Hvlp gun or airbrush

[eisbaer]

Hi everyone,

I've finally bought a compressor for use with applying a sprayed lacquer, and I'm still trying to decide how to spray.

I've been told hvlp will be fine, but I really only want to use it on pens. Would an airbrush be better as it pushes out a finer spray or should I stick with hvlp?

My other question is about pressure regulation. My compressor will pump out up to 8 bar which I suspect is overkill for spraying. Will the gun regulate this or do I need to put a regulator of some type on the line? Sorry if this seems a naive question but I've never used a spray setup or compressor before.

[rogerjenkins]

Spraypainting,- bin there,- done that !! A Low Volumn Spray Unit would be heaps better, and definately a Regulator, and an inline Water/Moisture Trap. the Moisture trap filters out moisture in the airline, as any form of moisture will ruin your finish !!
A low Volumn Spray Unit, such as a Touch-up Gun is heaps better than a Standard High Volumn Gun, as a Low volumn unit can safely work down to about 4psi, especially when you have purchased a decent unit with air-presure adjustment on it.
** An Airbrush, especially for smaller items such as pens, & other small items will operate on as little as 1psi, ( pound-per-inch ), of air-presure. The Badger brand is a good, relatively easy to use, " all-rounder, " while there's more up-market brands such as Pasch, which for the beginner, can be quite complicated, ( and frustrating ), to learn to use. Years ago I worked for a while with an Airbrush Design Artist, who did some fantanstic artwork on car bonnets, etc., - he could actually sign his name with his Airbrush,- and he taught me heaps of tricks, including signing my name too.
From memory, he used a Badger Airbrush, with the air-compressor set to around 1psi and the airbush adjustment set as low as it would go.
Got some photos of his handiwork work here somewhere,- must try to find them, as I think there will be some interested viewers on this forum
Hope this bit of info helps you a bit,
Roger

[eisbaer]

That is a very comprehensive reply. Thank you very much.

I've now arranged a hvlp with a 1.4mm tip which I know is used by a couple of guys doing lacquer on pens. It has a regulator because my compressor is 8 bar max and 1 to 1.5 is what I've been told to use. It does have filters with it but I'm not sure of the type. Also no idea how to remove them. Installing them seems easy enough though.

Should I clean the tip by just placing it in thinners? Can I spray thinners through the gun to clean it? I'm not going to feed any lacquer through it till I'm sure of cleaning procedures.

Thanks again for your info. It confirms some other advice I've gotten in the last two days so I know I've made the right choice. Now for the learning curve...