Paint Gun

Anyone have any recommendations for a spray gun? I want to do the base coats and minor touch ups at home and have them finished by a pro, but I am not sure which gun to get. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

 

I paint. For bikes all you need is a detail gun. It's a smaller version of a regular paint gun. I'd recomend a gravity feed with a 1.0 tip. You can order one from Eastwood online. I use the Finishline brand which is pretty economically priced. Finishline is the lower end brand made by Devlbiss. Do some research and with some practice you could probably do the whole job yourself.

 

Harbor Freight has a nice little gun I use from time to time and it works just fine. It is a gravity gun also.

MN

 

I thank you both. 86maximusXJ700, how did you do the inlay of Ms. Monroe? MN-Maxims, I am moving to Prior Lake, MN around March 2011... when I have visited MN, there doesn't seem to be as many riders as in Iowa. Do you have any recommended shops, bars, etc. (Anyone from Minnesota you input is appreciated).

Once again, thank you both for the input.

 

+1 on the one from harbor freight. I have gotten pretty good results from it. Not bad for only $15.

 

The Harbor Freight guns aren't bad, and they have a decent selection of tips. They work as well as a Devilbiss Finish Line, for 1/10th of the price.

 

Id also recommend a Finishline gun. I myslef like a full sized gun with a 1.3 tip for bikes so i'd go with this one -

http://www.amazon.com/DeVILBISS-FinishL ... B002EXCNRO

Espicially if you think you might wanna start painting regulary. Youll be able to put down color and clear down nice and smooth once you get the hang of it with a cheap finishline 3.

I've used the harbor frieght guns before at a shop i used to work at. We would use em for about a month than throw em away when they were no good, granted nobody took care of em. There good for puttin down primer/surfacer but I wouldnt use em for color or any other top coat.

With a lil practice and research tho you should be able to paint the bike yourself and itll turn out pretty good and youll save a ton of money.

 

paint guns are like anything else. take care of them and clean them when you are done and they will last a long time. I have painted 2 bikes very successfully with a standard gravity fed husky gone from Home Depot that i paid 40.00 for. Everything from primer to clear.
Be clean and meticulous in your prep and you will do great. Once you have done one bike the next one is easier and so on....
I have used the Nason paint from O- rEilly with great success. The paint and primer and clear for my last job ( black gold wing ) cost me less than 40.00 bucks.

 

If your going to paint a lot and often, can't go wrong with Devilbiss. (probably the best you can buy)
Buying cheaper guns can be a crap shoot, mite work good -mite not.
(you get what you pay for)

 

To answer your question, the tank is ground metal. I airbrushed the marilyn. Then I cleared the tank. And then I added the flat black scallops. I'll attach a pic of my helmet. Back to the gun issue. I've used Harbor Freight guns and they don't cut it. I would only use those for primer/ sealer and nothing else. The Finishline is cheap and much better quality than the Harbor Fright guns. Of course there are better guns, but they get expensive. Good luck. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

SATA guns are the best. I use 3, 2 SATA 95's 1 for solid colors, 1 for metallics and a SATA 2000 for clear.

 

Gotta disagree, SATA is far better than DeVilbiss. But then again I won't spray anything less than Spies Hecker paint!

 

Gotta disagree, SATA is far more expensive but not any better than DeVilbiss. Ive sprayed SATA guns and they lay down prodcut nice and smooth but not any better than other high end guns. I use a DeVilbiss Plus for color, its a lot less expensive than some guns and is not HVLP but its smooth and easy to shoot and lays down paint like a dream. My clear gun is an Iwata LPH400 and it puts down clear like glass. SATA's are just way too overpriced.

 

I think the Sata 2000 is an awesome gun. And Devlbiss has been making great guns for a long time. Iwatas are killer too. But this is getting away from his original question. The average motorhead weekender doesn't want to spend $600 for a gun and might not even want an arsenal of 4 job specific guns. That's why I recomended the Finishline.

 

Thanks again for the help. I picked up 2 guns from Harbor Freight, a high volume, low pressure, and a smaller detail gun. I think I will use those for the primer & sealer. As I start to do the actual work I will upgrade to nicer guns. Anyone have recommendation on where to get paint? I want to make sure I get quality paint and am not sure where to go. Thanks again for everything!

 

You can do that paint job with that hf gun. I did mine and it came out excellent. Its all about technique. If you spray it on wet without getting any runs, you will have a nice smooth finish. But if you want a really nice paint job, your going to want to wet sand it smooth and polish it. Trust me, you can get fantastic results with that gun.

This forum shows my results from that same gun

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=27436.html

As far as paint, I went to a place and had them mix mine. You will need to phone book around to find a place. Make sure that you get clear coat that is resistance to gasoline, and if you really want a nice finish, get polyurethane!

 

Ravenz, thanks for the post... when cleaning my garage this week, I found lots of medal to practice my technique on before actually trying my hand at painting the bike. Do I look for auto paint shops in the phone book or just general paint (sorry for the stupid question, but I have never done anything like this, though I have loved the fact that I spend more time in the garage than in my house). Thanks for the help

 

specifically auto paint. Try to find some reviews and research the place before you dump a lot of money into buying their paint.

 

Google automotive paint supply and your city and you should find results. I usually order my supplies online. Check out www.coastairbrush.com and www.eastwood.com . Good luck. By the way, it would be a good idea to shoot your clear with a better gun. Harbor Fright guns don't do a good job of atomizing the paint so clears don't go down as smooth.

 

That is true about the paint not going down as smooth. I planned on wetsanding and buffing from the beginning. So if you plan to do that as well you can get it nice and smooth.