Hey guys!
I will repost Mobius answer to my question on a different thread (about blasting) here since I will need some updates from you guys!
"I have a bunch of spray guns, but generally find myself using only two of them. Based on that, my suggestion is to go and get yourself a mid priced gravity feed gun. $200 should do it here but I have not shopped it in a long time. HVLP (high volume low pressure) guns are great but not essential for motorcycle work. Get something from a manufacturer that specifically builds professional spray equipment. I have used a lot of gear, and have found pretty much everything from major manufacturers works well. "Jetting" is pretty simple and depends on the material you are using. Make sure the place you buy your gun from also sells needles and nozzles for it. Generally the paint manufacturer will have recommendations for how to set up your gun, but it somewhat depends on your own technique and what you prefer. Most of the time I grab my gravity gun which is set up for clear (Walmek GEO hvlp made in Italy). I use it for most everything else though for three reasons: It is more maneuverable and less sensitive to gun orientation which is important for painting small or awkward things like motorcycle parts. It wastes less paint - siphon guns can not use all the paint in the cup. It is easier to clean than a siphon gun. The other gun I mostly use is a siphon gun (Either a Binks (old model 7) or DeVilbiss). they are set up for heavier material like heavy primer/surfacers. I usually only use them when I need to apply a lot of material to a lot of surface area, or need an especially uniform heavy coat. On small things I still use the gravity gun even though it is not the greatest the way it is set up for heavy fluids. The point is, it still works ok if you adjust your technique to compensate for being too lazy to change the set up. Devilbiss, Iwata, Sata, and Binks (and many others) all make very good guns. I would NOT buy a bargain spray gun. Modern quality materials are far too expensive to chance problems with poor quality tools.
Of course cleaning is key and can not be overstated. Very much like your carburetors (actually, they are damn near the same thing) the key to being able to clean your spray gun is understanding how it actually works. Once you understand where all the air goes and where all the paint goes it is easy to know how to focus your cleaning efforts. When I am doing anything more than a trivial job I generally have 3 separate cups of solvent for cleaning the gun in increasing levels of contamination so I can keep re-using the solvent for cleaning. Eventually the first cup used for the first rinse has to be discarded and the second takes its place, etc. I take the gun partially apart to clean it EVERY time I use it and completely apart after every job. My gravity gun has hundreds of hours on it, and except for some staining of the nylon components, looks completely unused. Sprays like it as well, so meticulous cleaning is indeed rewarded. I know many pro painters that have guns they use exclusively for clear, but it is not necessary if you really clean your equipment. While I'm thinking about it - remember that clear is absolutely the hardest thing to clean out of your gun! You can't see the clear, so get really good at cleaning dark colors out of it and then repeat this process for the clear!
And don't forget to include a good filter/dryer. Clean DRY air is absolutely essential. In my old shop I built the main supply piping out of 2" cast iron pipe pitched back toward the compressor and a drain petcock. We have very high humidity here and moisture in the compressed air supply is a real problem. Most big shops use a refrigerated chiller to condense the moisture from the air before going to the spray booth. The long (100 + feet) large diameter cool iron pipe condensed all the moisture due to slow air speed and we never got any water to the booth - but we still had a high quality filter/dryer in front of the gun!"
Thanks Mobius, as always you are great help!
I already made a bit of research, still need to find a local dealer in Austria that will have the equipment:
I found that Air Gunsa Iwata AZ3+ Pressure Gauge (runs with 30 psi) would fit my requirements.
Here are some setup tips I found:
PRIMER: 1.8 or 2MM Needle-->15 PSI
2K Base + CLEAR+Enamel: 1.3 or 1.4MM Needle
1K Clear and Base: 1.8MM or 2MM Needle
Do you guys have any experieces with this gun?
Thanks in advance!
I will repost Mobius answer to my question on a different thread (about blasting) here since I will need some updates from you guys!
"I have a bunch of spray guns, but generally find myself using only two of them. Based on that, my suggestion is to go and get yourself a mid priced gravity feed gun. $200 should do it here but I have not shopped it in a long time. HVLP (high volume low pressure) guns are great but not essential for motorcycle work. Get something from a manufacturer that specifically builds professional spray equipment. I have used a lot of gear, and have found pretty much everything from major manufacturers works well. "Jetting" is pretty simple and depends on the material you are using. Make sure the place you buy your gun from also sells needles and nozzles for it. Generally the paint manufacturer will have recommendations for how to set up your gun, but it somewhat depends on your own technique and what you prefer. Most of the time I grab my gravity gun which is set up for clear (Walmek GEO hvlp made in Italy). I use it for most everything else though for three reasons: It is more maneuverable and less sensitive to gun orientation which is important for painting small or awkward things like motorcycle parts. It wastes less paint - siphon guns can not use all the paint in the cup. It is easier to clean than a siphon gun. The other gun I mostly use is a siphon gun (Either a Binks (old model 7) or DeVilbiss). they are set up for heavier material like heavy primer/surfacers. I usually only use them when I need to apply a lot of material to a lot of surface area, or need an especially uniform heavy coat. On small things I still use the gravity gun even though it is not the greatest the way it is set up for heavy fluids. The point is, it still works ok if you adjust your technique to compensate for being too lazy to change the set up. Devilbiss, Iwata, Sata, and Binks (and many others) all make very good guns. I would NOT buy a bargain spray gun. Modern quality materials are far too expensive to chance problems with poor quality tools.
Of course cleaning is key and can not be overstated. Very much like your carburetors (actually, they are damn near the same thing) the key to being able to clean your spray gun is understanding how it actually works. Once you understand where all the air goes and where all the paint goes it is easy to know how to focus your cleaning efforts. When I am doing anything more than a trivial job I generally have 3 separate cups of solvent for cleaning the gun in increasing levels of contamination so I can keep re-using the solvent for cleaning. Eventually the first cup used for the first rinse has to be discarded and the second takes its place, etc. I take the gun partially apart to clean it EVERY time I use it and completely apart after every job. My gravity gun has hundreds of hours on it, and except for some staining of the nylon components, looks completely unused. Sprays like it as well, so meticulous cleaning is indeed rewarded. I know many pro painters that have guns they use exclusively for clear, but it is not necessary if you really clean your equipment. While I'm thinking about it - remember that clear is absolutely the hardest thing to clean out of your gun! You can't see the clear, so get really good at cleaning dark colors out of it and then repeat this process for the clear!
And don't forget to include a good filter/dryer. Clean DRY air is absolutely essential. In my old shop I built the main supply piping out of 2" cast iron pipe pitched back toward the compressor and a drain petcock. We have very high humidity here and moisture in the compressed air supply is a real problem. Most big shops use a refrigerated chiller to condense the moisture from the air before going to the spray booth. The long (100 + feet) large diameter cool iron pipe condensed all the moisture due to slow air speed and we never got any water to the booth - but we still had a high quality filter/dryer in front of the gun!"
Thanks Mobius, as always you are great help!
I already made a bit of research, still need to find a local dealer in Austria that will have the equipment:
I found that Air Gunsa Iwata AZ3+ Pressure Gauge (runs with 30 psi) would fit my requirements.
Here are some setup tips I found:
PRIMER: 1.8 or 2MM Needle-->15 PSI
2K Base + CLEAR+Enamel: 1.3 or 1.4MM Needle
1K Clear and Base: 1.8MM or 2MM Needle
Do you guys have any experieces with this gun?
Thanks in advance!