Beginner looking for info on everything.

m3n4ce

New member
Just starting to get into the whole spray gun painting and such and what I'm looking for is somewhere i can read all about the stuff. I'm very interested in learning this for hobby reasons however my knowledge is very little. what I'm looking for is something that can teach me what everything means. I hear words like CFM and certain PSI ratings for guns/compressors and i don't understand how all this fits together. anyone know of books or internet resources I might be able to locate to help me learn some stuff?

Thanks.
 

fontgeek

New member
First things first. What is it you want to paint in the long run?
I teach my students a basic philosophy of "Look ahead, and think in reverse." By that I mean, look at what you want to do or achieve in the end, and then look at the steps and tools you need to get there.
There will probably be a few things or steps needed along the way, so working your way backwards from your end goal lets you see what you actually need to get and learn to achieve your goals.
As to the terms, forums like this are a great place to ask.
The following are a few of the terms you will hear bandied about and their meanings;

PSI means Pounds Per Square Inch, it refers to the amount of air pressure, used or needed.

CFM means Cubic Feet per Minute, this refers to the volume of air moved per minute. While it relates to PSI it's not the same thing.
While you can blow a fair amount of pressure through a straw or small hose, you can't put out much volume, for airbrushes and spray guns it takes a certain amount of volume at a certain air pressure to give you the desired results. Little compressors are like your lungs, they may be able to spray at high pressure, but not at very high volumes or air or for very long.

Reduce means to reduce/lower the viscosity/thickness of the paint or finish you are spraying through your brush or sprayer.

HVLP means High Volume Low Pressure, this refers to the requirements of a certain class of spray guns.

Gravity Feed means that the forces of gravity are used to push the paint into the path of the air that will spray/atomize it.

Siphon Feed means that an airbrush or sprayer uses a siphoning action to pull paint from a reservoir that is mounted below the body of the airbrush or sprayer.

Side Feed refers to airbrushes or sprayers that have a side mounted reservoir, they can be gravity fed, siphon fed, or, with the addition of a pressure pot, pressure fed. This means that the paint is pushed into the airbrush or sprayer under pressure, this requires less air pressure for the airbrush or sprayer itself, and because of that less overspray. Be warned though that this also means that you have to have an air hose or propellent hose hooked up to the pressure pot too.

Atomize means to spray or turn a liquid into a mist by mixing and propelling it with compressed air or a compressed gas such as CO2

CO2 is Carbon Dioxide, the same gas used to carbonate your favorite soda or beer.

Backflush is a term used for using an airbrush's normal flow of air to push paint and debris back out of the fluid nozzle and paint channel area by blocking the needle cap of an airbrush while compressing and retracting the airbrush's trigger. Because the air is blocked from going out the front like it normally would it is forced back through the fluid nozzle and paint channel and into the fluid reservoir. Backflushing is also referred to as "Boiling" because of the roiling of the fluid in the reservoir resembling boiling water.
 

m3n4ce

New member
Thanks, this definitely helped a bunch and my end goals i would say would be automotive painting. I'm just not sure how i go about choosing a good air compressor or spray gun to use for this sort of thing. Hopefully after some reading and question asking on here ill be able to get some decent equipment to start practicing with or something.
 

fontgeek

New member
Are you talking about doing complete paint jobs on full sized cars, trucks, etc., or just smaller murals or repair work?
If you are just doing small patches then you can get away with some smaller guns and a smaller compressor. If you see yourself doing full sized vehicles then you need to decide what part you want and are willing to do. If you are talking about doing everything then you need to look at the kind of paint you will use for each step, then see what you need to spray it. Heavy fillers need a different sprayer than what you would use for your basic primer, and different than you would use for your base or color coats, different than what you would use for clear coats, though some use the same gun for the heavy fillers for this. If you are going to shoot pearls, flakes or other specialty paints then you need to see what those paints will need. Those guns will list their requirements for volume (CFM) and pressure (PSI), those requirements and your spraying habits or needs will determine what can or can't work for you in the way of a compressor or air source.
 
Top