Paint Sprayer

[Cleve]

Will be painting soon. Looking to buy a paint sprayer. Was checking some out at Harbor Freight. I have a low volume air compressor. I hear a lot about the purple sprayer from HF. Any recommendations? Is there a good paint sprayer you can recommend from Harbor freight. Not that buying it at HF is necessary but just curious.
Thanks
Cleve

[ggunter]

Before you put down the first drop of paint on your car, make sure you test the capacity of your air compressor with your paint gun to see if it will keep up. Painting requires a lot of air, and the more your compressor runs the hotter the air gets, and the more moisture gets into the tank which will ultimately come out through the gun unless you have a good way of removing the moisture from your system.

[DanQ]

I used the HF purple gun to paint a Jeep CJ a few years ago, and it did a good job, considering the price, but when I painted my '33 hot rod last fall, I was not happy with the results, causing me to wet sand it smooth, buy another gallon of color, and reshoot it with a friends Binks gun, which turned out great. I think the quality of the gun is 50% of the final result, and your skill is the other 50%. I painted both of these in my garage tented up with poly, exhaust fans, and filters. Not the best setup, but it worked for me. I would love to try another paint job with a professional booth and under more climate controls.
207060207061 207062207063 207064207065207066207067207068

[JeffP]

Will be painting soon. Looking to buy a paint sprayer. Was checking some out at Harbor Freight. I have a low volume air compressor. I hear a lot about the purple sprayer from HF. Any recommendations? Is there a good paint sprayer you can recommend from Harbor freight. Not that buying it at HF is necessary but just curious.
Thanks
Cleve

I have the HF Black Widow HTE Gun, Brand new never hooked up to a compressor I'll sell for $130 shipped. ($179 new).

https://www.harborfreight.com/professional-hte-gravity-feed-air-spray-gun-with-rear-fan-control-70412.html

I was going to paint my car myself originally and ended up having it professionally done so never used this gun.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207078&d=1733246810

[rich grsc]

HF spray gun........maybe just use a roller??:rolleyes:

[Jeff Kleiner]

HF spray gun........maybe just use a roller??:rolleyes:

But Rich, a roller job would be significantly more expensive:

Purdy roller frame $11.99
3 pack of 3/8 nap nylon roller covers (one for main color, one for stripes and one for clear) $13.99
Paint tray $8.49
3 tray liners @ $.98 each $2.94
TOTAL $37.41

Harbor Freight Purple spray gun $9.99 (on sale, was $16.99)
TOTAL $9.99

Maybe you have money to burn but not all of us do!

:)

Jeff

[JeffP]

HF spray gun........maybe just use a roller??:rolleyes:

Yeah.. Kinda like these silly guys that build kit cars when everyone should just buy a real one.

[Mike.Bray]

Went to high school with a guy that had a 67 Chevelle with a 454 BBC and twin Paxton centrifugal superchargers. He painted it flat black with a brush and a roller to make it look like the ultimate beater. Was the biggest sleeper car you ever saw.

[Rebostar]

I use the HF purple gun for primer only. Spend the $200 or so for a mid range Devilbiss, you wont regret the $ spent. Also spend the money for a good regulator and water filter for your compressor HF sells both. I painted the below cars & trike, with a $300 Devilbiss.

207094 [/ATTACH]207095 207096

[rich grsc]

But Rich, a roller job would be significantly more expensive:

Purdy roller frame $11.99
3 pack of 3/8 nap nylon roller covers (one for main color, one for stripes and one for clear) $13.99
Paint tray $8.49
3 tray liners @ $.98 each $2.94
TOTAL $37.41

Harbor Freight Purple spray gun $9.99 (on sale, was $16.99)
TOTAL $9.99

Maybe you have money to burn but not all of us do!

:)

Jeff
Sorry Jeff, I just didn't consider the outrageous cost of all the roller equipment. :p Would have never expected HF to have such a deal either. Should I pick up a couple for my repaint?

[BornWestUSA]

"paint society" on Youtube is a great source of information for painting your car.

He has lots of equipment reccomended also.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=paint+society

[edwardb]

My buddy who painted my Hot Rod Truck used the purple HF guns. He typically has several on hand in the box. Gets them whenever they're on sale or he has coupons. Some work well. Some not. He's been in the business in the past where he said he typically used SATA guns and for a pro one of the better brands. But for home use, hard to justify the price. He also continually stressed it's mainly about gun setup and operator skill. I get that. Good or expensive tools don't guarantee success. Most often it's about the skill and workmanship of whoever is doing the work. Full disclosure though, there were some pieces (18 in all with the truck) that we had to work pretty hard to sand out the orange peel and get the finish we both wanted. I sold the truck on BAT and somehow it made its way back to Vanguard here in Michigan. They made their usual over-the-top sales video. But it does probably the best job of showing the final paint job. Turned out nice. https://youtu.be/TYH1fvXE4RI.

Having said that, when looking at painting the inside of the canopy on my airplane build (a large fiberglass shell with doors) I did some research and bought a HF 70412 HTE Black Widow Spray Gun. About $150 with a coupon. Lots of positive reviews and favorable comparisons to more expensive guns. I wanted a gun that would lay down clear with minimal orange peel because the inside of the canopy wasn't conducive to sanding and polishing. The same buddy helped me paint the canopy and gave me a hard time about my "expensive" spray gun. But admitted that it worked well and I got the finish I was looking for. I've painted a few more of the parts for my airplane build myself. An admitted amateur, but I was able to get nice results. One feature of this particular gun is it uses disposable liners for the cup. HF's version of the similar 3M product. Makes changeover and cleanup much easier.