HVLP paint setups/advice/horror stories

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:10 am

Hive,

what type of HVLP paint setups are you using? Any advice or horror stories to share?

Thanks,

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:15 am

Don't forget the moisture trap.

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 3:18 am

paul_ wrote:Don't forget the moisture trap.

How many? Someone else suggested at least two. Are the disposable inline filters any good?

Thanks,

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:14 am

i like grizzly mini hvlp, $20. beats my $70 porter cable gun.

i use craftman water trap mounted on my compressor. you Absolutly need a trap. if you use a inline oiler at the compressoe then the hose is.contaminated so get a clean hose for just spraying. i only one... i guess some guys mount a trap on their gunz also but you i nevee seen it done

start mixinf lacquer to thinner at one.to one. toss.a.splash of retarder in there. buy a roll of contractor brown paper from home depot. practice sprayin it to setup the gun spray pattern, psi, volume. there is a great vid on utube

always have lots of thinner on hand for clean up of the gun. i run thinner through the gun when im done painting.... add.thinner to the cup and shake it up to dissolve what is.in the cup and spray it out. pull the needle cap.also while spraying to clean it out also. u may need to pull the cup off and use a bristol to clean inside.the gun also, then i just wipe itdown with a rag soaked in thinner... every where. if u fuck up cleaning, u will know it next time u use it.... leaks, spitting.... not fun

if im on a zprayin marathon, i leave paint in the gun. the trigger is two stage... air... air and paint when pulled all the way. so if u have to leave paint in the gun lightly hit the trigger to air the gun out so paint dont cure on the needle. by the time u are ready to paint later just shake up the gun... cos the thinner separates.quickly. dont leave paint in there two long for obvios.reasons

spraying is.easy. dont.move.ur wrist, just ur whole hand. start and finish spraying off of the body, over lap each pass.by half
use tons.of.lighting as u lay down paint. u can see it build and know.whe it will sag and run. it easy to get runs when usung spray cans, cos of the high volume.... u r just plain retarded if u get runs while using a rig

having ur own rig is cool. buy the sealer and clear.by the gallon. i make my own primer by adding white.pigments.to sealer. and make my own colors by adding pigments to clear.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:23 am

the filters are in the gun just below the cup. yeh, its added.piece of mind that shit wont get inside the gun... u may have to pull em out if u are spraying flakes. adam aka ash from js.com taught me everything i know... he was an amazing air brush artist at the age of 16. he always told me to have a bunch of guns on hand. dedicate one for clear, one for primer, sealer and color and have one for flakes. the inside.of the gun is never truely clean

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:28 am

the filters are in the gun just below the cup. yeh, its added.piece of mind that shit wont get inside the gun... u may have to pull em out if u are spraying flakes. adam aka ash from js.com taught me everything i know... he was an amazing air brush artist at the age of 16. he always told me to have a bunch of guns on hand. dedicate one for clear, one for primer, sealer and color and have one for flakes. the inside.of the gun is never truely clean

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:39 pm

Joey wrote:the filters are in the gun just below the cup. yeh, its added.piece of mind that shit wont get inside the gun... u may have to pull em out if u are spraying flakes. adam aka ash from js.com taught me everything i know... he was an amazing air brush artist at the age of 16. he always told me to have a bunch of guns on hand. dedicate one for clear, one for primer, sealer and color and have one for flakes. the inside.of the gun is never truely clean

Joey,

so three guns? Let me ask if I am shooting a metallic undercoat under my flake finish will I be able to use the metallic gun for other solid colors or will it occasionally spit out tiny metallic bits forever? Would you suggest using the same gun that I shoot metallic paint with for the flake or should I dedicate it and have four guns? You've been a great help already.

Thanks again,

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:46 pm

I don't use a filter after the cup. And if you use metallic paint you may want to remove the filter under the cup. I mix my paint up and then filter it into the cup every time I fill the cup up. I do mostly small batch stuff and have a small hvlp touch up gun.

my rig.

Increasing the hose size will flow more air if you are running 1/4 inch hose.

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:15 pm

cur wrote:I don't use a filter after the cup. And if you use metallic paint you may want to remove the filter under the cup. I mix my paint up and then filter it into the cup every time I fill the cup up. I do mostly small batch stuff and have a small hvlp touch up gun.

my rig.

Increasing the hose size will flow more air if you are running 1/4 inch hose.

So, to shoot metal flake don't use the little filter under the cup. Does this also hold true for metallic paint?

Thanks,

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:50 pm

I guess it depends on the size of the filter in the gun. I think there are bigger ones, like for clear, that should work. you could test to see. but I don't use the filter after the cup at all and mix the paint and keep it in a cup and then only pour the paint into the cup through a strainer. I only have a 4 oz cup and the paint has a couple hour pot life so I don't worry about it and I have not had a problem.

gun
I also have their deluxe airbrush kit and it works just fine, but upgraded to a better hose. I use it for fixing blemishes and would work well for burst stuff too.

air brush.

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:21 pm

cur wrote:I guess it depends on the size of the filter in the gun. I think there are bigger ones, like for clear, that should work. you could test to see. but I don't use the filter after the cup at all and mix the paint and keep it in a cup and then only pour the paint into the cup through a strainer. I only have a 4 oz cup and the paint has a couple hour pot life so I don't worry about it and I have not had a problem.

gun
I also have their deluxe airbrush kit and it works just fine, but upgraded to a better hose. I use it for fixing blemishes and would work well for burst stuff too.

air brush.

I picked up two of these this week.

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece-pr ... 60239.html

Don't know what I'll use the smaller gun with 1.0mm nozzle for , but the big gun has a 1.4 and 1.8 nozzle. Funny thing the instructions included with the set don't tell you how to change from the 1.4mm to the 1.8mm nozzle. Hopefully someone on Youtube has made a video for changing the nozzle and needle.

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 7:38 pm

mine is pretty much the smaller gun and I use it all the time. I went out and got a second one. I shoot both base and clear automotive paint (not nitro or lacquer) and it is great. just need to dial it in. if they leak a little at the fittings, just unscrew them and put on some teflon tape.

try it out with some water

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 10:25 pm

That set you picked you picked up looks good and got good reviews. Give them a good test run and make sure you use a respirator.

speedfish · Post by **speedfish** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 1:48 am

cur wrote:That set you picked you picked up looks good and got good reviews. Give them a good test run and make sure you use a respirator.

I'm gonna shoot water through it first as you suggested and test on scrap wood at each stage. This is the mask that I picked up at HF does it look appropriate?

http://www.harborfreight.com/p95-mainte ... 66554.html

Thanks again,

cur · Post by **cur** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 3:08 am

Yes. I use the 3m version of that. If you can't smell anything while you are shooting, you are good. I use mine for rattle cans now. Wait until you take it off and you can smell the paint smell in your hair and shirt. Very unique experience.