Spray Gun Question....Mini vs. Full-Sized

Vaughn McMillan

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I'm looking to buy a decent spray gun. I bought a mini gun similar to the HF version from a company on eBay, and it was unusable out of the box. The needle packing was disintegrated, so when I first filled it with water to test it, it was leaking and dripping down the trigger. Worthless piece of junk. That's what I get for buying a $25 gun. I'll not make that mistake again.

So now I'm looking at decent mid-range guns in the $200 or so range. I want something that can do shaded dye application (i.e., able to lay down a very light pattern), but I also want to be able to spray waterborne lacquer and other thicker finishes. I know from my research I want a tip in the 0.8 to 1.0 mm range for dyes, and for thicker fluids I'll need a 1.4 mm or larger tip.

I've found kits at www.SprayGunWorldcom that meet my criteria, but I'm having a hard time deciding between a full-sized gun or a mini. For most of my work I think a mini would be just fine. Things like turned pieces don't take a lot of finish, so the cup size would not be a problem. In the future though, it's likely that I'll be wanting to spray bigger things, like guitars or furniture pieces. I don't know how well a mini would do for larger pieces. Will the 125 cc cup be too small? (I could always get a larger cup for the mini gun.) Will the 7" to 8" spray pattern of a mini be too small?

Here are a couple kits I'm looking at...

Full sized kit, with 1.0, 1.4, and 1.7 mm tips

Mini kit (I'd get the .08, 1.2, and 1.5 mm tips)

Given those choices, which would you recommend? Any other suggestions in a similar price range? The Sharpe Finex series looks good on paper, but I've seen a number of negative reviews about them, so I think they're out of the running. I can't justify the price of a SATA or Iwata gun. I know a lot of guys are happy with their HF 34340 guns, but I don't want one, and I don't want the P-C gun either. ;)

Thanks -
 
Vaughn,

The majority of my experience with spray equipment is for automotive use and in the building of mock-ups. With that said, what you want to do will be best served by both guns.
The items you are working on now fit the small gun nicely. Even going to guitars, add a larger cup for your base coats and go back to the smaller cup for maneuverability when tinting. The big "pro" the small gun has is being nimble. The negative I see is tip size restriction (limited spray pattern) and cup volume.

The larger gun will excel for furniture with a larger spray pattern for faster coverage and a cup size appropriate for large pieces. But for shading and tinting it will become clumsy.

Take it with a few pounds of salt. I've always found the need for both sizes.
FWIW,
Wes
 
from what i`ve seen vaughn start with the mini.....you can spray large items with a small gun just fine. later if you find the need for either a larger cup or tip then look to add to your gun collection.
 
Tod, that approach makes sense. I know my immediate needs would be served fine by a mini, and when the time comes to use a bigger gun, I could add one then.

Mike, thanks for the suggestion. I've seen good comments about that gun. I'm leaning toward a gravity feed gun, since they're a little easier to clean (or so I've heard).
 
Vaughn,

Have a look at this mini 'kit' from CA Technologies. I needed a mini gun to supplement my Binks full size gun...for touch-ups, smaller stuff, etc. I didn't want to spend Sata-money, so I did some investigation and bought this kit. I LOVE it! It comes with all the needles you'll need to do everything you've mentioned. And now they even sell the kit with a full size cup. (Although, the smaller cup is useful for all your small turnings and such.)

The only drawback is that CAT is known for being US made, but this kit isn't. They designed it and have it imported. I have not had one problem with any component of the kit, and would buy it again in a heartbeat.

- Marty -
 
Thanks Marty. That's another one I've had my eye on. How do you suppose the 1.2 mm tip would do with waterbased finishes? I could get the CAT setup for about $100 less than the Asturo. I wonder if the Asturo set is $100 better. :huh: I'll probably call Spray Gun World later today and see what they have to say.

The more i look at it, by the time I add a regulator and bigger cup, the Asturo is getting above my price point. That makes me lean towards the CAT even more. Either that, or just get the Asturo with two tips for now (0.8 and 1.2, I'd guess), and expand the selection if needed.
 
Tod, you likely have already seen charts like this one I saw on the Spray Gun World site:

Due to the internal workings of mini guns you have to convert the full size tip set into a minigun tip set. Meaning Miniguns operate with smaller tip sizes. i.e. if the paint manufacturer recommend as 1.4 HVLP gravity gun - I convert that into a 1.0 Mini gun and it will work properly.

REGULAR HVLP ....... MINI HVLP
--------------------------------------------------
1.2 ..................... 0.8 Standard RC models

1.4 ..................... 1.0 Standard Automotive

1.6 ..................... 1.2 Standard Woodworking

1.8 ..................... 1.4 Thinned Latex Enamels Wood

2.0 ..................... 1.5 Latex Enamels Wood (See WB)
Looks like a mini with a 1.0 mm tip would be in about the same ballpark as your full-sized 1.4 mm tip. I'm thinking the 1.2 mm mini tip would give me a bit more headroom for spraying thicker materials I might use. I also want to be able to do light shading, so that's my reasoning behind also getting a 0.8 mm tip.
 
Well, I learned the difference between the Asturo WB mini and the CAT mini is the amount of stainless steel. With the Asturo, all wetted parts are stainless steel. Even the cup fitting is stainless steel. I was told that for most users the CAT can handle waterbased material. Although its fluid passages are not stainless steel, its tips and needles are. I figure a fair amount of the material I'll be spraying will be waterbased, and I suspect the stainless steel will last longer for me.

Based on all that, I just pulled the trigger on the Asturo WB kit with a 0.8 and 1.2 tip set. I also added a Sharpe diaphragm regulator and a cleaning kit. I read a few reports of slow shipping from Spray Gun World, so we'll see how long it takes them to get it to me. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the advice, guys. :thumb:
 
Vaughn,

I'm using the Wagner HVLP conversion gun (http://www.gleempaint.com/hvcongunnew.html). The price was good $129 and I have had very good service from Gleempaint.com. Gleempaint also has a good selection of accessories and for the spray guns they sell (http://www.gleempaint.com/wagner-hvlp-conversion-gun-parts.html).

I have used this gun on a number of projects and I'm very happy with it.

Mike
What size compressor do you use with this gun. I had a look at it and see it can work with a pressure pot. All that did was really confuse me. I always understood that the HVLP guns required a compressor with high cfm rating. Therefore how does a pressure pot work with one of these things. :huh:
 
I have a Porter Cable PSH1 with a 20oz cup for large tasks. I also have a similar Husky HVLP sprayer I use for some jobs.

When I wanted a smaller detail gun, I picked up this one from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=46719
It has served well for everything from moderate-size pieces to air-brushing a piece to add shading.

:)

That harbor freight gun looks like it would operate of something like a Porter Cable pancake compressor. Given they say 40psi .
What do you think as a user.?
 
That harbor freight gun looks like it would operate of something like a Porter Cable pancake compressor. Given they say 40psi .
What do you think as a user.?
CFM (cubic feet/minute) is the important rating when it comes to sprayers. The gun is rated at 3.7cfm at 43psi. The PC pancake compressor is rated at 3.5cfm @ 40psi and 2.6cfm @ 90psi. So, on the surface, it would appear the PC compressor would struggle with the requirements of the gun. In practice, if you back the gun off operating at full blast a tad AND you're spraying small projects, it should work fine.

Example: I operated an HVLP sprayer with a requirement of about 10cfm from a compressor that could only supply about 8cfm. I adjusted the trigger to a point below full blast and tweaked the pattern control to get good coverage. Also, I planned my spraying to give the compressor a chance to catch up. Fortunately, I now have a 60gal, 6hp compressor that can keep up with whatever I'm doing!

;)
 
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Mike
What size compressor do you use with this gun. I had a look at it and see it can work with a pressure pot. All that did was really confuse me. I always understood that the HVLP guns required a compressor with high cfm rating. Therefore how does a pressure pot work with one of these things. :huh:
"gleem paint gun"
rob i have that gun and used it off a hitachi portbale contractor compressor basically i well made pancake.. 2hp... it handled the pressure pot fine ran pretty stead but did the job i was spraying stain on my garge..the biggest asset of a presure pot is the larger volume.. it presurizes the pot and pushes the fliud threw the gun.. that hvlp gun is a pretty good starter set, and as for your marine varish question if you can thin it and not hurt it, it will spray it. i have sprayed lacquer and oil bas e stain threw mine with no troubles. you need to play with the fan and fluid control and pressure toget it to do what you want .. there is no one set answer for that you just have to start with the directions that come with it and get your sweet spot for each time you use it..
 
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