I've been painting random projects over the years. Usually my own cars or a friend/family members. I used to borrow my friends paint guns but I recently bought a few for ridiculously cheap and now I'm trying to figure out which gun to use for what. If it's more of an opinion based thing then I'll have to just try them both out and see which I prefer better. But if it's a clear cut thing I'd like to know before possibly wasting a whole bunch of time and or product.

I have a Sata Jet 3000 rp, an Iwata LPH400lv and my old harbor freight guns that I use for clear coat. I have 1.2 and 1.3 tips for all three. From what I've done in the past I'm liking the lph400lv for clear coat. It just looks so **** good. Or at least I consider it good any way. I haven't cleared anything with a sata jet though but I've seen soooo many videos of people spraying with them and getting near perfect quality before any cutting and buffing. And obviously I'll use the cheap harbor freight guns for primer/sealer.

If anyone has any opinion on the subject please feel free to chime in. When I get some time I'm going to get a few pieces of sheet metal and just start painting it to see which I prefer and which i can get the best results with.

Thanks!

I'm in a similar predicament as you, except I have a Sata Jet RP (older model) and the LPH400-LV. Haven't got a chance to spray with them yet, but I'm expecting both of them to be great. From what I hear, the Sata consumes more material into overspray and is faster than the Iwata which is "slower" but puts more of the material on the panel. I really think they both are going to spray very well and it'll take a lot of painting and getting used to the guns to make a good judgement.

If you have the compressor to drive them properly it will come down to personal preference as both are fine guns.
The Iwata will require a bit slower movement and a little closer to the surface (4" - 6") but has a great transfer efficiency rate and keeps the cloud of over spray down some.
SATAs will generally require you to move a little faster.
Either gun will lay base, clear and single stage paints just fine.

Thanks for the replies. That's pretty much what I was expecting. Like most tools, once you are comparing apples to apples it usually comes down to preference. I'll do a few test panels and see what's what.

Thanks again