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I am tired of messing with touchy finicky air brushes for touch up work. Does anybody make a small (really. Small) high quality hvlp touch up gun? It’s all about controlling the spray spot size.

Mike

I’ve been using ANI guns for the last couple of years and couldn’t be happier. I believe they are Italian made - they ship from a source in Great Britain, but show up within 4-5 days via DHL. My latest purchase from them are these little 35€ HP guns that I’ve been using to spray bursts. They really do a great job!

Cheers, M

Iwata lph80. I just bought one, and it’s great. It comes in a variety of needle sizes, up to 1.2mm.

Here is a cheap option:
https://www.harborfreight.com/adjustabl ... 92126.html
Along with this regulator:
https://www.harborfreight.com/125-psi-a ... 62695.html
For fine detail and touch up work it can do a good job.
If you have a harbor freight store near you I would encourage you to give it a try. It is not a spray gun I use often but when I need to do small spot repairs it comes in handy. It is less finicky than an air brush and easy to clean up after use.
The more expensive guns are probably better, but it works well enough and for the occasions I need this type of gun for I couldn't justify the cost.

I found HF guns very unreliable
https://www.google.com/search?client=fi ... &oshop=apv
this is a much better unit

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

That link doesn't work for me, John. It is just a google search page.

I think he meant that Devilbis touch up gun. Once John verifies, ill probably get that.

As to HF gun reliability, I agree. But I need something today. It should last a few hours lol! But, I will say their Spectrum/Blackwidow series is very reliable and good!

Clay, how do I adjust pattern? Seems all I get is fan

Can’t go wrong with Devilbiss. I bought used and refurbed a couple SRI Pro units on Brian Howard’s recommendation. They are great guns.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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yes devilbiss
Sata are also good

I found that the HF guns were at best iffy
I stopped using them because I was doing more work cleaning up spitting and miro bubbles in the guns

I also love the DeKup option with Devilbiss

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIzYEPxU584

With a regulator on it you should be able to dial it down to a whisper of the amount he is spraying, more like an airbrush puts out.
QC is not the greatest with HF tools, so if you find the fan control is not working at all, most stores will allow you to exchange it for another one. I've never had to do that, but I have heard of others who have.

Just a suggestion, if a person wants to try to work with the Harbor Freight purple spray gun:

Don’t just buy one; buy four or five of them at once. They only cost $15 USD. There should be one of the bunch that works fine, maybe more. Next time you are at HF for something else, return the bad ones.

If you buy just one at a time, you can really waste a lot of time driving back and forth if you get a bad one, which hardly feels like a bargain.

I haven't had problems using the HF spray guns, but if you find they are not working right one of the first things to do is disassemble them and look for any debris that may be left from manufacturing. A finisher friend of mine does that when he first gets any spray gun. I'm a bit less fastidious and just hook it up and see how it sprays.
I have heard of people doing as Don mentioned - buying several items and keeping the one they liked best, but I've never found the need for that.

I stopped using HF for this reason at what point is it costing you more money?
A good tool is an investment a cheap tool is a cost

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Having spent half of my life painting cars and finishing furniture I would highly suggest Devilbiss gun with both the course and fine needle valve and air cap.

I have 2 Devilbiss touch-up guns, one set up with the course and one with fine setup. That way I never have to swap out needle valves and air caps for different spray patterns.

With the fine tip I can get down to almost an airbrush spray pattern and I frequently used it for custom work. I only broke out my airbrush if I was doing ultra fine work.

The problem with cheap spray guns is the tolerances are not very good and you will get much more orange peel and uneven spraying. The other issue with cheap is the air cap/needle valve are not nearly as hard so they will wear out quite fast... Especially if you use water based finishes (water is extremely abrasive).

My advice is do not skimp on your spray guns, With a good brand name gun you will be able to lay down a really smooth finish and you won't have to sand all the orange peel out the cheap guns will give you.

Just my 2 pennies...

Cheers,
Bob

Bob, I like ur thinking. What divilbiss do u use for guitar body spraying. (Not touch up)

Is this the one? DeVilbiss 802405 StartingLine HVLP Detail and Touch-Up Gravity Spray Gun. On Amazon it comes with a 1mm needle. Can u specify sizes?

https://www.amazon.com/DeVilbiss-802405 ... 97e41410bb
some touch up guns have .6 needles I love my sri pro with a 1.o needle for most spaying. They are easy to maintain and clean and you will feel a big difference in the way the trigger and needle feels

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

Mike, I use my touch up gun with the course needle and air cap. There is no need to use my big guns (3 Divilbiss and and 2 Binks) The touch up guns give me enough finish to do a double wet coat on a guitar. (FYI, Double wet coat is spray a second coat directly over the first. both coats are laid down wet and allow for much better flow). I watch how it is laying down and if it isn't really flowing I will add a touch of hotter thinner to get it to flow. Everybody should have 3 thinners available at all times. Very fast (that is what I use for most spraying). Medium and Slow. There are days (hot) that I will start with medium thinner at add Slow thinner to get the paint to flow. I use to use retarder but that is usually too aggressive for something as small as a guitar.

When I started refinishing guitars I did use my my big gun but it is just so big and bulky/heavy that it wasn't practical so I switched to my touch up gun and now that's all I use.


I use the Devilbiss EGA 503 Detail Spray Guns shown here,

https://pittsburghsprayequip.com/products/devilbiss-ega-detail-spray-gun-1-0?keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4t2m7_Ww-gIVD4bICh2zQAA-EAQYASABEgKnCfD_BwE

FYI, I use suction fed guns as opposed to HVLP. I tried a HVLP but really didn't like it because it didn't seem to atomize the paint fine enough for me so I just stuck with my old ones. I am sure they are much better now than when I originally tried them but I can't see replacing all my guns and compressor when what I have works very well for me.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Bob

I think folks are talking about high-pressure guns and OP asked about hvlp guns.

_________________
Peter Havriluk

I live in Huntsville Al, near Birmingham, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Atlanta. I’d love to be able to go somewhere and see the guns before I buy them. Locations?

This whole discussion was predicated on a mini detail gun for touch up. I needed something now, and that HF cheapie that Clay suggested worked fine as a cross between an air brush and a gun. Got the job done. But I like nice stuff and am open to quality tools. Some day I will settle on what works for me. I’ll keep looking. Thank u all. Yes, HVLP or HTE.

Yes you are correct, and I "think" I said that in my last post (the FYI).

If case you didn't notice what I was trying to say, I was pointing out that it pays (in your finished product) to use a quality spray gun. I only put the link for my gun because I was asked.

I didn't mean to be "off topic"

Cheers,
Bob

Hi Mike,
I'm glad to hear the little HF gun worked out for you.
As I mentioned in my first post, there are better spray guns and the DeVilbiss spray gun John mentioned is probably a good choice. I used a larger DeVilbiss gun to spray minor body work repairs on my Dad's used car lot. The spray gun Bob mentioned is probably another good choice. High pressure guns often do give better atomization at the expense of more overspray (lower transfer rate), but for small touch ups the amount of material wasted is probably less than what will be wasted when cleaning the gun. High pressure guns may in some cases use less air than HVLP "conversion" type guns, which the typical HVLP cup gun often is.
Also as I mentioned, for the limited need I have for this type of spray gun, the HF cheapie works O.K. for me. Nicer tools can be more enjoyable to use and provide better service, and for tools you use often are worth the investment. Sometimes it is nice to indulge oneself and buy something a little extravagant for the actual need for it.