Spray finishing accessories

There are some good advantages to that system. If you spray a lot of different kinds of paint, or colors...like an automotive shop, it would be invaluable. I've found that many woodworking shops don't like using a gravity feed gun, and many don't use HVLP because of the CFM demand, on smaller compressors. Woodworking shops that do finishing, usually have their topcoats pretty well figured out. For some applications where a dye or a stain is used to spray, a separate gun is used in graduations of mix to achieve the intensity of color. This also works if a tint base is used in a topcoat.


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it does look like it would be nice but its probally pricey for a small shop rob,, one thing i noticed is that gun appeared to be a gravity type gun yet he inverted it and it still sprayed like a pressure feed gun.. whats your take on that mike? the cleanup idea is really nice and the ketchup bottle idea was a good one to.
 
It takes me about 90 seconds to clean my gun using Target coatings. Why do I want to pay for a disposable container, and still have to clean the fluid path of my gun?

I prefer a gravity feed gun. The newer HVLP conversion guns can even be used with construction (hot dog) compressors, and are available as either pressure or gravity feed. I use a turbine, and finally will be able to get a turbine gravity feed gun (when I have to replace my current guns).

The 3M system does make a lot of sense for a body shop, where many precisely measured color formulas are used. Not for me.
 
I never used anything. I would just eye ball everything.....ya I'm that good LOL
I have visited many shops over the years and don't see any of them using any system that requires this set up and although it looks quick and easy it kind of reminds me of having a helper who tapes his edges before painting instead of know how to use the brush to cut a clean line. all these extra steps take away the finishers acquired knowledge and desire to learn.



Now I have Jarrod writing his formulas down and I do to some extent. But rarely. I usually keep the left over for the ...just in case or if I know a customer has more to do later I write it down.
 
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Looks complicated :D

I do use some of the small plastic food service cups (like what you'd get your ketchup or sauerkraut in at costco) for various measuring and mixing tasks. I got three sizes (1/2oz, 2oz and I think 4?oz might have been slightly bigger). They're pretty cheap from food service places (we buy a lot of stuff in bulk and I saw them when I was walking by the aisle and thought to myself heeeeyyy those look like the cats whiskers for measuring/mixing epoxy in - they've since proved handy for other things as well). The 1/2 oz is pretty handy for small batch epoxy mixing.

We also use them for holding spices/chemicals and measuring when we're doing stuff like making sausages (where we end up needing to do a lot of smaller gram scale type measurements for nitrate additions) and for some of my weirder molecular gastronomy experiments (I need 0.5 grams of sodium alginate in this mix.. and 25 grams of calcium carbonate in this one and if they intermix at all before I'm ready all that prep work is toast).
 
It takes me about 90 seconds to clean my gun using Target coatings. Why do I want to pay for a disposable container, and still have to clean the fluid path of my gun?

I prefer a gravity feed gun. The newer HVLP conversion guns can even be used with construction (hot dog) compressors, and are available as either pressure or gravity feed...

I'm with Charlie on this one.

I have the gravity feed conversion gun, and use it with my 2hp compressor. When done spraying, I just go over to the sink, and run some clean water thru the gun. In about 90 seconds, I can run the water thru the container and the fluid path, and everything is clean. I do generally put maybe an ounce of alcohol in the container and spray it out. That way, any moisture is removed from the gun, and I'm completely ready for the next spray job.

The only things I spray in my 'good' gun are either Target or General Finish's waterborne lacquers - usually straight, but sometimes tinted with TransTint. BTW, after I've used up my stock of GF Enduro lacquer, I'll be using the Target lacquers exclusively. I like them better, and they're even a little bit cheaper! :D
 
I'm with Charlie on this one.

I have the gravity feed conversion gun, and use it with my 2hp compressor. When done spraying, I just go over to the sink, and run some clean water thru the gun. In about 90 seconds, I can run the water thru the container and the fluid path, and everything is clean. I do generally put maybe an ounce of alcohol in the container and spray it out. That way, any moisture is removed from the gun, and I'm completely ready for the next spray job.

The only things I spray in my 'good' gun are either Target or General Finish's waterborne lacquers - usually straight, but sometimes tinted with TransTint. BTW, after I've used up my stock of GF Enduro lacquer, I'll be using the Target lacquers exclusively. I like them better, and they're even a little bit cheaper! :D

you and your water base stuff:) here i thought you were old school:) next time i have to look at something that you done with it so i can see the look of it.. just havnt got enough to change yet.. i need AMBER:) also water base stuff can be hard on the alum cheaper guns the water messes with them from what i have been told jim.. stainless is fine.
 
hey charlie, can you use a gravity feed gun upside down like that? in my experience your gonna leak out the top vent hole???

Larry, you are showing your age! I haven't seen a siphon gun in 25 years or more - other than my collection of old guns that I cannot use but cannot bear to throw away.

The earliest spray guns that I had blew air across the end of a feed tube, which by venturi effect sucked the paint up from the cup. (Geek error - venturi is not a siphon, but that is what these guns were called.) A vent hole had to be kept open in the top of the paint cup. They were old technology high pressure guns (70% overspray or so) and the paint flow was notoriously cranky.

The alternative then and now is a pressure cup - a tiny amount of input air is diverted to pressurize the cup (no vent hole), and force the material up the feed tube. The 3M system counts on that pressure to squeeze the paint from the collapsible bag into the feed into the gun. Since there is no air in the bag, it can be in any position.
 
well charlie i used to think i was young but the last year has changed my mind:) this gun is only 7yrs old, and its a psh1 from porter cable a hvlp conversio gun, i have since used a pressure pot and like it alot.. but just out of curiosity what gun or guns do you use charlie?
 
Larry, apologies for assuming you were old.

The PSH 1 is a great gravity feed conversion gun - I still have one and used it as my primary gun for years before I got the turbine. I am disappointed that Porter Cable is apparently discontinuing it - the copies of their design are not as good as the original (the copies look the same, but my guess is that the tolerances of the air holes is lower on the cheaper copies). My dedicated shellac gun is one of the cheap copies - not nearly as good as the PSH1. Yes they do have a vent hole, and even though they can be tipped pretty far, cannot be used completely upside down.

The 3M PPS replaces the paint cup on a gravity feed gun with a closed system - the air is taken out of the paint bag until only paint is left. Gravity then feeds the paint into the gun (or pressure with a bottom cup system). I hadn't thought about the physics of how it works upside down, but it is probably venturi suction of the paint - it worked in the old guns, however well, so why not here.

I thought you were referring to the siphon feed guns. I bought my first spray system in 1965 or 1966 from Sears (a reputable source of tools back then). And soon thereafter a 5 gallon pressure pot with material hose connected to a similar high pressure (40 psi) gun. (40 PSI is high compared to HVLP which has to drop pressure at the tip to 5 psi or less to be called HVLP and meet the legal requirements in some states.) These "high pressure" guns are notorious for the overspray and low efficiency of material use. Not only are they now illegal in many areas, but they are too expensive to use (because of the wasted finish).
 
Charlie my 1st system was the 5 gal. pot sprayer but two one material hose and one air supply that was HVLP , I sure liked that system but was just to much for what I used.

Larry if you want a system like that you can have mine.
 
Larry,

See www.solowoodworker.com/wood/spraygun.html for pictures and too much information about my current and projected guns.

I like the turbine system, since it is light and portable, and produces warmer rather than cooler air. It is a Turbinaire, which I would avoid for reasons explained on the web page. I bought the C.A. Technologies inexpensive turbine gun and liked it so much that I bought a second (concurrent use for sealer and finish, for example). If I need to replace them, I would get a gravity feed turbine gun, which is now available. If I had to replace the Turbine today, I would get a Fuji 3 or 4 stage system.

I still have my PSH-1 conversion gun, but my compressor is cheap and getting old, so I don't like using it for heavy spraying projects - trying to extend the life of an old friend. But if I had a good compressor, and air piped to my spray areas, I would get a CA Technologies Jaguar gun if I needed to supplement or replace the PSH-1.
 
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