New gun for show quality results *SORRY*

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 10:44 am
Long time lurker. First time poster.

I know, it is not the arrow, but the Indian and process and procedure.

I have finally finished my personal garage and have installed a booth. I have been amateur spraying for years, but now will have a setup to potentially give me more consistent and show quality results I have longed for.

I have always used DeVilbiss medium range guns and have been pleased.

Will this gun give me the great results for Base and Clear I am looking for with the smallest learning curve? Many pros say it is the easiest pro gun to spray with.

https://www.eastwood.com/tekna-prolite- ... m-cup.html

I will continue to use DeVilbiss FLG5 for primer.

Yes, I know show quality finishes are made after the spraying ends. Hopefully with this setup I can spent less time sanding and buffing.

Thanks in advance :bighug:

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 3:40 pm
Actually show quality finishes are made before the painting starts.

I will let the paint gun experts chime in as per gun choices.
1968 Coronet R/T


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 11, 2021 7:13 pm
'68 Coronet R/T wrote:Actually show quality finishes are made before the painting starts.

I will let the paint gun experts chime in as per gun choices.


I should have worded that better. Yes, I know that you need every surface along the process to be perfect for a show quality finish. You don't need a booth for that. However, what I was trying to say is that this was very difficult for me without a paint booth in the past. Now that I have the ability to spray and bake high quality finishes with a much less chance of contamination, it makes sense for me to invest in some really good guns.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. :worthy:

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 12, 2021 3:06 am
'68 Coronet R/T wrote:Actually show quality finishes are made before the painting starts.


Agree, but a good gun helps.

That's a ripper of a deal. 2 aircaps and 3 fluid tips with a Pro Lite and the big alloy cup. Worth buying, even the Tekna style without the air control which I use regularly. Pity they're not available until October.

TE10 goes good for base, TE20 will give factory peel on clear. Add the T110 aircap for super flat finishes. Pro Lite is lighter and shorter than the FLG5 so you don't get that 'swinging pendulum' effect that comes from the longer nose and extra weight.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 13, 2021 1:00 pm
lets back up a little here... focusing on your gun is only a small part of the formula.

lets talk PSI, ID of hose, high flow fittings, etc

first off do not to put 80psi to a spray gun and turn down the adjustment knob to get 30psi, by doing this you defeat the purpose of a high volume gun,

use high flow fitting, no less than 3/8 ID hose,

adjust your pressure to the gun at the wall/compressor with your air control knob fully open, this will give your gun better fan and atomization and better results
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:05 am
I am a Long time DeVillbiss user BUT It will be a Cold day in Hell before I pay $500 or more for a Devillbiss! For that Kind of money there are Much better guns available!
F Devilbiss with there leaky worthless Needle Packing deal!

I don't care how good the Tekna is There are better guns for not much more than $500 That's SATA and Iwata money territory and you don't get much better guns than a SATA or IWATA.
For a Buck and a quarter more you can get a Iwata Supernova.
https://www.amazon.com/IWATA-WS400-Supe ... 155&sr=8-1


I still use my Devilbiss guns I can get a great finish with them BUT I learned with them, I have gotten used to there little quirks and change out the seals regularly and adjust them correctly, I have had my share of the Devilbiss Drips to fix to boot! as a $300 gun they are fine for a beginner BUT $500+ NO WAY! I will step it up to a REAL gun before I spend any where near that kind of money myself.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 15, 2021 8:21 pm
Not disputing your opinion Dennis, but OP's link was to a Tekna Pro-Lite that came with a 900ml aluminium pot, 2 x aircaps (TE10 & TE20) plus 3 x fluid tips. That's 6 different combinations - more than enough to cover any base/clear situation.

For $USD520 that's an amazingly good deal. Street price here for a Pro Lite runs around $AUD580 ($USD446). That's gun only. No cup, no extra aircap and no extra fluid tips. The extras, by my calculations, add up to around $USD450 worth of extra value. So that's $USD970 worth for $USD520.

The SATA 5000/5500 and the Iwata WS400 are great guns. No argument there. But they're both firehoses compared to almost any Devilbiss. They're also much heavier and both are MUCH more expensive. More importantly, they're a bit slower so tend to suit those a little less experienced than you or I. They're certainly capable of show quality finishes, although, as I said above, I'd add the T110 aircap.

Cheapest WS400 I could find with a very quick check was $AUD660 ($USD508) - but that's the basecoat gun only with no extras. Clearcoat versions about 10% more.

So, to go Iwata, OP would need to spend close to $USD1100 to get base and clear guns
with just a single size in each.

I have a number of Devilbiss and Tekna guns, up to about 10 years old. Some used daily. Never had a single packing seal fail. In fact, the only failure I've ever had was on the FLG5 which blew an air seal for some unknown reason. Cheap enough fix and no problem since.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 18, 2021 6:21 pm
At the risk of hijacking this thread............would a ProLite with the T110 cap give a smoother clear finish than a Iwata AZ3--all things being equal?

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 6:21 pm
Yes.

They are two guns in two completely different categories. Obviously price is one but the AZ3 is aimed at the amateur more than the professional who is the target market for the ProLite. I have both and think that each has its own strengths and uses, but if I was doing a large panel I'd reach for the ProLite every time, especially with the T110 cap when a really flat finish is called for.

That said, Painter Dave's comment is relevant here, in that the best gun in the world won't help you if you don't learn how to use it.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:31 pm
NFT5 wrote:Yes.

They are two guns in two completely different categories. Obviously price is one but the AZ3 is aimed at the amateur more than the professional who is the target market for the ProLite. I have both and think that each has its own strengths and uses, but if I was doing a large panel I'd reach for the ProLite every time, especially with the T110 cap when a really flat finish is called for.

That said, Painter Dave's comment is relevant here, in that the best gun in the world won't help you if you don't learn how to use it.
I'm to the point that I am getting a very smooth finish in the clear with the AZ3--I have to look at it in a certain angle to see the slightest peel. I'm doing bike tanks, fenders and side covers. I just wonder, if at my skill level, would the ProLite give me a smoother end result. Admittedly, I would like to own a more professional gun but if it would not really give me a better finish then I could just save the $$. Thoughts?
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