Learning to spray paint

Morgans wrote:
"Ernest Christley" wrote

I used one of the self-contained units. It has the associated blower with
it.

I've never used one of the self contained units. I have read that they are
supposed to be better than the shop air "conversion" units. I wondered it
the cheapies would stack up, since they are usually much more expensive
than conversion units.

So you liked yours pretty well? Have you ever used a conversion unit, and
if so, how did they compare.

I might learn something new today, after all! g

Good guns have cork gaskets on the lid. I made one for one of my past guns,
after the included gasket swelled up enough to make it unusable.

I have an older self contained HVLP unit, a Croix, which was later
bought by Graco. I love mine. It was not cheap. I have a cheapie
conversion unit and my neighbor has a much nicer conversion unit. We
both like the turbine. There are pro's and con's to the turbine units.
On the pro's they don't require a big compressor and are very
portable. The air quality is great and very dry. My Croix/Graco will
lay down a really nice coat. On the con side, the hoses tend to be
cumbersome, not nearly as easy to move with as the conversion units. The
air is pretty hot coming out, so the paint flashes pretty quick,
particularly here in Texas. Still, all in all, I prefer the
portability and ease of use of the turbine. It had a steep learning
curve coming from a conventional DeVilbus guns shooting lacquer to an
HVLP shooting urethane, but the results look great and last. I have
multiple guns for my unit and a variety of cups and needles for
different paints. My only regret is that I didn't get one of the
gravity fed guns, but they were not in vogue for anything but airbrushes
when I bought mine.

Charles

"Charles Vincent" wrote

My only regret is that I didn't get one of the gravity fed guns, but they
were not in vogue for anything but airbrushes when I bought mine.

Yep, once you go gravity fed, you never look back. The amount of time
futzing and cursing at my gun went from 25% to 2.5% instantly.

I also got some plumbing parts and with two 90% fittings and 3 nipples, you
can make it so you can adjust the angle of the cup in relationship to the
gun, so your paint never drips out the vent, and is always feeding to the
last drop, even spraying straight down, or straight up.
--
Jim in NC