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I'm almost to the sanding down stage of my current build. I've been apply EM6000, and will likely finish this one the same way.
I've been using a dang cheap HF Spray gun and a compressor that supplies me enough steady air for plenty long enough for a session. I think its the same one on the Lichty video.

My question is this: What will a better gun do for my finishing process? Yes a LOT of a good finish depends on your process and your skill I get that, but I also know form experience that the right tool coupled WITH skill will produce a great product with FAR less headache.

I'm also in a place where an entry system like a Fuji isn't out of the question.

Again as always thanks for the advise and wisdom.
B

I’ll give my opinion but I bet I might be alone in it. I’ve used cheap guns and better ones and in acoustic guitar finishing, I have not found that it matters much in the end. We level sand our finish in most cases so what big difference does the finish out of the gun matter? Is orange peel hard to sand? I don’t find it to be. I have found that better guns clean up easier and better. The cheap guns internal passages are not as well machined and polished and I’ve found them holding crud more and building up crap internally. Eventually I toss them.
A good compressor is a different story. Good cfm and moisture control helps and worth the money.

I've had high dollar stuff, and cheapo stuff. I made it all work, and the clients couldn't tell the diff. I still use the $19 single action Miller I bought at K-Mart in the late 70's. That's 2 airbrushes AND a little compressor.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

A better gun will give you a better "as is" "off the gun" finish. A smoother coating with better atomization and a better transfer rate (finish on the object vs. finish on the floor) It will often have more air cap and needle choices than a cheap gun.
The more expensive HVLP type can give atomization a little closer to what a moderately priced conventional high pressure gun will give and a much better transfer rate. If you are doing finishing professionally this can amount to a big savings in materials costs.
If you are sanding and buffing out the final finish a smoother coating will allow you to start at a finer grit and a more even coating may allow yo to do a thinner final finish.
Many other things determine the quality of the coating besides the equipment applying it. There are several additives that can be used to modify the way the coating reacts with the environment. You may want to explore some of these before making a big investment in new equipment.
With the relatively small amount of finish work I do, if I were to upgrade my equipment from the cheap HF jamb guns I use, I would buy a better quality conventional high pressure gun for a couple of hundred dollars.

I have a number of guns. I found out what the others are telling you. It ain't the arrow , its the indian. One thing you may want to look is what nozzle you have. Learning to set up a spray gun is a bit of an art.
Too much air your product is drying before it hits to much material you can get lumps and runs. There is a curve to learn how thin to make it and to adjust the air and material flow.
Also it is all about the prep. I am very fussy on sealing and filling. The spray I need fair to good as it isn't so much what you put on as much as it is what you let on.
It takes a while to dial it in.
I have a Sata and devilbiss and HF. My favorite one is the HF touch up gun. It is small and I have it adjusted where I like it for Nitro. Water may take a different nozzle .

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

That’s for the responses.


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I use a good spray gun and never tried a cheap gun, so no help there. I have sprayed EM6000. It is important to spray EM6000 within a relatively narrow wet thickness range 2-4 mils. Use a wet mil gauge. If the individual coats are too thick the finish picks up a blue tint. Nitro is more forgiving in terms of how the spray go on. If you get enough on you can level it back all is good.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I had an old Binks jamb gun that was well made, but old technology.
Got about 30 years out of it, and got tired of rebuilding it.
It was a bottom cup siphon feed.
Then I got a Finesse, (Sharpe?) for not that much coin.
The difference was amazing.
Much more settings to dial in, but when it's set right,
and I'm on fire with it, it's amazing.
Thing is, since I spray so seldom, I only got lucky a few times, with both guns,
so, it's all in the set up, and if the stars are aligned.
I think a good gun is definitely worth it, if ya got the bread.
Alan

I still use a Devilbiss JPA conventional suction gun I bought 40 years ago. I paid a whopping $90 at Sears way back then. (Anyone remember that store?) I use a 1.6mm tip for waterborne and a 1.2 for nitro. Life is good.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Lets see, Harbor freight guns lasted me a year tops..... My devilbiss? that's almost a decade old and going strong.

So what wears out? Needles and tips...,. quality of metal matters a lot here if you actually use a gun a lot. For those who spray 2 guitars a year it likely doesn't matter much. You'll never wear it out or get enough practice in to appreciate the things better guns offer like better pattern control and pattern choices.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

the rubber seals/gaskets/o-rings also go bad after time