im new to painting, but am looking to get started. I have been
looking at a few air compressors, but i really dont know what i am
suppose to be looking for in terms of; cfm, psi, tank size, or
horsepower. i found one with 4.4cfm@90 psi - 11.1cfm@40 psi- 125psi
max - 21 gallon tank - 4.5 hp. Is this going to be adequet for auto
painting, please help!

"dustin" wrote in message
m...
im new to painting, but am looking to get started. I have been
looking at a few air compressors, but i really dont know what i am
suppose to be looking for in terms of; cfm, psi, tank size, or
horsepower. i found one with 4.4cfm@90 psi - 11.1cfm@40 psi- 125psi
max - 21 gallon tank - 4.5 hp. Is this going to be adequet for auto
painting, please help!

Depends on what kind of paint and gun you are going to use. You need to
match the gun to the compressor. Do some research. There are HVLP guns that
require their own unique compressors.
Lane

(dustin) wrote in message om...
im new to painting, but am looking to get started. I have been
looking at a few air compressors, but i really dont know what i am
suppose to be looking for in terms of; cfm, psi, tank size, or
horsepower. i found one with 4.4cfm@90 psi - 11.1cfm@40 psi- 125psi
max - 21 gallon tank - 4.5 hp. Is this going to be adequet for auto
painting, please help!

You're going at it backwards, look at the gun you want to use and size
the compressor accordingly. You also need to know the material you
want to spray, some guns need a lot more air for heavier paints. I
used a compressor about the size you quoted for doing a VW, I had to
use a touchup gun and do one section at a time. The VW design let me
remove the fenders and doors, they could be easily prepped and sprayed
in the best position that way. It was slow, but I got it done. The
larger spray guns use a lot more air than what that little compressor
can supply, spray a lot wider pattern, too. I am limited to what the
electrical system in this house will handle, so I'm stuck with this
dinky compressor.

Stan

im new to painting, but am looking to get started. I have been
looking at a few air compressors, but i really dont know what i am
suppose to be looking for in terms of; cfm, psi, tank size, or
horsepower. i found one with 4.4cfm@90 psi - 11.1cfm@40 psi- 125psi
max - 21 gallon tank - 4.5 hp. Is this going to be adequet for auto
painting, please help!

I'm trying to remember from my auto painting days. My shop had a 10
cfm@100 PSI, 10 hp, 100 gal tank. I used high pressure spray guns to do
basecoat/clearcoat jobs. The compressor could just keep up to me. If
anyone else was using air for sanding, I could drain the tank before I
had one coat on. I would have to let the compressor catch up between coats.

Are you hobby or commercial painting? If it's for your hobby, you can
let the compressor catch once in a while. If you are making your living
off the output of your paintbooth, you would best be advised to get
engineering help from DeVilbiss or one of the other big paint companies.

You have other issues here too, like clean and dry air as well.

BB

On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 23:21:09 GMT, beeperboy wrote:

|im new to painting, but am looking to get started. I have been
|looking at a few air compressors, but i really dont know what i am
|suppose to be looking for in terms of; cfm, psi, tank size, or
|horsepower. i found one with 4.4cfm@90 psi - 11.1cfm@40 psi- 125psi
|max - 21 gallon tank - 4.5 hp. Is this going to be adequet for auto
|painting, please help!
|
|I'm trying to remember from my auto painting days. My shop had a 10
|cfm@100 PSI, 10 hp, 100 gal tank. I used high pressure spray guns to do
|basecoat/clearcoat jobs. The compressor could just keep up to me. If
|anyone else was using air for sanding, I could drain the tank before I
|had one coat on. I would have to let the compressor catch up between coats.
|
|Are you hobby or commercial painting? If it's for your hobby, you can
|let the compressor catch once in a while. If you are making your living
|off the output of your paintbooth, you would best be advised to get
|engineering help from DeVilbiss or one of the other big paint companies.

My compressor is about 7 CFM @ 90 psi.
My gun is a cheapo HVLP gravity feed. The compressor will not keep up with it.
HVLP is the way to go, quality guns are a bit more efficient, but I think you
need to shoot for 13 CFM @ 90 if you have more than one car to do or if
perfection is your goal.
Get the specs on your gun, get a compressor to meet them.

Rex in Fort Worth