what gun to buy

[BPryz]

Hey all

I am looking at buying my first paint gun, and I am just wondering if there are any painters in here that can offer advice as to what companies are good, and which ones to stay away from.

I found this on eBay and it seems to be a great deal, but I don't want to pay money for crap.

I have already done my entire bike with spray cans as well as other various projects and I am ready to upgrade to a gun. my first project with the gun is going to be repainting my motorcycle (build thread here), but then I would also like to repaint parts of my car (bumpers, and one fender).

I have read that touch up guns are best for motorcycles, but the guy at my local paint supply store said that it would be very difficult for me to get good even coverage on something as long as a bumper with a touch up gun. That is why this two-gun kit is so appealing to me.

devilbliss seems to be all over ebay, which makes me question the quality, but I am also by no means looking for a professional production set up, I would be happy with middle of the road.

what have you guys used

[T McCall]

Guns are like everything else " you get what you pay for".
I make my living with paint so i get the best but have had some painters tell me " sharpe" makes a decent cheaper gun .I used one awhile back out of curiosity, it did pretty well .Forget the series.
Touch up guns are too small for overall on bike and things.
Devilbiss makes excellent products.I use the GTI series for my clear.Iwata and Sata for color.
Dont remember exact $ for these guns but:
Iwata 400 $ 450+/-
Devilbiss $ 350-4
Sata $ 600+

[the wind]

oops i read the title wrong

[steves]

I have an HVLP I bought at lowes and it does an okay job.

[cintidude04]

+1 Wind, I opened this thread thinking the same thing. To the OP I bought an HVLP set from sears http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...2&blockType=G2

[kevin2502000]

I also used a cheap hvlp touch up which was perfect size for the bike. I did not do all pieces at once, but the end result was excellent. I did alot of prep and wet sanded and buffed to a near perfect finish. If you click on my garage you can see the results.

[sonosam]

Paint outcome depends on your air setup as well. I bought an LVLP gun because my compressor is only capable of 3.5cfm and HVLP guns are recommended right around 5cfm. My compressor would be working overtime to keep up with that (it is only a pancake compressor). I do agree that you get what you pay for though.

[teddy]

Guns are like everything else " you get what you pay for".
I make my living with paint so i get the best but have had some painters tell me " sharpe" makes a decent cheaper gun .I used one awhile back out of curiosity, it did pretty well .Forget the series.
Touch up guns are too small for overall on bike and things.
Devilbiss makes excellent products.I use the GTI series for my clear.Iwata and Sata for color.
Dont remember exact $ for these guns but:
Iwata 400 $ 450+/-
Devilbiss $ 350-4
Sata $ 600+

+ 10 million.

I have a couple guns myself, but am not making or attempting to make a living from painting, it's a hobby of mine, and I like good results the first time. That being said, I have a DeVilbiss for clear, can't remember the series off hand, and I actually do use a Sharpe Cobalt for laying down basecoats or even single stage enamels. It has a great hand feel to it, is well balanced and delivers an excellent pattern. I know I gave well under $200 for it. I have a Matco cheapy I use for primers, and an Astro cheapy I bought for sparying a product I like called Z-Chrome (a very heavyweight filler-primer). I paid around $80 for it, and it's the most inconsistent piece of garbage I've ever laid my hands on, but it has a huge spray tip(2.0) on it that I don't have to keep swapping on the other primer gun I have.

Sharpe's new Finex series is extremely reasonably priced...at least where I work they are.

two things to keep in mind about paint guns...
1. Keep it clean.
2. First learn rule #1

[Quinton]

God made all men, but Smith&Wesson made them equal...

[hardlydangerous]

I have owned Iwata and deVilbiss spray guns in the past. HVLP and standard siphon

I gotta tell ya... my $14 harbor Freight HVLP guns work just as well as the $200 guns do.
It all comes down to prep work and the quality of paints your using.
I run my HVLP gun off my 2hp 8gallon Harbor Freight compressor with no prooblems. It runs a lot but its an oil type compressor so I dont care if it runs steady or not.

[slowgsxf600]

Once you go Iwata you don't go back (in my opinion). But If you aren't spraying a lot I don't think the Devilbiss starting line combo would be a bad choice. Just keep everything clean and dont leave it sitting in thinner.

[Mojoe]

I have owned Iwata and deVilbiss spray guns in the past. HVLP and standard siphon

I gotta tell ya... my $14 harbor Freight HVLP guns work just as well as the $200 guns do.
It all comes down to prep work and the quality of paints your using.
I run my HVLP gun off my 2hp 8gallon Harbor Freight compressor with no prooblems. It runs a lot but its an oil type compressor so I dont care if it runs steady or not.

+1

I have owned the expensive brand names in the past as well, but now all I use are the cheap ones. Devilbliss and Iwata are great guns and all, but unless you do it for a living, they aren't really necessary. I do just as well with a 3 gun (hvlp) set that I paid around $75 for. I find they work great.

personally, the only real advantage I found to the more expensive guns is availability of parts. with Iwata and deVilbliss, you are guaranteed to be able to get any parts you might need, in a hurry. with the cheap brands....well good luck with that and you might just toss it in the garbage, or keep them for spare parts.

[Fault]

Realized you didnt mean a paintball gun lol, comment removed