Spray Guns

[etott]

Hello, I am a beginner, I have a HVLP siphon spray gun. I was wondering if it would work for gel coat?

4.8 cfm @40 psi
1.8 mm nozzle

Thanks in advance.

[jimslade]

One word, NO. You need a gelcoat gun. You will ruin your hvlp. To spray gel you need a much larger tip.

[fiberglass jack]

hvlp with a 2.0 tip will work even a 1.8 will work but u will need to thin the gel down with some styrinne or acetone for it to shoot, what are u spraying into a mould or resurfacing, for production get yourself a gelcoat dump gun the one that takes papercups cost around 250 the problem with a regular gun is the gel will go hard and all your left with is a expensive hammer, I had a guy F$%##k UP A 600 dollar sata on me once, if your going to be doing a repair the gun you have will work fine i often use a mini jet gun with a 0.7 tip and have seen a 0.5 tip used but for this the gelcoat has to be thined down and if you dont know what your doing you may end up in a mess

[etott]

Thanks guys, I think I will go buy a paper cup gun, any recommendations?

I want to spray into a boat mold.

Thanks

[Eagle Boats]

You can get a cup gun at fgci.com. They have one for about $130. This is a basic model. They also have one which adds the catalyst while you are spraying. This is more money. Stick with the cheaper one as you will know that the catalyst has been properly added and mixed.

How big is your mold? It is going to be a real pain in the butt if you are using a cup gun to spray a large mold. What you may want to consider is using a Model 95 or 14 Binks gun with a pressure pot. Those guns are designed for this application. The only thing to consider is that you can not waste any time while shooting because the gel coat has already been catalyzed. This is referred to as "shooting hot".

If you are only doing one boat, use the cup gun. If you are going into production, you need at least a pressure pot system. If you really plan to go into production, you should get a gel coat system that shoots the gel coat and the correct amount of catalyst. These systems run at least $5,000, but worth every penny.

[fiberglass jack]

www.esmfg.com
they have paper cup guns they have a few types one that will mix the mekp externally that will speed things up and help keep the ratio right, u can also buy a gun that will hold 8 litres the gel runs down a hose to the gun

[grp.boat]

i use a g100 cup gun from es. works quite well when i got the pressures right.. to low and it spatters out, and too high and it runs like hell.

[buckknekkid]

Are you going to the show Saturday>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[fiberglass jack]

going to try and get there ray , call u later in the week,

[jimslade]

Originally Posted by buckknekkid

Are you going to the show Saturday>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I might see you. I'll be hanging around the offshore stuff. I'm 6'5" 260lbs, My wife is 5'4" and blonde. look for me.
Jim

[StealthAssassin]

Originally Posted by jimslade

One word, NO. You need a gelcoat gun. You will ruin your hvlp. To spray gel you need a much larger tip.

I know this thread Is old.

This Is simply not ture... It's common sense, Clean the gun before It hardens! Don't get me wrong the hvlp has more parts to clean and you have to stay on top of getting to the acetone after spraying but, It will work.

The man (a while ago) was asking about the tip size If using a hvlp and I still think that Is a good question and It was never answered correctly IMHO...

A dump gun sure lays alot of material down. That I am not to crazy about on small detailed molds so, a hvlp makes more sense sometimes. Also seems to me that If gel Is sprayed In a hvlp It needs to be broke up a little bit.(regarding tip size)

Well, what tips do you guys recommend? I would like to hear what you have to say.