Cheap paint spray guns any good?

[BRISVX]

Anyone here have experience with DIY spray painting?.......wondering if the cheap spray guns at SuperCheap/Kmart/Repco and alike are any good? Looking to use it on an old car, and want it to look reasonably good, plus use it around the house for painting cabinets in the shed etc.

I've tried a Wagner airless in the past, and didn't find it much chop, so now looking at a compressor setup. There are kits available for under $200, but I am not sure if I can get reasonable quality out of them, or I have to bite the bullet and get a good one. Anyone with good advice to offer?

Key info that I am after:
1) Are the cheap (sub $200) kits worth getting?
2) Any particular brands/models better than others?
3) If it is best to go for a better quality unit, which one and how much?
4) Are the 2-pak auto paints at SuperCheap recommended?

[VX2VESS]

compressors are not much chop for spraying cars too small, will run out of air quickly. so not good on cars if this happens. you don't want to stop mid panel due to pressure drop (the spray pattern and atomisation also changes as the pressure drops off.

cheap guns are ok ,but don't last for a long time seals etc.

buy a gun, hire a big compressor. the little cheapo compressors are ok for other stuff around the house where it doen't matter if you have to stop for a min even other spray jobs. not so good with auto paint to stop and start again in the middle of a panel. noisy buggers too when they run all the time.

[Smitty]

to paint a whole car (I am assuming acrylic here)
you will need a compressor with an absolute minimum capacity of 8cfm
preferably 10cfm and even better 12cfm (although a lot of these are 3phase 415v)
8cfm is ok for a panel or two, touchups etc
with guns, make sure you match the gun to the compressor
having a low pressure pot gun with a compressor with 160psi capacity
willl give you big problems....
and make sure you get ½" hose, not 10mm
so
If you are serious about doing a whole car, hire the lot!
if you have any problems the hire shop has to fix it...
buy the smaller compressor for the rattle gun or nail gun use around home

my 2c

cheers

[Azza]

IMO you get what you pay for, it does the job, but the finish isn't always as good and the gun may havd issue down the track, parts etc, can the supplier back you up with that?. As the others have said too, match the compressor to the gun and don't go for anything less than 10cfm.
Having the best is what we all want, its our buget that decides what we end up with. :rolleyes:

[RichardM]

I have a $49.00 high pressure gun I bought from Supercheap about 14 years ago.
It is still going strong. Paints well and is easy to clean.

But I pulled about 20 out of their packets before I found one I liked. Look for holes drilled of-line in the spray head, out of round holes, poor fitting parts and trigger action.

It's worth the time to look.

The only complaint I would have with it is it's HIGH air consumption. You need at LEAST a 12CFM compressor with it.

Look around, there's some good cheap products out there.

[VX2VESS]

low pressure guns have the pot above the gun...

[vh-holden]

low pressure guns have the pot above the gun...

i thought it was gravity fed guns that have them above the gun. you can get low pressure ones with the pot below the gun. i have one.

[Dover]

I paint for a living, to spray any enamals or 2packs with a airless i would use a real fine tip, but to spray a car a home i would probly look a getting a HVLP (high voulme low presure) unit. As they never run out of air and a very even output. But at the end of the day the finish comes down to the operator.
cheers
ben

[muzza]

I got a Little Beaver (CIG brand-low pressure) a number of years ago and I have repaired several dings on quite a few cars with great success.

Using Acrylic paints the gun has been easy to use, clean and produces great results if you aren't a dill :D

As Dover says - it aint the gun, it's the operator. The 'Beaver does just fine on small jobs, takes a bit longer I guess 'cos the low pressure, but the finish is good if you thin the paint properly and crank the spray volume down to a fine mist.

[Drewie]

I got a Little Beaver (CIG brand-low pressure) a number of years ago and I have repaired several dings on quite a few cars with great success.

Using Acrylic paints the gun has been easy to use, clean and produces great results if you aren't a dill :D

As Dover says - it aint the gun, it's the operator. The 'Beaver does just fine on small jobs, takes a bit longer I guess 'cos the low pressure, but the finish is good if you thin the paint properly and crank the spray volume down to a fine mist.


I borrowed a 'Little Beaver' and painted my daughters Mini about 10 years ago and it still has a reasonable finish on it after all these years, they are not a bad little unit, I remember a few years back she got a tap in the rear and I joked with the panel beater I said how will you go matching the Little Beaver
finish, he commented it was not too bad for a home job. Used Acrylic paint and took my time and it came up pretty good.