# Air compressor cup gun



## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Has anyone used any of the cup guns that you can buy powered by your air compressor..
wondering if they would be sufficient to run latex through. It's not often that I need an hvlp or air assisted rig so thought I'd ask around..
I currently do all my spraying with a Greco 495 airless but would prefer something a little less aggressive for fireplaces or cabinets..


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## mattpaints82 (Mar 7, 2013)

finishesbykevyn said:


> Has anyone used any of the cup guns that you can buy powered by your air compressor..
> wondering if they would be sufficient to run latex through. It's not often that I need an hvlp or air assisted rig so thought I'd ask around..
> I currently do all my spraying with a Greco 495 airless but would prefer something a little less aggressive for fireplaces or cabinets..


I use one for painting furniture, moldings, and other small projects where its not worth dragging the AAA out. I thin a little with water and run at 50psi with nice results.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

mattpaints82 said:


> I use one for painting furniture, moldings, and other small projects where its not worth dragging the AAA out. I thin a little with water and run at 50psi with nice results.


Nice. Thanks Matt. Any idea on the brand name or a recommended one...


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

Used them all the time. I haven't found an airless, air assisted, or turbine setup that would lay furniture quality finish as well as a cup gun.

The downside is having a compressor with enough cfm rating to operate one. Overspray is another downside. Devilbiss, Sharpe, and Binks are all good production guns. The gravity feed HVLP's require a lot of cfm so you're probably better off with a siphon feed.

Now for a good chuckle - Harbor Freight has a gravity feed gun that only requires 4 cfm, which is quite low. Gives a real nice quality finish and is somewhere in the $20 range.


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## Shakey0818 (Feb 1, 2012)

I wonder if a pressure pot like this one would work.http://www.harborfreight.com/2-1-2-half-gallon-pressure-paint-tank-66839.html


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Pressure pots work well with waterborne paints provided you have a fluid tip to match the viscocity. I like the pressure pots because you can really control the fluid flow separately from the airflow. However, the problem with waterbornes sprayed out of conventional equipment, will be with too much air and too wide of a fan, resulting in flashing. This usually occurs when the fluid tip is too small.

I have also moved from siphon feed cup guns to gravity feed guns because I believe that you don't need as much fan air to draw paint through the tip.


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## mattpaints82 (Mar 7, 2013)

finishesbykevyn said:


> Nice. Thanks Matt. Any idea on the brand name or a recommended one...


I have a nice graco gravity feed that works really well. However I couldn't find it the other day so I bought one of the cheapo one from harbor freight that Wolfgang was talking about. Was actually impressed with how well it worked.


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## Nabinko (Aug 3, 2015)

What air compressor will you be using? If you can't supply the gun with enough CFM's it will turn into a headache. If you don't want to lug around a bigger compressor try out a LVLP (low volume low pressure). Harbor Freight has a decent one for cheap with a 2.0mm tip. http://www.harborfreight.com/33-oz-lvlp-general-purpose-air-spray-gun-61455.html 
Still going to have to thin it though.


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## Nabinko (Aug 3, 2015)

mattpaints82 said:


> I have a nice graco gravity feed that works really well. However I couldn't find it the other day so I bought one of the cheapo one from harbor freight that Wolfgang was talking about. Was actually impressed with how well it worked.


 Airpro? I have a couple Sharpe Razor's which are the exact same gun.They're excellent guns. Great atomization. Unfortunately like most high end guns they take a lot of air to run.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Nabinko said:


> What air compressor will you be using? If you can't supply the gun with enough CFM's it will turn into a headache. If you don't want to lug around a bigger compressor try out a LVLP (low volume low pressure). Harbor Freight has a decent one for cheap with a 2.0mm tip. http://www.harborfreight.com/33-oz-lvlp-general-purpose-air-spray-gun-61455.html
> Still going to have to thin it though.


I just rock one of those porter cable pancake compressors. 3.5 gal. I think? Would that work for that harbour freight one. ? If I get more into this kinda stuff, I may consider a more aggressive unit. Works good for my spraytex unit.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Xx


finishesbykevyn said:


> I just rock one of those porter cable pancake compressors. 3.5 gal. I think? Would that work for that harbour freight one. ? If I get more into this kinda stuff, I may consider a more aggressive unit. Works good for my spraytex unit.


In order to sustain air pressure, so you can continuously spray evenly, you need to have as large of a storage tank as practical, along with a compressor that can fill it quickly. The small tanks like the one you describe, are for nail guns as I understand I. I suppose you could use it for air brushing.

You may want to look into the turbine conventional units. The turbines will provide the continuous air you demand at different stages. I've yet to use one, but I understand how they can provide continuous air without the need for a storage tank.


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## Nabinko (Aug 3, 2015)

finishesbykevyn said:


> I just rock one of those porter cable pancake compressors. 3.5 gal. I think? Would that work for that harbour freight one. ? If I get more into this kinda stuff, I may consider a more aggressive unit. Works good for my spraytex unit.


I'm afraid this won't work. It might for very very (x10) short bursts of time. 

CApainter recommended a turbine unit which is a great idea. I've never used one but I believe they use significantly larger air hoses. You might be able to convert a regular siphon style gun if you can get a hold of just a turbine but i'm not 100% on that.


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

Great info guys. I may even consider using my 312 fine tip with my airless Graco 495. Biggest issue I usually have for furniture type stuff is the spitting from the gun. All my airless machines seem to do it.. Is it just me? Or do all the airless machines spit..


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## slinger58 (Feb 11, 2013)

finishesbykevyn said:


> Great info guys. I may even consider using my 312 fine tip with my airless Graco 495. Biggest issue I usually have for furniture type stuff is the spitting from the gun. All my airless machines seem to do it.. Is it just me? Or do all the airless machines spit..


Spitting is a gun problem, not a pump problem. 

DIY? Carpenter?


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## finishesbykevyn (Apr 14, 2010)

slinger58 said:


> Spitting is a gun problem, not a pump problem.
> 
> DIY? Carpenter?


 Hey Slinger. An update on this thread. I've been a Journeyman Painter for 15 years. However I don't get into a lot of furniture re-finishing kinda stuff, as I don't have the space to take on those projects..
I've sprayed thousands of homes, ceilings and mouldings with my airless, but have never owned or really operated an hvlp or the likes.. As far as the gun spitting, I'm pretty sure everyone of my machines has always done it as long as I can remember, however you just kind of get use to it. It doesn't matter much on ceilings and New Construction gigs.
So just recently a customer asked me to paint out her custom floor to ceiling TV entertainment/fireplace kinda unit thingy.. Normally I would just use a brush and mohair roller, but figured with the detail it may be a nice spray job... But now that you ask, I do dabble in a lot of carpentry stuff too..:yes:


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