I am looking to get a a paint gun in the $30 to $100 price range, what would be a good gun to use. Will a HVLP gun work and not clog up?
Depends on what you want… the gun at FoamEZ ($20) works fine for covering large surfaces, though it throws a lot of paint. I use my Paasche (sp?), which I got for under $100 for anything smaller areas, detailed/smoother fades, and to touch-up the big gun without using so much paint.
Kevin: An HVLP gun will work fine. The biggest problem I’ve had with sprayers is not having a compressor with a large enough tank volume to maintain a steady air pressure output. 5 HP. with 30+ gallons should work for you. I have one of the cheapie HVLP gravity feed guns (the small 3-4 oz cup on top) for $49.00 it works great. Be sure to strain your paint no matter what your sprayer/compressor setup. I’ve been using old pantyhose with success. Lots of other spray info in the archives that might help you. Tom S.
Kevin, A good source for paint guns is a store that sells auto paint and supplies to the auto body shops. I use two gravity-feed guns: A small touch-up gun,(the brand name I don’t remember, and it’s not on the gun), and a larger gun with the brand name Finish Line. They’re both HVLP and under $l00.00. My compressor is nothing special: a Campbell-Hausfeld 3.5 hp with an 11 gallon tank. It keeps up with the spraying just fine. There isn’t a lot of long, drawn out spraying on a surfboard anyway. I use the small gun the most. It has a very fine mist. The big gun is for larger areas, but Boy, it lays down the material, so you have to make sure it doesn’t put too much paint in one place. You’ll like HVLP spray guns, I think, because they lay down more paint and blow less air, and they’re very easy to control. Doug
Howzit Kevin, We just got a Home Depot on Kauai, Ichecked them out last week and they carry 2 gravity feed sprayers that look like they would work just fine. One of them is a HVLP which sells for $80.00 and theother is not a HVLP and sells for $60.00. Either will work,Just depends on how much you want to spend. Personally I will probably get the $80.00 model because it has better atomization. Aloha, Kokua