woodchucker wrote:


I went with the hf guns for 2 reasons.
One gravity feed.
2 HVLP.. Not true hvlp, although the 29 dollar gun is much closer.
so I get much less overspray.

l'm thinking of picking one up to use just for base coat, then use my
Devillbis just for clear coat. Right now I shoot both base and clear
through it. It lays down a beautiful finish! Just shot a 2012 Chevy
Equinox today, and right out of the gun, it's perfect texture match to the
factory finish. Almost no dust nibs (how often does that happen...?), so no
wet sanding on this finish. I'll just run a fast buffer over it on Sunday
after I put it back together - just to blend the shine from old to new, and
then send it out. When I say fast, I mean - less than 30 minutes to do one
full side of the vehicle.

I'm liking this kind of work - fast in, fast out, profitable. I've finally
stopped taking in any more rust repair unless it's for the family - they get
whatever they need. I'm just getting to where I don't bend and move so well
anymore to deal with working on the areas of a vehicle that rust out, and
the fact the even the best of repairs are unpredictable in terms of how long
they will hold up. I stand behind everything I do and it bothers me if a
car starts rusting again in a year - even though it's not a function of the
work I did. You just can't fix rust - you fix rust AGAIN. (Note - North
East Rust Belt statement)


I never ran high pressure on my spray guns anyway. Usually around 30
lbs.

Back in the old days with siphon guns, I used to shoot at 40psi-50psi at the
gun. Good atomization with the guns I shot (Binks, Devillbis), but as much
paint laid on the garage floor afterwards, as did on the car. Lots of waste
and at costs ranging from $20 for a half pint, to over $100 for a half pint
(wholesale), for base coats, that was expensive waste. Same thing applied
to clear coat, but it's a lot more expensive! Now - I shoot at 20psi at my
conversion guns and get great finishes - with no noticable paint on the
floor. When I sweep up, there is evidence of some small amount of overspray
in the dirt pile, but it's only a small fraction of what used to be. I
figure I use 50% of the paints that I used to with the old siphon guns.
Every gun takes a little time to experiment with and tune in the right
pressure setting, but I strongly advocate trying 20psi and working from
there. Way less waste, and great atomization. You may have to slightly
adapt your shooting but that's not a big deal. I still get a full 10" fan
and I can still shoot a good run into a paint job...


But HVLP is less. The conversion guns require more pressure to make
up for the less volume..But they oversrpay less.

I've heard people say this often, but I believe something else is wrong if
that's really the case. Of course - it all really depends on what one
considers "more pressure" to mean. Like I said - I shoot at 20psi right at
the gun. I have regulators on every one of my guns (as well as water traps
(even though I also shoot through a dehydrator), and I just leave my
compressor at full bore. I know that when I recently told Robert that I
shoot at 20psi at the gun, he was really surprised. Of course - he has to
shoot paints that I don't fool with, so his requirements are probably a bit
different.


--

-Mike-