Recommended Tools and Budget For Beginner

Any questions about tools or supplies. Post your compressor/gun questions here.



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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:50 pm
Getting into Paint and Body work to supplement my hobby. I have been reading the newbie threads and am beginning to get an understanding of the amount of detail that goes into this line of work.

I havent been able to distinguish between good and bad tools for painting. I dont want to start off with Harbor Freight guns because I do believe you get what you pay for. My first painting project will be working with a fiberglass aftermarket hood manufactured by Extreme Dimensions, just mentioning it if it makes any diference, and a plastic bumper cover off of my late model pontiac GTO.

How much should I be looking to spend on a decent quality gun, Compressor, Paint Supplies, Body Work materials... Ect...

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 3:54 pm
Although I am far from an expert ( I actually did my first paint job last year ), I can tell you of my first learning experience. The heart of the job is going to be your compressor and air system. I purchased a 60 gallon, twin cylinder compressor from Lowes and piped 3/4 inch tubing to an inline filter. I used copper pipe but recently relocated my shop and repiped it with the Maxline Rapidair system.....much cheaper and just as good. This setup will give you the amount of air you need for a good shoot. As far as guns go I tried applying primer and paint with a cheap set of guns....you know the set of 3 for $99. I had problems with spitting and sputtering, getting a proper fan adjusted, and clogging. I bit the bullet and bought a quality paint gun kit from Eastwood and I was in heaven....no problems at all spray after spray. The cost of all this.....Compressor-$459 on sale, Rapidair system-$299 Ebay, paintgun-$349 Eastwood, water separator- $149 Amazon, misc. parts-$100. This may sound like a big investment to begin with but believe me, it is on the mild side and well worth it if you want to do a good quality job without a bunch of aggravation and have a system that you can use over and over. Again, I am no expert but this was my experience.
Give a man a brush, and he will paint a Picasso.
Give a man a spray gun, and the wife better hide the car.

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PostPosted: Tue Oct 25, 2016 8:49 pm
Info Center has lots of good information.
http://www.autobody101.com/content/arti ... ould-know/
1968 Coronet R/T


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:05 am
the easiest way to get some answers would be to say how much your budget is, then siphon thru every1's different suggestions till you have wat will suit your needs and budget
for panel tools, try some garage sales or yard sales (hard to say wat you guys call them over there, lol, its where ppl sell their junk on a saturday morning in their yard / garage), alot of the older stuff is alot better than the new stuff in terms of hammers and dollies, and will be cheaper too!! they just need a good file to remove the dings and dents on them and they are good to go!!
as for spray guns, i have a couple (and only paint maybe 2 times a yr!!) a good primer gun like this (is same as i have used for many yrs and goes great)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/WORKQUIP-P10 ... 1918834941
and a good gun for your actual paint, i have a devilbiss gti prolite, its bloody brilliant compared to my old as the hills sata jet90s, then just buy a good air source
this is my compressor http://astillwelding.com.au/air-compres ... essor.html , ive had it for over 10yrs now, service once a yr with new filters and oil and it never misses a beat, will keep up with a whole respray or go all day with the die grinder or d/a sander, nice and quiet and slow revving.
sanding blocks can be expensive, you could buy a durablock kit or make your own, i made my own from other cheap foam blocks, i bought a few really long 1's and cut them down, reshaped them to suit my needs, got twice as many as i would in a kit for less than half price of a kit, also balsa wood makes great blocks too, model shops sell heaps of different shapes and sizes, cheap too!!
if your budget allows, buy all your sandpaper (the common grits) in bulk, by the box, you can save upto 20c a sheet/disc, which adds up a heap over a whole car!!
krem

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