spray rig was to build
it. I went from garage sale to garage sale looking for a pressure cooker
with the screw down locks but couldn't find one. Finally I sprang for all
new parts, built it, and I still use the rig occasionally.

This is a brief description of what I used and what I did with it. New 2
1/2 gallon pressure cooker (big enough to set a gallon can into to make it
easier to clean up.) Brass fittings and a poly supply line for the pick-up
tube (the grey stuff for under sinks) A regulator, 2 dial pressure guages,
about 15' of 1/4" air hose and an equal amount of a hose my local paint
store said would handle laquer thinner. I removed the factory safety
pressure relief valve and the factory pressure indicator and drilled and
retapped the holes to recieve my brass fittings. One short brass nipple
with a T on top - one leg of the T with a quick connect male end to supply
the pressure, and one leg with a regulator and hose going to the gun to
supply disbursement and delivery air. The other hole (closer to the middle
of the pot) I took a brass nipple and rethreaded so the threads went futher
up and when installed in the lid of the cooker left enough for connecting my
pickup tube, and above the lid I connected the laquer proof line to run the
liquid to the gun. Then I went out and bought a DeVilBis (sp?) JGA502 and
hooked it all up and the only thing that I ever changed to this day was I
got a different tip and needle set than the one that came with the gun. I
can't remember which came with but paints like latex or even oil base take a
bigger oriface than laquer.

I pressure tested this rig to about125 lbs (hiding behind a block wall) then
when I let the pressure out I could actually see the pot get smaller so I
never pressurized over about 60 lbs again. I have had this pot on a hot
plate to heat finishes and the next place for it is for spray adhesives. I
think that I should beable to cap the inlet port and store my adhesive right
in the pot. Now I have an airless rig now that I use for most things and a
cup gun that covers the rest.

Prices have changed alot since then and today, given the same set of
circumstances, I probably would not go to all this again, but the Binks rig
I wanted with the gun I wanted and got and all the accesories that I would
have needed cost about $800 back then and I built mine with all new parts
for under $300 including the gun (no extra tip or needle). I think the
experience of building it was worth much more than the money I saved,
though. I can't imagine you wanting to go through all this but if you do I
would gladly give you any pointers I could.

Good luck and good finishing

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
nk.net...

"Tom Watson" writes:

I've got a job in the shop that needs an excellent quality paint
finish.
snip
I'm trying to view this as an opportunity to get a piece of equipment
that will spray cabinet grade paint finishes but can also be used to
spray exterior house paint.
snip
I know nothing about this.

I hate painting.

I also knew nothing about the subject and also hate to paint; however,
like
you needed to learn.

A little background:

Shooting 2-part linear poly on a boat is probably the most difficult
paint
job possible with the possible exception of commercial airplanes.

A mirror finish without any runs is the minimum standard.

LP materials are in excess of $100/gal, even if you get a good discount,
so
you don't want to make mistakes.

The standard for that job is a DeVilbiss JGA gun, a 2 qt remote pressure
pot
and a connecting hose.

Expect to pay about $400-$450 for the package, even with a trade discount.

You will need a compressor that can deliver at least 15 SCFM on a
continuous
basis.

I have a 5 HP, two stage unit with an 80 gal reservoir that does the job.

Package does a great job IMHO.

Think of it like buying a good cabinet saw.

It only hurts onceG.

HTH


--
Lew

S/A: Challenge, The Bullet Proof Boat, (Under Construction in the
Southland)
Visit: http://home.earthlink.net/~lewhodgett for Pictures