What Type of Spray Gun - Gravity or Suction?

[Bruce]

I am new to this and have a few questions on equipment.

What type of spray gun do you recommend, gravity feed or suction?

I am looking at a DeVilbiss GTi HVLP Suction Feed (GTi-600s) with the following specs:
30 psi air inlet pressure delivers
10 psi air cap pressure at
16 cfm air volume required

I have looked at compressors and most of them don't put out the CFM required. How does all the specs of a gun and compressor work together?

 

[rex]

If you're going to make one gun work for the whole job,forget HVLP,they are a royal pain to set up to break up the thicker clears in use today.They're great for basecoat,but I've yet to see one work well for clear plus you will have to go thru the hassle of setting it up after the base is done.By all means go gravity feed.I just recently picked up a DeVilbiss top loader that sprays everything nicely.I'll look what model it is and let you know tomarrow.It comes with a 1.4 and 1.6 tip,but the 1.4 is all you need.HVLPs need air volume to work well,and the trick is the line as much as the compressor.A good compressor will supply that #,but most people use standard 1/4" air hose and fittings that limit the CFM.Any gun will work much better using 3/8 hose and fittings,but it will set you back a few more $.The more volume of air you get to the gun the more efficiently it'll atomise the paint,but were talking CFM not PSI.

 

[rex]

Ok,I got it.The order # is GFC-501.The gun handle will say GFG 516,but that's a common handle.The package will come with the gun set up with a 1.4 tip and a 9000 air cap,with a 1.6 extra tip and bag liners for the cup(they make cleanup easy but they help out if you need to spray upside down).The only prob is it comes with a QT cup,so I ordered the plastic pint cup for $35 since I'm only doing bike parts.I got a good deal on everything(you need a regulator too),but the gun goes for around $300.I haven't run candy through it yet but pearls are effortless.I want a Sata,but I need more jobs to justify the cost.It's not a good idea to run everything through 1 gun,but with good cleanings it'll work for a while.For primers I use a $100 cheap copy.Ideally you should have a primer,sealer,base and clear gun.If you want to get anal I had a gun just for metallics since the flake ate up the tips and kept my other base gun(and single stage) gun more consistant.Of course,this is over $1000 worth of guns and is rediculous for limited painting.You'll like this gun for BC/CC and it sprays base as nice as it does high solid clears.There is also the gun minus the extra tip,so that could save you a few $,but I don't know the order #.It's kind of a pain in the ass the gun # is different than the order #,but .

 

[Bruce]

Thanks for the information Rex!

 

[guest01]

I know a guy that has a gun for not just metalics but for different shades of color. haha. I wish i could justify the cost myself, everytime I switch to a solid color from a metalic it is such a pain trying to get it clean especially if I was lazy the day before and left colr in my gun!