Beginner Spray Gun Setup

[BJMtz]

I’ve been contemplating buying a spray gun setup. I’ve used rattle cans for a number of part and kit builds but I think I want to step up finish quality. I could also use it for things other than guitars.

How much would I be looking at for an entry level yet good spray setup? I’d need everything from gun to compressor and all accessories in between. To be honest I don’t know what’s required other than a gun and compressor so if anyone can provide a good rundown of it or a source for one it’d be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Given the toxicity and environmental issues associated with traditional VOC type finishes like nitro and poly, give some strong consideration to going with water borne finishes like Varathane Ultimate. It's now a proven guitar finish, and has the advantage of not requiring an expensive setup, explosion proof fans, large compressors, etc. It can be applied with a really inexpensive pancake type compressor and Harbor Freight HVLP gun. There is a whole mega thread about it here, where people are figuring out the best practice with it in real time. It's up to 82 pages, but you can read just the last 10 pages or so and get the gist:

Using water based products for instrument finishing, Target Coatings 9000 6000 and Varathane WB

Another option to consider is some of the newer UV activated finishes like Solarez "I can't believe it's not laquer", it cures in sunlight or under a UV lamp in literally a couple minutes, versus the weeks required for a traditional Nitro finish, and can be applied with a paint brush. I think there are sprayable versions of it now too.

The only downside is that all these new finishes are cutting edge, which means there isn't the huge well of experience and tricks of the trade developed for using them, but since you are just getting into it, nothing to unlearn or un-buy. I messed around with rattlecans, 2k automotive paint, etc. for years, and I'm sure did some damage not only to my lungs, but also the environment. No high horse here, I've dumped my share of solvents onto the ground, but I'm not doing it anymore.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed].

The Highline Guitars guy has done a lot of experimentation with alternate finishes, though he uses Crytallac water base, not Varathane, but he gives pretty honest review of the pros and cons of each finish he reviews.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

So far purely speculation (still embroiled in making the building habitable, ugh) and I fell into a couple, but I'm certainly going to give airbrushes a try as they seem like a perfectly reasonable scale option for the relatively small bits we don't make in mass quantities. Will take a few passes for body coverage, and there may be things I haven't thought of going against them...

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I think airbrushes are perfect for something like a headstock, but doing a whole body would get tedious quick, but people have done it. The challenge with any finish is getting a feel for how much to put on so it flows out well but doesn't run, and you can waste a ton of paint trying to figure that out (I did). Obviously rattle cans are the easiest option, but I read recently that about 80% (!!) of what comes out of a spray can BOUNCES off the surface and into the air around you, so its incredibly toxic, flammable, and overall wasteful. HVLP guns, even a cheap one, waste far less material. Out of ignorance, I bought an all-in-one HVLP single-stage turbine sprayer from Harbor Freight that only has controls for paint volume, not air volume. The best I could achieve with Varathane was a light/medium orangepeel finish that took a lot of elbow grease to level sand, but buffed out like any VOC paint. These are two Ric clone builds I finished a couple years ago, the one on the right was sprayed with the HF turbine using the first generation Varathane. I used Stewmac Colorant for water based paint for the black colorcoats and straight gloss Varathane for the clearcoats. They now have an improved version called Varathane Ultimate that seems to flow out better:

This is a 93' MIM P-Bass I refinished in a Seafoam/Daphne Blue using the new Varathane Ultimate. I had a lot of trouble with dust and lint control getting into the finish, but that had nothing to do with the paint. If you squint a little, it looks great.

Here's the setup I used on both basses, but I can't really recommend it. Air volume is really important with Varathane and other WB paint, if it dries too quick in the air, it will leave a pebbly orange peel finish. @Bruce Johnson has pioneered experimentation with it, and uses a cheap HF HVLP gun with no fan air and relatively low pressure, and he's getting great results on his Ampeg bass builds. In retrospect, i would have been better off with the cheap gun and pancake compressor, but at my ultra-low output, it's not worth buying anything else.

 

[Beej]

Nicely put @Gilmourisgod

 

[BJMtz]

Given the toxicity and environmental issues associated with traditional VOC type finishes like nitro and poly, give some strong consideration to going with water borne finishes like Varathane Ultimate. It's now a proven guitar finish, and has the advantage of not requiring an expensive setup, explosion proof fans, large compressors, etc. It can be applied with a really inexpensive pancake type compressor and Harbor Freight HVLP gun. There is a whole mega thread about it here, where people are figuring out the best practice with it in real time. It's up to 82 pages, but you can read just the last 10 pages or so and get the gist:

Using water based products for instrument finishing, Target Coatings 9000 6000 and Varathane WB

Another option to consider is some of the newer UV activated finishes like Solarez "I can't believe it's not laquer", it cures in sunlight or under a UV lamp in literally a couple minutes, versus the weeks required for a traditional Nitro finish, and can be applied with a paint brush. I think there are sprayable versions of it now too.

The only downside is that all these new finishes are cutting edge, which means there isn't the huge well of experience and tricks of the trade developed for using them, but since you are just getting into it, nothing to unlearn or un-buy. I messed around with rattlecans, 2k automotive paint, etc. for years, and I'm sure did some damage not only to my lungs, but also the environment. No high horse here, I've dumped my share of solvents onto the ground, but I'm not doing it anymore.

I feel you. I've used rattlecan nitro a number of times and I'm sure I've done damage to my body. I did not take proper precautions early on until I learned more about it. I regret it bigtime and if I can use stuff that's nontoxic but gets great results I'm all for it.

I already have a pancake compressor so I'll read up on the WB stuff. If all I'll need is a HVLP that's a great start.

 

[dwizum]

It seems like threads like this come up often and people get pointed to that big thread. It would be great if someone could distill the essence of the big water based thread into a few bullet points we could have separately for easy reference. Or maybe it's already in there somewhere and I just don't know yet. I know Bruce has written a ton in there, but every time I go looking for a summary of the basics I feel like I get a little lost.

I say this with the utmost of respect for all the contributions there and I hope it doesn't come off as lazy or demanding...

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Yes, one of us should write up a tutorial thread specifically about the use of Varathane Ultimate for finishing instruments. I personally did almost 20 years of experimenting with water-base finishes, different brands, types, spray equipment, technique, etc., and a lot of it is documented in that mega thread. I've been working with Varathane Ultimate for several years now, and it seems to be the perfect finish for what I need. I can use it to do high quality finishes of many styles and types, and it's safe, clean, consistent, easily available, and inexpensive. I really don't have any complaints at all about it. There's some unusual technique required with it, which I've thoroughly worked out.

Most of the information for this tutorial is contained in the most recent 20 pages of the mega thread, but it's patchy and disorganized. Someone needs to assemble it into an article format, going step by step. I don't have the time right now. I'm busy writing about many other things here on TalkBass.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@Bruce Johnson
I'd be willing to take a crack at compiling a "how to" from the WB thread, a lot of it was documenting real time experiments on what worked and what didnt, and it changed over time as you and other people (mostly you) worked stuff out. If I compile it, maybe you'd be willing to just proof read it to fix the inevitable eff-ups or misinformation?

 

[Matt Liebenau]

@Bruce Johnson
I'd be willing to take a crack at compiling a "how to" from the WB thread, a lot of it was documenting real time experiments on what worked and what didnt, and it changed over time as you and other people (mostly you) worked stuff out. If I compile it, maybe you'd be willing to just proof read it to fix the inevitable eff-ups or misinformation?

You may have signed up for a never ending job as some things still seem to be evolving! Still, even though I have a couple of book marks in the big ol’ thread a Readers Digest (yes, I’m old) version could be nice.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Bruce seems to have arrived at a decent process, I'll try to collate his latest set of methods into a Draft, and people can comment and add/subtract stuff as needed. If we can hone it down to essentials, maybe we can sticky it.

 

[dwizum]

@Gilmourisgod I nearly tagged you in my post above but I didn't want to come off as volunteering you so I'm glad you're volunteering yourself!

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I’ve been contemplating buying a spray gun setup. I’ve used rattle cans for a number of part and kit builds but I think I want to step up finish quality. I could also use it for things other than guitars.

How much would I be looking at for an entry level yet good spray setup? I’d need everything from gun to compressor and all accessories in between. To be honest I don’t know what’s required other than a gun and compressor so if anyone can provide a good rundown of it or a source for one it’d be greatly appreciated.

Just get yourself a cap sprayer. You can buy one that the cup flips to gravity feed for finer finishes. It's all one unit, no need for filters because its not a compressor its a blower (it doesn't create oil or water), and they're fairly cheap. You can pick one up for around 500 bucks. Keep it clean, and it'll last a lifetime.

 

[Reedt2000]

Bruce seems to have arrived at a decent process, I'll try to collate his latest set of methods into a Draft, and people can comment and add/subtract stuff as needed. If we can hone it down to essentials, maybe we can sticky it.

That would be amazing