Painting for dummies

[Tyler Jackson]

I've been painting tractors with a rustoleum primer and an IH red both from rattle cans. I don't really mind the end result but I would like to have that flawless mirror new car paint kinda thing. I went and bought a 33 gallon 150 psi max air tank black friday (100 bucks off but still to much to pay for it)but I still need a gun. I read in an earlier post about some nicer guns but do the sears and lowes guns do an okay job? Also I have a auto paint shop near by that I could get to mix some paint for me but what do yall do out there? I'm sure I'll have some follow up questions when it gets a little warmer about dry time and what not.I appreciate your responses

 

[Dave H (MI)]

I bought a set very similar to the set in the link. Recommended by a friend it was affordable and worked great. Regulator in the kit is junk and so easily damaged that mine did not last thru the test period while I learned how to use it. New one from paint store works great. If you want a good primer on how to paint, go back 4-5 pages and look for questions I asked this past fall. I got a lot of good responses. Only advice I had that did not work for me was to hang a lot of parts on rerod. Works for heavy parts but control was difficult and lighter parts wanted to blow away from guns. Poor finish resulted when I could not control the piece I was painting. The only other major problem I had was trying to paint fenders without completely stripping. Results were ugly so I had them blasted clean again and started with bare metal. I could go on and on...you learn a lot on the first one.
HVLP Set

 

[ARCADIAINC]

A few years ago my wife bought me a pair of Campbell Hausfeld HVLP guns. Got arould to learning how to paint a couple months ago. I find them extremely high quality. The paint results are excellent. I use them for anything short of painting modern automobiles. She said they were pricy. I take this to mean $150.00-250.00 for the pair. I learned on my Ford 860. Bought the paint from the local New Holland dealer. A friend showed me how to mix the paint and primer. I went from there. Find my painting as good or better than many local body shops. I give the guns the credit. Not my inate painting skills. Hope this helps.

 

[rluscomb]

I bought one of those gravity feed paint spray kits from wal-mart about two years ago and as long as you keep it clean and lubed properly, it works awesome for the price. Painted a few cars, and a Farmall Cub, and it worked great, and didnt spend a fortune on a gun. Try it, if you dont like it take it back, but think you will like it. before painting, go to your auto paint store and get a disposable air drier filter for the gun, well worth the $12.00. good luck

 

[souNdguy]

i got a 30g 2hp chinese air comp from tsc a few years ago for 150$.. been using that ( and befor ethat a 4g 2hp pancake unit plus a 15g air tank ).. that and 10-25$ cheap guns.

add that to 26$ a gallon paint from valspar.. and weks and weeks of elbow grease and prep work on the tin and you can shoot a job that looks awesome....

finish is more in the prep and process than the tools and materials.

100$ a gallon paint with a 500$ gun, and 2000$ compressor over dirty contaminated tin and no experience will be a 10$ auction paint job.

26$ a gallon paint with a 15$ gun and 150$ compressor with a lil practice and hours upon hours of prep will make a near auto finish...

 

[thebigyellowtruck]

i have seen some nice paint jobs come from harbor freight spray guns and compressors. honestly as long as the prep work is good than the painting isnt hard. I actually just repainted my tractor fuel tank with automotive rattle can primer, paint, and clear coat. it turned out great. just use self etch primer on the bar metal. then primer surfacer. sand the primer surfacer then clean with wax and grease remover and spray the paint. once ur done with that spray the clear. it turns out nice.
before and after my painted tractor tank

 

[5020s rock]

this is good reading. well, painting is like bread...just becuz you spend 5 bucks on a loaf bread doesnt mean its the best. i use a cheap harbor freight gun and do well. like stated, prep work and paying attention to painting fundamentals are worth more than a $500 gun.
you know like ditka and bear bryant football-lol.
good luck

 

[Sam Eubanks]

TCP Global is a great resource. I feel the cheaper guns do a great job as long as you are not feathering into existing paint. I purchased the finish line set by delvilbiss. It comes with a 1.3, 1.8, and a touchup gun for less than 180 bucks. I also have some more expensive guns. I use the delvilbiss guns just as much.

Buy the cheap guns first. I didn"t and wish I had!