Good HVLP Conversion Gun for Nitro?

I haven't been here in a while, because I have been in denial about doing the finish on my walnut Telecaster. I finally got an air dryer for my air compressor, so I no longer have an excuse.

Can anyone recommend a good HVLP conversion gun? I can order online, but I am not far from Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, and Northern Tool. I saw that someone mentioned the guns Grizzly sells. I'd like something easy to deal with and easy to clean.

I want to spray the sides of this thing with black or dark brown paint and creat a sunburst, if at all possible.

I use this guy. Super easy to clean, and very easy to control. About 30$ at Walmart.
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm308/coltwknight/AC%20Wescott/2011-11-02173659.jpg

Will that shoot small enough to make sunbursts easy, or should I get a big gun and a little one?

Will that shoot small enough to make sunbursts easy, or should I get a big gun and a little one?

I use it to shoot bursts. There is a Fan control knob on the gun. You can narrow or widen the fan. When I spray a solid color, I widen the fan, and when I do bursts, I narrow the fan. At its narrowest, its probably about 1.5-2" fan, or more like a dot.

These are sale and have pretty good reviews at HF. $50 for the pair less 10% and the small one is great for bursts and necks.

http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_12134.jpg

$15 from Harbor Freight.

I have a few of them and use them for 90% of my painting. I only use my other guns when sprayin RTS lacqure.

I just finished air brushing true fire ghost flames in pearl and covered with three different candy colors to achieve the right degree of transparency. I also own an automotive collision shop. Go the autobody tool mart. Google it. Much much better equipment than harbour freight. You should by a mini though. Not a full size gun. The minis dont require the cfm load the big ones do and they atomize a lot better. Especially on small stuff like guitars. Buy a decent one though. The cheap cheap ones might feel like they shoot ok but if you compare, ultimately youll get better results with better equipment. Ive been in this industry for 26 years. Ive seen it all.

I haven't been here in a while, because I have been in denial about doing the finish on my walnut Telecaster. I finally got an air dryer for my air compressor, so I no longer have an excuse.

Can anyone recommend a good HVLP conversion gun? I can order online, but I am not far from Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, and Northern Tool. I saw that someone mentioned the guns Grizzly sells. I'd like something easy to deal with and easy to clean.

I want to spray the sides of this thing with black or dark brown paint and creat a sunburst, if at all possible.

You will only be able to achieve sun burst effect with an airbrush. DONT BUY A CHEAP AIRBRUSH!!!!!! Youll waste your money. Trust me. I have an Iwatta Eclipse. Its about the best one out there. Under 200.00. Search internet for tips on airbrushing. Or ask me, ill be glad to help. But its good to have video instruction

You will only be able to achieve sun burst effect with an airbrush. DONT BUY A CHEAP AIRBRUSH!!!!!! Youll waste your money. Trust me. I have an Iwatta Eclipse. Its about the best one out there. Under 200.00. Search internet for tips on airbrushing. Or ask me, ill be glad to help. But its good to have video instruction

I keep thinking of stuff. I know people who can achieve a pretty basic not perfect sunburst using a big hvlp or even a mini using the fan, volume and regulator controls. Problem is when you get to the really light fading in part of the project you have to lower the pressure which comprimises the atomization of the material. Use the mini hvlp to shot the largest portions but you really have to use the airbrush to get that true blended sunburst effect. Also transparent candy colors are awsome for sunburst depth effeect. Check out my avatar pic. Its candy with pearl tru fire ghost flames. Someone offered me 2800.00 for it at guitar center today. Ill never sell it.

You will only be able to achieve sun burst effect with an airbrush. DONT BUY A CHEAP AIRBRUSH!!!!!! Youll waste your money. Trust me. I have an Iwatta Eclipse. Its about the best one out there. Under 200.00. Search internet for tips on airbrushing. Or ask me, ill be glad to help. But its good to have video instruction

Sorry. To answer your question about good hvlp's. Sata Jet mini, Anest Iwatta. These two are unquestionably the best. You can still get decent guns like Binks, Sharp and DeVillbis with out spending 500-600.00 like you will on a Sata or Iwatta.

I haven't been here in a while, because I have been in denial about doing the finish on my walnut Telecaster. I finally got an air dryer for my air compressor, so I no longer have an excuse.

Can anyone recommend a good HVLP conversion gun? I can order online, but I am not far from Home Depot, Lowes, Harbor Freight, and Northern Tool. I saw that someone mentioned the guns Grizzly sells. I'd like something easy to deal with and easy to clean.

I want to spray the sides of this thing with black or dark brown paint and creat a sunburst, if at all possible.

I loaded a few pics for you

You will only be able to achieve sun burst effect with an airbrush. DONT BUY A CHEAP AIRBRUSH!!!!!! Youll waste your money. Trust me. I have an Iwatta Eclipse. Its about the best one out there. Under 200.00. Search internet for tips on airbrushing. Or ask me, ill be glad to help. But its good to have video instruction

Fender and Gibson put out a lot of Sunbursts without an airbrush.

Fender and Gibson put out a lot of Sunbursts without an airbrush.

Well you can buy a 200.00 airbrush or you can pay fender or gibson to paint it for you or you can invest the hundreds of thousands of dollars and buy the same equipment they use. Your choice.

Well you can buy a 200.00 airbrush or you can pay fender or gibson to paint it for you or you can invest the hundreds of thousands of dollars and buy the same equipment they use. Your choice.

Or you can simply spray your burst on with your HVLP gun like so many of us on this forum do.

Or you can simply spray your burst on with your HVLP gun like so many of us on this forum do.

Heard a lot of good points on this forum. I like the mason jar idea. I use mixing cups with lids on them but they are pricey. I guess however you decide to do your sunburst its always trial and error. It also depends on how picky you are about your results. If your going with ideas based on cost then youve heard some good ideas. If you want truly professional results it wont be as cost effective. If your only doing one or two guitars you may not want to spend the money.

Heard a lot of good points on this forum. I like the mason jar idea. I use mixing cups with lids on them but they are pricey. I guess however you decide to do your sunburst its always trial and error. It also depends on how picky you are about your results. If your going with ideas based on cost then youve heard some good ideas. If you want truly professional results it wont be as cost effective. If your only doing one or two guitars you may not want to spend the money.

This was a quick example lesson i was doing cause my painter wanted to learn how to do true fire. I stopped about 80% through the process. He picked up pretty quick. If you look close there is a lot of sunburst "type" of effect in true fire. Its impossible to get this effect without candy colors and an airbrush. Candys allow you to get tranparency. High solid colors no matter how much you reduse them dont give that effect.

Fyi. You can do " fades" with the hvlp.

Our friends at Collings Guitars in Austin getting some pretty nice bursts.

VJNnAw-rXng

Looks very professional. I love that wheel thing they got going on. I may have to swipe that idea.

Our friends at Collings Guitars in Austin getting some pretty nice bursts.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNnAw-rXng">YouTube Link</a>

Looks very professional. I love that wheel thing they got going on. I may have to swipe that idea.

Yeah. Hes using a Sata Jet. Looks good. Is this a custom shop?

Yeah. Hes using a Sata Jet. Looks good. Is this a custom shop?

Collings is a high end acoustic shop. They make a lot of super nice instruments including guitars and mandolins.

Collings is a high end acoustic shop. They make a lot of super nice instruments including guitars and mandolins.

I did the same search on sunburst stuff. Found some airbrushers and some hvlp guys. I even found a turbine guy. Ive got two of those. Its real low air pressure from the cap like 6 lbs. Atomizes really well. Would be good for this. I noticed to that he was applying laquer dye which is the equivilent of laquer candy that is good stuff too. I still like the better blend out with the air brush, ots just a more seemless transition from one color to the other. Thx for the video.

I did the same search on sunburst stuff. Found some airbrushers and some hvlp guys. I even found a turbine guy. Ive got two of those. Its real low air pressure from the cap like 6 lbs. Atomizes really well. Would be good for this. I noticed to that he was applying laquer dye which is the equivilent of laquer candy that is good stuff too. I still like the better blend out with the air brush, ots just a more seemless transition from one color to the other. Thx for the video.

That dye he puts on does fade his blend in, kinda camoflages it. Same with true fire, after each layer you put a coat of candy and it gives you that depth.

Collings is a high end acoustic shop. They make a lot of super nice instruments including guitars and mandolins.

A guitar tech at guitar center was telling me about a shop out of Austin that sells some guitars through them. He said they were like 5-6k. Is this that shop?

A guitar tech at guitar center was telling me about a shop out of Austin that sells some guitars through them. He said they were like 5-6k. Is this that shop?

I'm thinking a basic D-18 style is about 3500$

Our friends at Collings Guitars in Austin getting some pretty nice bursts.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNnAw-rXng">YouTube Link</a>

Looks very professional. I love that wheel thing they got going on. I may have to swipe that idea.



114768

Just a couple pics. Looking head on you can see the wood grain. Looking at an angle you see the fire. I dig that layered look

Looks nice.

Looks nice.

Thanks. You got any pics?

Thanks. You got any pics?

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PM Sent

What does pm sent mean?

I have a two-gun set from Grizzly on the way. I'll see what kind of burst the smaller gun does on scrap wood.

My compressor is 5 HP (real HP, not Chinese) and something like 18 CFM, if that matters. And I use 1/2" ID hose all the way to the gun, so the flow is about as good as it can get. I used to have 3/8" hose, but then I learned how stupid that was.

The fire effect looks great, but I'm going for a brown guitar with black edges. Not really that complex. I want to do a burst for two reasons. First, I've noticed that plain walnut with no burst makes a guitar look homemade. Second, I want to cover up a joint near the neck.

Looks nice.



114771

I did the sides and the back in brandywine metallic.

Looks nice.

Have you ever seen a black control plate? Ive looked everywhere. I had to make mine out of an old black pick guard i had.

I'm thinking a basic D-18 style is about 3500$

Well not as expensive as Taylor. I really never could yell the difference between some of those highend acoustics. Ive got a 1941 Martin 0018. It plays amazing. It has quite a bit of age damage but its like butter. Never played a 4000k Taylor that played better. Sound better maybe.

I have a two-gun set from Grizzly on the way. I'll see what kind of burst the smaller gun does on scrap wood.

My compressor is 5 HP (real HP, not Chinese) and something like 18 CFM, if that matters. And I use 1/2" ID hose all the way to the gun, so the flow is about as good as it can get. I used to have 3/8" hose, but then I learned how stupid that was.

The fire effect looks great, but I'm going for a brown guitar with black edges. Not really that complex. I want to do a burst for two reasons. First, I've noticed that plain walnut with no burst makes a guitar look homemade. Second, I want to cover up a joint near the neck.

This one was homemade.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm308/coltwknight/IMG-20110104-00022.jpg

Have you ever seen a black control plate? Ive looked everywhere. I had to make mine out of an old black pick guard i had.

Guitar Fetish has 'em:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Black-Control-Plate-vintage-Telecaster_p_109.html
http://www.guitarfetish.com/assets/images/products/blcoplvite.jpg

Guitar Fetish has 'em:
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Black-Control-Plate-vintage-Telecaster_p_109.html
http://www.guitarfetish.com/assets/images/products/blcoplvite.jpg

Thx.