Paint Thread from Vintage Owner Talk

The pressure that you spray at depends on the type of gun you use and the thickness of the paint. Also are you talking at the gun or at the compressor? If you set your air pressure at the compressor the length and diameter of your air hose will effect the pressure at the gun. Assuming you are spraying enamel with a conventional gun you probably need about 50 psi at the gun. If your pressure is to low the paint won't be smooth/atomized, if pressure is to high you will have excessive over spray. If available read the directions on the paint and the paint gun. A little experimenting on some scrap will tell you how it is working, also you can adjust the trigger stop and the mixture/pattern on most guns.

Oh Im really enjoying this because the absolute biggest problem I have with restoring a trailer is keeping a good painter. So I just want to learn to do it myself. I've seen beautiful paint jobs at the rallies and most of them were done by their owners or the next door neighbor. It can't be all that hard but there are some things that need to be known before I start. I have a lot of extra metal skin lying around here to practice with and will be sure to make video of my learning process.

I make mistakes so you don't have to...

And thanks goes to  you Hoosierpoet for puting this up for our benefit.

larry, I highly recommend using an HVLP spray gun...it moves a lot of fluid at relatively low pressure so there is MUCH less overspray and less wasted. The finish is also a finer finish, or rather it is easier to achieve a fine finish with HVLP guns. I have several myself, some bought new and some used from Ebay, but I'll never use a standard spray rig again.

No you can use your standard compressor with an HVLP gun, you will be setting no more than 40-50 lbs at the compressor, and you need to buy a disposable inline drier which fits between your hose and the gun (about 8 dollars) to keep any moisture from condensation out of the paint. I have an oil-less Sears Craftsman compressor that I have used since 1996 and have painted a LOT of cars, gas pumps, soda machines and even our kitchen when we did a remodel. the key is to practice.. get some scrap sheet metal and practice before you start spraying your project, it is not difficult to get a great final finish!

Bill I was just told that some kinds of tractor paint can either harm you real bad or kill you real bad without the proper suit and respirator....

Here is a quote from the person who told me this.

"Of course John Deere does not make paint so I would think they relabel Dupont or PPG or BASF products. That said if the product is something like IMRON or another polyurethane product you had better spray it using an outside air source hood and suit. It WILL kill you. A urethane product is not as deadly but will permanently harm you if you don't use the correct respirator and filtered mask. They are more durable but be very careful spraying them."