harbor freight gun

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 7:58 pm
Thanks for taking the time to comment Ben.

Can you please tell me why the base coat for two stage sprays okay with the cheap HF gun but results in a lot of orange peel with a single stage urethane? Is it because two stage clear coat "flattens" the base coat or is it because single stage paint is a lot thicker than two stage base coat?

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:09 pm
What Ben said cant be overstated. You work SO hard getting the work ready for paint. From epoxy primer, to high build urethane, sanding, sanding, sanding, to sealer, to topcoat. Not to mention the (at least) hundreds of dollars on the different primers and topcoats. Then the cost of sandpaper and don't mention your time. SO how about lets do this with a $29.99 gun. mmmmkay. Even if you get away with it this time, each time you use that gun the results will be unpredictable. This is why decent air compressor, really good air/water dessicant filtration, and a predictable gun will really make you a happier camper in the long run.



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PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:42 pm
magentawave wrote:Thanks for taking the time to comment Ben.

Can you please tell me why the base coat for two stage sprays okay with the cheap HF gun but results in a lot of orange peel with a single stage urethane? Is it because two stage clear coat "flattens" the base coat or is it because single stage paint is a lot thicker than two stage base coat?


You're quite welcome. I think the issue is that the basecoat and clearcoat are both relatively thin, and atomize fairly easily -- whereas the single-stage I've tried has been relatively thick even when thinned according to directions. I should have mentioned this, but didn't think of it for my earlier post: the BC/CC I've sprayed has always been high-quality urethane, whereas the SS has been alkyd or acrylic (i.e., cheap). I do intend to try the gun with a single-stage urethane some day, but I don't have any projects that call for that now. I've also shot epoxy primer through this gun, and that works pretty well.

I'm not one of those people who claims that a $14 gun is as good as a $400 one -- it's not, but some situations may call for a "disposable" gun, and you could do worse than this one. I originally bought the HF one for a specific project and I didn't care if the gun fell apart afterward. One thing that does go wrong with the HF gun (others have noted this, too) is that the cup seals to the gun body with a cheesy plastic O-ring and over time, solvents soften and swell the ring. Pretty soon it fails to seal. I just replaced it with a nitrile O-ring, which has held up fine so far.


Ben



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PostPosted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 10:36 pm
Thanks again guys. I'll have to read the comments about the cheap HF gun again because I don't remember if the okay results were from shooting single and two stage - or only two stage. If no one got decent results shooting single stage then maybe I'll just shoot the primer with the cheap gun and pencil it out to see if it makes sense for me to do all the prep and deliver it to someone with a good gun to shoot the top coat or buy that decent $200 Devilibiss gun and shoot it myself and then sell it after because its unlikely I'll ever shoot paint again. Hmmm, I just remembered a friend of mine has an HVLP gun that he shoots lacquers on his cabinets with so maybe I can borrow it? He probably won't like me shooting urethane through his lacquer-only gun though...
Last edited by magentawave on Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.



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PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:32 pm
Well I can add that as a total amateur that my Harbor Freight gun worked like a charm. Nice even pattern and the paint was atomized just fine. I had to get a new header panel for my Mercury Grand Marquis. I was thrilled to learn that I had to replace the front end of the car and paint it. A deer decided to end it all by jumping into my car and that took out the headlight and side marker. Part of the header panel broke off but I managed to get the side marker in but the headlight was loose so I failed inspection The first thing I did was to lightly sand the panel with 400 and primed it with some rattle can primer I had and lightly sanded that. Next I cleaned the panel mixed some paint and shot it. This was my first time with a spray gun so I had to adjust it to get a good pattern, the old header panel and a tv box worked well for that.



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PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 12:18 pm
Hmmm, its comments like yours that have me still considering the HF gun. What kind of paint did you shoot? Single stage urethane or single stage acrylic or two stage stuff with a clear coat? Did you use the HF $16 #47016 here http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high ... 47016.html or the $35 #69705 here http://www.harborfreight.com/20-oz-high ... 69705.html or another?

Thanks

duramax wrote:Well I can add that as a total amateur that my Harbor Freight gun worked like a charm. Nice even pattern and the paint was atomized just fine. I had to get a new header panel for my Mercury Grand Marquis. I was thrilled to learn that I had to replace the front end of the car and paint it. A deer decided to end it all by jumping into my car and that took out the headlight and side marker. Part of the header panel broke off but I managed to get the side marker in but the headlight was loose so I failed inspection The first thing I did was to lightly sand the panel with 400 and primed it with some rattle can primer I had and lightly sanded that. Next I cleaned the panel mixed some paint and shot it. This was my first time with a spray gun so I had to adjust it to get a good pattern, the old header panel and a tv box worked well for that.



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:08 am
I used a single stage urethane enamel, crossfire from Napa. The gun is 47016, 20 oz hvlp gravity feed. The box said it has a 1.5 mm nozzle but the gun has a 1.4 on it. Perfect for small jobs like a header panel or the touch up "rusteration" stuff I do.



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PostPosted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 11:47 am
Thanks again. Got a few questions for you or anyone else please...

1) Are those spray nozzles universally sized to fit any gun? For example, would a 1.8 nozzle from TCP Global or anywhere else fit that HF gun or any other gun? If not, is it possible to get a 1.8 nozzle for the HF 47016?

2) What size compressor did you use and what is the minimum cfm and gallon tank that will work for the HF 47016 gun?

3) Is it true that a "2K" type high-build primer will cover scratches from 80 grit paper?


duramax wrote:I used a single stage urethane enamel, crossfire from Napa. The gun is 47016, 20 oz hvlp gravity feed. The box said it has a 1.5 mm nozzle but the gun has a 1.4 on it. Perfect for small jobs like a header panel or the touch up "rusteration" stuff I do.



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PostPosted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 12:48 pm
The Harbor Freight website says the #47016 requires: 6 cfm @ 40 psi, PSI 20-50, Air inlet size 1/4 in.- 18 NPS. Was that accurate in your case? Can you buy different sized tips for that gun?

duramax wrote:I used a single stage urethane enamel, crossfire from Napa. The gun is 47016, 20 oz hvlp gravity feed. The box said it has a 1.5 mm nozzle but the gun has a 1.4 on it. Perfect for small jobs like a header panel or the touch up "rusteration" stuff I do.



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 09, 2013 11:28 am
I would never try to cover 80 grit with primer. I am no expert and have almost no training but that just sounds like trouble in my book. I shot the paint at 50 psi and had no trouble. I did not see any other tips for the gun, not sure if any other would fit it.
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