don browne wrote:
>
> Looking for some advice here. I have a 59 Bugeye that I hope to be
> painting in a couple of months. Was thinking of buying a HVLP Sprayer,
> from what I read these do a great job, and don't require an industrial air
> compressor. I have a 5hp, 25 gal compressor. Do I need one of these or am
> I better off with a standard $55 dollar sprayer?
You have PLENTY of compressor to paint using a normal
gun.
If you were doing production painting with the trigger
always down, you might have a problem. But the compressor
has time to recharge while you stop at the end of each
stroke, while you tiptoe around to the next panel, while
you adjust your hoses and cables, and so on.
I paint with my 5hp 26gal compressor, and it works fine. The
compressor runs most of the time, but it stays well above 90psi
at all times. I have a regulator on my hip set at whatever I
need (55 for paint) and it's always fine. I can also tell
the compressor is way ahead because if I stop even for a minute
the machine shuts off because it's full again.
As for HVLP, it's a pretty hot topic but generally the
advice is "use conventional". The paint savings with HVLP
is not enough to really scream about, and by most accounts
painting with HVLP requires more skill and more fiddling
with the knobs. For the guys like us who paint a car
a year at most, simple is good.
Another knock against HVLP is the price. First of all,
they use a LOT of air so unless you have a 20cfm compressor,
you are pretty much stuck with a turbine type. This makes
the purchase expensive for somebody who already has a compressor
and can get a normal gun for $55.
As well, a lot of people who use HVLP say that the cheap
HVLP guns are garbage, you have to spend a few hundred bucks
to get something that will produce decent results. With normal
guns, obviously the $300 guns are better but a lot of people
(including myself) paint with pretty cheap guns and get
good results.
For a great wealth of information, visit:
http://www.horizonweb.com/wwwboard/Spray_101/wwwboard.html
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
|