LSUMatt1514

My wife got me a very nice Craftsman air compressor for Christmas, and I need to start utilizing it for more than just airing up tires and blowing stuff off. I'd like to learn how to use a paint sprayer so that I can paint a couple more items on my truck (roof rack rails, roof rack brackets, touch up brush guard, etc) but I've never purchased one before or even used one for that matter. Anybody that has experience or a writeup that you could share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Matt

BruceTS

Get a spray gun from harbor freight, then start using it. Try adjusting the volume of air, then playing with other knobs. You'll eventually get the hang of it, it's quite simple......

marko3xl3

That's good advice, but I would also browse through some air compressor/painting forums, because you also have to make sure you don't get condensation in your lines and whanot. I don't know all the ins and outs, but there is small stuff like the above that you need to be aware of.

Flamedx4

To use a spray gun is quite simple. To get a good paint job is an acquired skill - it does require practice. Look for some books on the subject, there used to be some good ones by Peterson and the like. Search the web, there are bound to be lots of informative sites.

A basic gun from HF is a good place to start. Just don't decide to paint your truck with it. Later if you get "into it" you can buy a quality gun.
You will need an inline filter for the air hose, and if you go to paint something that matters, an air dryer. You will need to be able to regulate the air pressure precisely. Smaller homeowner-type compressors aren't up the volume needed for good paint jobs because you need to work fairly fast and keep going, not wait for air to build up all the time, but you should be able to easily paint things like bumpers and accessories.

You will need to learn to adjust the volume and the pattern of the gun. You will need to learn what nozzzle works with what paint. You will need to learn how to thin the paint to the proper viscosity. You will learn that there are different reducers for different ambient temperatures and drying speeds. You will learn to clean the gun properly and promptly... All that stuff is actually pretty simple, no worries there. Much harder is prepping the surface to get a nice finish, paint hides Nothing!

Follow the directions of the paint manufacturer to the letter. Period. Never mix brands, if you are using Diamont paint, use their recommended reducers and hardeners and primers. Automotive paint systems really are 'systems,' very seldom are they cross-compatible. Nothing worse than spraying the perfect finish, only to return from cleaning the gun and find the metallics look like alligator skin because you used the wrong reducer, or saved money by using that 3 year old hardener you had on the shelf. If you are using basic Rustoleum and it says thin with mineral spirits, that does not mean paint thinner or lacquer thinner, it means mineral spirits.

Then you will need to practice achieving a good pattern, consistent coloring, proper wetness, and even coverage. You'll learn how to "work" the gun to end up with a nice gloss (an example of what this means: the pigment in the paint is heavier than the clear, so if you work the gun right, the color hits the surface first, then the clear lands over it, allowing for a shinier finish. Also doesn't show the edges of your coverage pattern so much since the clear blends to itself better. Also less prone to sagging since the solids aren't so suspended in the clear. Oversimplified, but you get the idea.) All of that will be tough if the compressor and gun aren't set up properly in the first place, so just blindly going at it with no clue is kindof counterproductive. It helps to find a reference book and/or get some personal hands-on tips from someone who has good experience. (Warning - painters are not like normal people and are moody, unfocused, and speak in foreign tongues. But they usually respond well to offers of beer!)

It is indeed part science and part art. It's very satisying when you get the hang of it too.

MTL_4runner

Comes from the fumes they inhale day in and day out....they rehydrate with beer.

Great writeup flamed!

Just a few things to add, I prefer the HVLP guns over regular guns because of the much reduced overspray, you definately need a line drier and take out any inline oilers you might have set up for air tools and finally there is no substitute for experience so go to an actual auto body supply place (where I like to buy my paint) and ask for advice, sometimes the guys will even come over and give you lessons for a few $$$ or some beer. They will often also walk you though all the paint systems and may even help set up your gun at their shop.

bamachem

you can get a decent gravity feed HVLP (high volume, low pressure) gun at Harbor Freight for about $50. don't go any cheaper than that.

ditto on the inline filter, and don't forget to do it in an open space or somewhere well ventilated. paint fumes can be nasty stuff. you'll at a minimum want a carbon mask and possibly a respirator depending on what you're spraying.

nothing beats practice. you can get paint for cheap enough, but clears are usually expensive. also read up on single stage and two stage paints and what that means.

Flamedx4

I 'learned' to paint back when I was about 18 (this was the mid-70s...) , I was working in a logging equipment manufacturing shop sweeping up. The painter was gonna quit, so he spent some time teaching me and then when he quit I got the job. Paid twice as much! Then not long later one of the truck owners who had been a body shop owner in 30 mintues showed me more "technique" than I would have ever learned on my own! It does take practice.