Official Luthiers Forum!

I searched but could not find an answer for the questions below.

I know that different sprayer designs require different air compressor capacities. There is a sale at Home Depot coming up this Friday for a Porter Cable 6 gal, 1.5hp, 2.5 SCFM @ 90psig, 3.5 SCFM @ 40psig for under $200 (including some accessories like a finish nailer and a stapler and hose).

What spray gun would work well with this size air compressor for finishing a guitar with water based lacquer?

Or, is this compressor just too small for guitar finishing?

Or, or do the sprayers that require a larger air compressor simply better for achieving superior quality spray jobs?

Bottom, what specs are needed for an air compressor to achieve quality finish spray results?

Thanks,
Ed

my opinion is its too small .. the air is OK (most smaller guns only need 2-3 CFM at 40 or less if its a HVLP), but the limited tank size means it will run all the time .. get a 20 gal min.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Ed, you should look at the kind of gun your going to use and see what is recommended. I have a 2 HP, 20 gallon unit running an Asturo Eco/S, which works fine. However, the Eco/S can atomize pretty well at only 5 to 6 CFM at 30 PSI. Many HVLP guns require higher CFM's. If the one you are looking at only runs 3.5 CFM at 40 PSI, you might be hard pressed to get good atomization out of HVLP.

I'd do a little research on guns and find a few you like. Then see what sort of compressor would be needed to drive them. Perhaps the small compressor would drive a touch up gun okay. I don't know as I don't have one.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com

Thanks Ken and Tony. Your direct answers are the kind that are helpful. I knew the guns varied a lot regarding the air capacity to run them, but I have no experience and therefore have no idea what I would like. So I guess being conservative is the route to go. I can pay a little more and get a 1.8hp, 20 gal, 6.1scfm at 40psig which should run most guns OK. All the air compressors I'm looking at are oil-free.

What kind of piping do you guys use in your shop to distribute air for general use?

Ed

I recently bought this from lowes. It was only $200.00. I had a pancake compressor for nail guns and it constantly ran out of air. Pancakes are great for the finish nailer and breakfast but not as well for spraying. I use a siphon feed sprayer with it. But i believe it would work well with a HVLP gravity gun since we are talking small instrument finishing and not auto bodies...Mike
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=171129-43657-HU200000DI&lpage=none

Ed-
Be sure to hear the compressor running before you buy- some of them are extremely noisy. One of the quietest I've been around was a Makita- a lot quieter than the cheaper one I have.
Save some money for water traps, decent (flexible) hose, regulator at the gun, etc etc...

Cheers
John

For getting air distributed around the shop, 3/4" PVC rated at least as high as your compressor output, works great. So does 1/2" copper if you have the bucks!
Where you need flexible hose, I recommend going 3/8" minimum. 1/2" is better.
Don't get sucked into buying the coil type hose. It is brittle & will drive you crazy boinging all over the place. (I hate the darn things!)
Do budget for a good water trap & regulator. They are a must. If your gun doesn't come equipped with an on-board regulator, you can pick up a small in-line reg at any place that sells spray equipment. It helps a lot to know what the pressure is at the gun, not 50' or more upstream, at the other end of the hose.
If your compressor doesn't have an air shutoff valve, I suggest installing one.
That's all I can think of for now... Have fun!