High pressure guns - availabilty

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 5:06 am
Hey folks,

So i have a spray booth and two full size hvlp guns and two full size lvlp guns plus touch up guns.

I spray guitars at work, from touch ups to full resprays and also paint my carparts.

Im trying to tweak my off the gun gloss finished product.

My current wood painting (guitar process), as paint sinks in wood, after prep... i apply 3-6 top coats and allow to dry, then flat sand them, then apply 3 top coats again, flat sand (1500 grit) and hopefully no sand through to wood happens, then i buff.

In the old days i use to paint with high pressure guns and they gave a super smooth finish, are high pressure (100 psi) guns still available

I would like to keep my process the same except eliminate the final sanding and go straight to buff, trying not to get orange peel in final coat.

Thanks

Steve

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 7:45 am
Steve, although I get where you are coming from.....I think you are searching for Atlantis..... The characteristics that made those old guns do that were as much about the materials you were working with as the guns themselves. The solids content of clear coatings have more than tripled since I've been around wood/metal finishing. And yes, an old Binks #7 laid down a lot of material however it also put 65% of it in the air as overspray.
I think trying to go from a final finish coat directly to buff on something so up close and personal as a guitar may be unobtanium. Even if you made up a special "flow coat" you'd still have to flatten the clear right before it, If you were doing something like production kitchen cabinets you could go with a curtain coating machine but guitars are complex.
Heck, maybe you should just pick up some vintage guns and see if you can tweek them for modern urethane clears....but again I think with modern high solids stuff it ain't gonna be like the good ol' days....
Maybe PainterDave can recommend a high end modern gun that might get you in the ball park.
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 6:04 pm
The old style guns used high air pressures to atomise the paint very finely, but as Darrell says, the downside was most was lost in overspray.

HVLP went part of the way to solving the efficiency problem and, of course reduced release of organic vapours into the atmosphere but the downside was less fine atomisation and finish quality suffered.

More modern "compliant" or RP (reduced pressure) guns strike a balance between HP and HVLP.

I use different setups dependent on the finish I want. For a start you really need a gun that is top end and has the capability to really produce a fine droplet spray. My choice was Devilbiss Pro Lite and I'm more than happy with this choice. For (almost) glass like finishes I use a 1.2mm tip and the T110 aircap then bump the pressure up to around 30-32psi (standard is 28psi). Overspray is increased but the extra air pressure really does make a difference to atomisation, breaking up all but the heaviest HS clears. Fluid wound out only about 2.5 turns and fan wide but even.
Chris



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PostPosted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 8:00 pm
Thanks for the replies, hahaha yes looking for atlantis, you are spot on re up close on the finishes, i can lay a normal coat down and its no different to my car but it looks very average on a guitar body.

For note, have sprayed possibly 2000 plus guitars now, from full resprays to touch up repairs.

I have a total of 9 spray guns all star brand, my touchup guns have a 1.2 and 1.0 needles and caps, my full size guns are 1.4 up to 1.8.

I will do a look online re the devilbiss and a 1.2 with specific aircap.

Steve

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:18 am
I have never seen a gun that took 100 PSI,
55-60 was the highest I've ever known, (like a Binks 7)
JC.

(It's not custom painting-it's custom sanding)

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