Inexpensive paint, gun worth considering?

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harrisonm

harrisonm

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I watch this show called Paint Society on YouTube. This guy is a magnificent painter. He works in a body shop at an Acura dealership, and he paints some very high-end cars. He recently tested the new black widow spray gun from Harbor freight. He was very impressed with it, and you should see the job it did during the test. The gun is under $200, and there is always 15 or 20 percent off offer if you’re on their email list anyway, watch this video.
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For sale right now.

Yeah you could do a nice paint job with that. Brass machined air cap.

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☆☆☆☆☆
 
About any of the HF paint guns will give you a decent paint job.
Alot of it is who is behind the gun.
 
When I first started working in a bodyshop almost forty five years ago I saw an old guy painting the hood of a snowmobile with spray cans, I commented on how nice his work was even though he was using spray cans. He told me once you can paint you can paint with anything. I’ve seen guys that can only use one gun and guys who only use one gun. Guys who can pick up a total pos gun and then lay down some beautiful work. All you can do is pick it up and give it a squirt.
 
I have one of their purple guns. Have yet to use it, but they have great reviews. I talked to Southern Polyurethane about it and he was familiar with it. Said it would work well for paint but that it was really better for a primer gun, but he had nothing bad to say about it.
 
I’ve used the purple gun to spray rustoleum and summit epoxy and it worked fine. Just bought r500, supposed to be iwata knockoff and going to see how it does next
 
volaredon said:
Just say NO to HF. Anything from HF.
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Got to disagree with you on that. There are certainly some things I won't buy from HF, but a lot of their stuff is really good. I have one of their 3" cutoff wheels that was on sale for $10, and it must be 7-8 years old. It still works great. I have several of their upgraded quality air tools that are really good. I have one of their portable 30" sheet metal brakes that is probably 20 years old, and it still works great. I have one of those cheap purple HF paint guns that @RustyRatRod was talking about. I use it for spraying varnish. I am not going to run varnish through one of my DeVilbiss or Iwata guns. The purple HF gun is at least 10 years old, and it still gives a very nice spray pattern.
 
I saw that same video, the guy can paint, he made it look easy. It’s all in the prep work. Here’s a thread I posted asking a question on the harbor freight.

www.forabodiesonly.com

Black Widow HVLP Spray Gun

Has anybody used the Black Widow Professional HVLP Gravity Feed Air Spray Gun sold by Harbor freight? What are your thoughts?
www.forabodiesonly.com www.forabodiesonly.com
 
The fact is, Harbor Freight has stepped up its game with better products in the past ten or so years. You can find some pretty good stuff there. I recently bought an electric (I know) pressure washer there. The one I got is normally 249 bucks. With my Harbor Freight money coupons and my inside track discount, I got it for 169. I bought it holding my breath. I have been pressure washing all week. I did the house, the shop and the patio. The only thing I have left is the concrete in front of the shop and the concrete walk out front of the house. I have to say I am really impressed. I also stopped by Lowes and got a 9' pressure washer wand so I didn't have to get on a ladder. I still cannot believe how good a job this thing did and I don't have to mess with gas, or pull 50 times on a hot motor to get it to start. Just plug it in, turn on the hose, turn on the machine and go to town. If you still think HF sells junk, you really need to go and look around.
 
I have painted a bunch with the old $10 HF purple gun it still works good.
If I am just doing a fender or hood, I usually grab it, it saves me from deep-cleaning my iwata every time I need to spray some color.
 
I watch Bryan/Paint Society all the time! I have picked up some good tips from him since I have been painting more and more stuff of mine. I have a purple HF gun that I use pretty regularly, and 2 new in the box to replace it if it ever takes a sheite. Works really good for single stage. I have a Devilbiss Spectra Pro Lite I use for clear, because it has a 1.3 air cap. Learning to set the gun up for what you're spraying is a big part of the equation. I'm thinking serious about a Black Widow gun, just to have another option.

"Don't overthink it......it's just paint!" :thumbsup:
 
I went through two hf purple guns yesterday that I bought last year. Both of them the trigger was catching that got so bad that they wouldn't even work.
 
I've done a lot of research into spray guns. Its the internet....there are a lot of opinions out there :). The Black Widow is very popular as is the Iwata Kiwami 4 which I own. It sprays base/clear nice. Its one of the cheaper Iwata guns because its made in Vietnam (I think). I also bought a Chinese Aeropro R500 A610 knock off for $80 USD. Its supposed to good but I haven't used it yet. Most everything comes from China anyway unless its the big dollar top line Iwata, SATA, Sagola, Devilbliss, etc. There are a few good YT channels that review them. Paint Society and The Gun Man are a couple.
 
There is only on paint gun anyone should buy. Its the Devilbiss DV1 line. You won' regret it. You don't need the digital DV1's either. I have he DV1-B, DV1-C & DV1-S. Cheap guns are for shooting primer.
 
I'm a firm believer that it's the skill and know-how that makes the paint job, not necessarily the equipment. Good painters can lay down a paint job with a cheap gun much better than a newbie with an expensive gun. Me?? It doesn't really matter. I can paint runs with an expensive gun just as fast as I can with one from Harbor Freight.

:rofl:
 
I had good luck spraying 2k paint in engine compartments with Harbor Freight detail guns, the one that comes in the two gun kit. The cheaper Harbor Freight guns have worked great for me but after some use they tend to crud up won't come completely clean throw out get another one. I have a nice Devilblis I sprayed clear with once nice gun pricey.

For spraying epoxy primers I like the Harbor Freight guns use them to do one car throw away get a new one for the next project car. Disposable cups make for some quick easy clean up too.....
 
I painted the Dart with a purple HF gun. They work great and only cost like $15. When done, I just threw it away..lol. I actually bought 3 of them. I still have 1 left. I have a nicer gun but, in a pinch and for $15 I would use them again and then, throw them away. It costs more in chemicals to clean then to just throw it away and move on.
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JDMopar said:
I watch Bryan/Paint Society all the time! I have picked up some good tips from him since I have been painting more and more stuff of mine. I have a purple HF gun that I use pretty regularly, and 2 new in the box to replace it if it ever takes a sheite. Works really good for single stage. I have a Devilbiss Spectra Pro Lite I use for clear, because it has a 1.3 air cap. Learning to set the gun up for what you're spraying is a big part of the equation. I'm thinking serious about a Black Widow gun, just to have another option.

"Don't overthink it......it's just paint!" :thumbsup:
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I really like his show. I agree with Brian and @mopowers when they say that the man doing the spraying is VERY important. Before I could afford good spray guns, I did some very nice paint jobs with some cheap spray guns.
 
You need high volume hose couplings in your air hose lines and a compressor that can supply enough air volume. Otherwise those HVLP guns won't atomize the paint.
 
340sFastback said:
You need high volume hose couplings in your air hose lines and a compressor that can supply enough air volume. Otherwise those HVLP guns won't atomize the paint.
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And regulate pressure at the wall not the gun. Zero point in using a high flow fitting if you choke it one inch away at the gun.
 
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