Have you tried or know of others with experience that have tried the new guns?

Reg

 

Did you mean C.A.Technology? I have also looked hard at the Techline even though it is at the VERY upper end of my budget. I like the gun and the old fashioned way of doing business and US made appeal that CAT seems to have. My problem is that if I were to go with the Techline I would be REAL tempted to try to come up with enough for the Jaguar.

The problem then would be that if I spend almost $300 then why not just move up to a SATA? Where does a person stop?

I expect that I will end up either blowing my budget out of the water or buying a really cheap clone gun. There's not much in between for me.

 

I'm not looking for the FinshLine(or whatever I finally get) to be a bc/cc gun, only for base coat. I will shoot clear with a conventional with which I have lots of confidence. I have a Binks number 7 and a Sharpe 775. I am very confident with both of them when it comes to getting a good gloss without rubbing it out. Yeah, I'm old school and I admit it. Until a few years ago I had never shot anything but Lucite, Centari or Imron.

I have never done a complete paint job with bc/cc only significant size crash repairs. My daughter is 23 now and finally settled down, but until recently she kept my crash repair skills honed and money in the pockets of the airbag companies. Thankfully she's still alive.

Both of my old conventionals are too nice to relegate to primer gun status although I have shot a good bit of primer through the Binks. So I am looking for a cheap primer gun, and will try HVLP there first, before doing basecoat.

So, my needs and approach are much different than yours, or most anyone elses for that matter. For you, I think that a good gun for bc/cc and a cheap gun for primer is the way to go.

My $0.02,

 

Yes I have tried 3 different Binks touch up / door frame guns from different friends, one always sprayed at an angle even after taking it back to the paint store, they said it was ok. BS on that crap. The other two guns just do not atomize as good as the 40 year old DeVilbiss gun I always fall back on and use use besides comparing it against different guns.

 

The C.A. Technologies gun I have is the T-3 paid $178 last year thru a company in southern Calif. It has the same parts as the Jaguar but not life time free repair and full stainless lining that touches the paint. The T-3 has anodized aluminum touching the paint. I can live without both these added features for the price difference.

 

Nothing wrong with that Binks No 7, I have one and it sprays better than the
"had to have Binks 2002 gun" I purchased years ago in fear they (EPA) would not allow it for sale in Calif.

 

The Techline's Jaguar is one nice gun I like, I couldn't justify the price at the time besides i'm squirting semigloss latex interior semigloss, a sin to use a Jaguar just for this. Well later for BC/ CC adding different needles and tips would be nice but your now at a $450 investment.
I added two different needles and tips for the T-3 for BC/CC in my future for a total outlay of $315.

You can not spray latex with a Binks 2002 gun trust me, don't ask.
It would be a hard sale to me for a Jaguar as I have always wanted a Sata gun, bragging rights?
I borrowed a couple HVLP guns that had 10 psi maximum at the nozzle, I did not like them compared to the T-3 Techline gun I also borrowed, i'm old scholl with syphon guns squirting nitro lacquer. As I posted before the T-3 has 43 psi the nozzle and EPA approved hence a T-3 purchase.
Even at 34' of 3/8" hose after the mini regulator and turned up to maximum pressure I only had 38 psi at the gun at full fan. Before the regulator and filter 26" of 3/8" hose. The 4 hp compressors set to run on/off between 85 and 105 psi. Seems these new mini regulators for these guns have a maximum pressure limit on psi output when cranked to maximum, but wait follow me here.
Took apart the regulator then added a thin brass .070" thick ring, this will allow up to 100 psi with line in at 105 and still able to regulate down to zero psi.
A Sharpe 55 cfm water / oil filter seperator (10 micron) is in the system for this interior latex job.
Some companies say this 43 psi at the tip guns are squeaking past the law as called as a HVLP gun. This is my findings, works for me.

 

I'm bias to pressure feed pot systems, HVLP. Can spray in any direction, let see any other gun do that. Besides I don't get arm fatigue with all of the paint weight at the gun. No Spillage.

 

I had a pressure pot for the Binks No7 gun, first thing I sold as it wasted too much time and paint to clean the sucker. Added a syphon pot to the gun.
My T-3 HVLP gun has a nylon 750cc cup, when filled to the max you can feel a little top heavy weight there. For a small job the 250cc cup is used. If I become to weak for that i'll get the wife to squirt for me. Bottom line look, test, shop and buy the gun that makes you happy.

 

Beemernut,

You keep getting me thinking about the Techline. Your testimony is quite compelling. I have my eye on a cheap set that is supposed to be a really good SATA 2000 clone on the cheap, but I keep thinking about the Techline and the company behind it.

The one stumbling block I have left against the CAT stuff is the $68 tip cost. I'm also still looking at the Finishline III.

I'm also not totally convinced that I shouldn't just keep on with my old school guns and forget about HVLP, but I'm hankering to try something different and my truck is not a bad specimen for an experiment. My next job will be one that will have to have a REALLY good paint job, so it will be no guinea pig for sure.

The practical side of HVLP seems to be lack of ISO's in the air and less paint costs. Maybe the paint cost savings will never recover the equipment costs.

Oh well, just thinking out loud. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Do some research with Techline products you'll see the extra air holes at the nozzle that help with atomization. I'm talking two on each side of the nozzle after the tip but before the two fan width air holes in each wing.
Depending on your area and state, Calif. is a POS against things like spray guns here hence why I went this way. The Tech gun pisses off companies that have 10 psi tips vs Tech's 43 psi as it still meets EPA standards and sprays better, my observation and opinions. Bottom line i'm old school with Binks and DeVilbiss syphon guns 25-40+ years old that spray like day one. If I knew I could get away with the use of a syphon gun painting in my back yard without jail or a fine I would stick with syphon guns. I'm torn between this old and new high tech and dollar paint and guns.

Ask our member Dave Severson he paints all the time with his custom body work and spray painting for the types of guns he has for his painting.

 

What do you use for this? I ask because I posted a question in Garage and Workshop regarding painting 6 panel doors.

Reg

 

Lots of good suggestions here. Can we come together regarding good, better and best HVLP/conventional for:

1. Primer
2. Base coat
3. Clear coat

Sounds like the Techline is well received. Don't know about taking apart the regulator.

I know a lot teeters on skill, feel, brand loyalty, where it's made and such. I am just talking about the gun alone.

Reg

 

I don't believe that there is an answer or consensus that can really be arrived at. There are just way too many variables involved here as you yourself point out.

I think that if you have an adequate gun and know how to adust it and use it, you can come out with a nice paint job. There are so many terms that are thrown around when it comes to paint guns, it takes lots of study to even get an inkling of how everything fits together.

I have painted with a Binks number 7 for over 30 years, but that is only about a dozen complete paint jobs and some number of repairs beyond a couple of dozen. The thing of it is, I have confidence with that gun.

The only reasons that I have been looking into HVLP was the idea that I would use less paint (save money) and make it safer by putting less ISO's in the air. I do not live in a locale that mandates the use of particular guns or processes. Where I live, I could probably spray iso's into the air with a garden hose and wouldn't be breaking any laws.

For someone who has never painted before, there's not much point in starting out with old technology. If you're going to learn, you might as well do it with today's technology. For me, I already not only have the old technology equipment, but I am confident in its use.

Now that I have pretty much resigned myself to buying a fresh air system, I am very tempted to forget that I ever even learned to spell HVLP and keep on keepin' on with the old fashioned equipment that I have.

For you, assuming that you don't plan to take up auto painting as a career, I believe that you can do well with about any decent gun, but you just need to study and practice and stick with it. I expect, but I don't really know, that doing base with an HVLP and clear with a different conventional gun is something that should probably left to a practiced, experienced painter. I think primer can be shot with about anything as long as it is properly atomized and you understand how to mix it and lay it down so that you don't have solvent problems.

Without going back and rereading this thread, it seems that I remember that you already have a Finex. I understand that this is a good economy gun. If you want to get a nicer gun for bc/cc or stay with the Finex for that purpose and get a cheaper gun for primer, either way, I think you should put your energy into studying the adjustment, maintenance and use of the gun, mixing paint and the like, and PRACTICE. There are plenty of good articles on the various web sites that really get down to the science of understanding what's going on with the gun, the solvent and the paint, primer, and such.

There is indeed one thing in your post that I can comment about with experience. I think it was Beemernut that talked about opening up his regulator with a larger bushing or something. I have never used, nor will I ever use a regulator. I had the idea when I first started painting to make up a tee with a male quick coupler on one end and a female on the other. Then in the top of the tee I screwed in a pressure gauge. I connect the tee to the paint gun and the air hose to the other end of the tee. I get everything all set up and pull the trigger on the gun while standing next to my air drop regulator. I watch the tee gauge and set the pressure on that gauge by adjusting the air drop regulator. I then remove the tee and put the hose directly to the gun, just to have the tee out of my way.

The tee is wide open so there is no restriction, so when you remove it, you still have the same pressure at the gun.

I came up with this idea on my own over 30 years ago and it was confirmed valid by Kevin Tetz on an episode of "Trucks" a few weeks ago when he showed the same thing. Made me feel kind of smart. Even a blind squirrel comes up with a nut every now and then.

 

Those extra holes sound like the CAT stuff is the Sharpe of today. The old Sharpe 775 has extra holes in the cap for that same reason. The Sharpe guns were not as widely excepted in the old days only, IMHO, because they required more air when most people did not have large compressors.

Thanks for the info. I'm still teetering. My wife wants to buy me a gun for Christmas within a budget and I can't decide what to do.