Need A Good Spray Gun, Suggestions? - created 07-24-2007

Paulick, Chris - 07/24/2007.15:32:17

My spray gun just got thrown in the trash can. It was one of those Lowes kits with a jamb gun included that never did work. I'm looking for suggestions on a new gun. Probably gravity feed but not certain. I want one that will adjust the fan and flow with some control. What's out there? I'm thinking I probably can get away with a jamb gun. I just want a good gun this time around.

I bought a gravity feed "HVLP" from Grizzly for next to nothing. It works OK.

If you get a door jamb gun, the Astro seems to be the best. I got mine from Amazon. It's what Yaz from the Fender Custom shop prefers, per his comments on the Stew-Mac video.

A gravity fed HVLP is the way to go, I've got a Shop Fox from Grizzly, and it works great. I found out that SATA makes an unbranded version of their gun, and sells it half price to small, local auto paint stores.

Since you said you need a good spray gun, my vote is for a Sata. The Minijet 3 "felt" a little odd in my hands at first (I prefer a full size gun), but the spray FAR outweighs any "oddness" to me.

My friend uses an Iwata for production, and another does well with a Fuji turbine (no need for the compressor).

As for adjustments, with the Sata (they have the Minijet 4, now) you won't have basic adjustments over fan & flow, you'll have a LOT of control over those adjustments, along with atomization. Once you go HVLP gravity, you'll wonder why you ever sprayed a suction.

I went with a Sata jet 90-2RP with a 1.4 nozzle. I just did a coat of lacquer sealer. Sprays like I always imagined a gun should spray. It's definitely worth 10X what I paid for that old piece of crap siphon gun. Good tools are a pleasure to use. Thanks for the suggestions. One other nice thing is that I got it locally and if I have any problems I just take it in and the salesman/owner will fix it up and even give me tips on spraying. He told me to bring down a guitar and show him what I'm doing and then he'll give me advise or he'd even stop by here as long as I take him across the street afterwards for a brew. Service like that you can't get over the net.

Aaron, you're right about the gravity gun. Far less over spray, definitely more efficient with less material loss.

I'm not familiar with the gravity feed HVLP sprayer. Does it require a compressor? Is it different than the turbine?

I'd like to find a high quality spray unit (I'd need everything--gun, compressor, accessories). Can I get something for $500 or less that would work for many years, with little maintenance? I'd like to buy something that has a proven track record, rather than get something from a discount store that might fail in a year or give poor results.

I've used the Sata Jet 90 for years as an Automotive spray painter. It's a top gun to use. They take all kinds of abuse and will last you a life time if all you are doing is spraying a guitar every now and then. They are quite an industry standard so if you do need parts for them it would be easy to source what you need from any automotive refinishing supplier.

You have to keep them clean, but other than that, there isn't much maintenance that you need to do. The seals in them are synthetic instead of the old leather ones, so you don't even need to lubricate them. I have no idea what you would pay for one as all of mine I bought many years ago and were bought on sale or as part of a bulk purchase. I've sprayed literally 10's of thousand of litres of paint with them, and when it comes time to get a new gun, I would be very disappointed if I couldn't get another.

For most people a gravity feed gun is a much easier gun to spray with as well.

Sata MiniJet. Great little gun, just right for guitars, fine enough control for bursting. Not cheap, but worth every penny, and a joy to use. Will run off a small compressor, too, and less than 500 will easily buy the gun and the compressor, all sorts of filters, tubing, etc., probably with change to spare.

From what I've seen, compressor driven guns have finer spray atomization than turbine, but I've only ever shot with compressors.

DeVilbiss SRi

The only problem I saw with the Mini jet was it is pretty limited to small jobs. With the 90 you can do more jobs with it. You never know when you might want to spray something larger like your car. The cost of a Sata 90 is about the cost of a 20gal compressor. You'd need more than $500.

Mario,

That gun seems affordable. What do you recommend for a compressor and other related gear?

Can anyone else vouch for this gun?

They had that gun when I bought mine. I believe it's a good mid price range gun. I think it's made in America.

Paul, your compressor will depend on what else you wish to do with it. Spraying instruments requires very little compressor, since we only spray in short sessions. You could probably shoot a guitar with an air tank and regulator if you had to...

when i went shopping for a good gun, i asked around, and landed at Paul Masters' virtual doorstep. He's the one who pointed me toward this gun instead of a Sata. He assured me it would lay down as good a coat, but the kicker was that the replacement parts are more readily available and much more affordable. And since he sells both, and had both in stock....

3 years later, that gun has served me flawlessly, trouble-free, and has performed great. I've never had a Sata, but like Chris said earlier, this one sprays like I always thought a gun should. It's about the same price as a comparable Sata, BTW.

Mine has a 1.0mm needle and tip. This will vary with what you expect to spray, so in the end, the best ones to ask are the gun makers themselves, or gun specialists like Paul.

FWIW: one of the reasons I went with SATA is that it's about the only brand of gun sold widely throughout Europe, and replacement parts are easier to source than DeVilbiss stuff. There are several other Euro HVLP guns, but at the time, the SATA was the only one certified (environmental regs) for sale within the EU.

I've got a 1.0mm regular tip (not the SR - spot repair - tip). The 'spray something larger' issue is completely moot, as I don't foresee ever wanting to spray a car, or anything that big. If I ever do, I'll invest in that at that point. On the other hand, you can get an airbrush kit for the sata and shoot fairly controlled detailed stuff (touch-up gun style), and it's much cheaper than the bigger guns.

I have a 1.4 tip. They told me it would lay down plenty of material if I needed to. One thing that's also nice is you can control the air pressure at the gun also. Not just the amount of material and spray pattern. I'm pretty sure the DeVilbiss also has that control. The DeVilbiss was the next down the latter gun they showed me. I'd check the yellow pages for auto body shop supplies stores in your area and then check them out. They will have all the guns and hopefully have a specialist who knows how to spray and will answer your questions. My gun took me in the back of the shop and put water in the gun and sprayed it and showed me the adjustments on the gun. And Mario's right about the price, only about 20% less then the Sata 90.