Spray paint: features of use
How often during the repair there is a need to paint something. And often, a brush or roller, are unable to cope with the task, which means that only the airbrush remains. And in this article we will talk about how to choose it correctly, and why an electric spray gun for paint is not always the best solution.
The content of the article
What you need to know
Having come to any hardware store, a person who is not closely connected with the painting craft will be amazed at the huge variety of spray guns presented there. So what is their difference? And why between some models, the price can vary by several orders of magnitude?
In fact, there are a lot of distinguishing factors, ranging from the principle of operation to the output power of the tool. For each type of paint, the spray gun is selected separately, but it is only relevant for professionals who constantly deal with them. But what about the average buyer?
We give some practical tips on choosing what you need to pay attention to:
- output power. The main parameter when choosing a spray gun. The higher it is, the thicker and heavier the paint can be. But do not immediately buy the most powerful tool if you need to work, for example, with water-based paint. Such a spray gun for painting it simply spray into space.
- Nozzle size. The smaller it is, the finer and more elegant the application will turn out, but the speed of work also depends on this, so the nozzle size is chosen depending on the tasks.
- type of drive. The most powerful tool is a pneumatic one, but for example a spray gun for water-based paint, it may well be manual, especially if the painting area is small.
- The brand. Unfortunately, the market is littered with counterfeit products of low quality, and often a lot depends on the brand.
Important! The most popular brand models, most often become victims of fakes, so before buying, be sure to ask the seller for all the related documentation that he is obliged to provide you.
And before proceeding to a detailed description of the tools, we suggest you watch the video in this article, which shows detailed instructions on how to properly paint spray with a paint. This will be useful both for beginners who have never encountered this task before, and decided to make repairs with their own hands, as well as experienced craftsmen who can find something new for themselves.
Types of Atomizers
As we said above, the main criterion when choosing a suitable spray gun is its output power, the thicker and heavier the paint, the more forces the tool needs to spray it. But liquid paints with a high power of an electric spray gun, on the contrary, will not lie on the surface of the product.
Therefore, it is necessary to choose a tool depending on the type of paint, which can conditionally be divided into several categories:
- Light paints. All paints are water or alkyd based. Also, nitro enamels, which when diluted (see The better to dilute the paint pf 115), it turns out very light.
- Heavy paint. All oil-based enamels, as well as silicone and silicate, which are very difficult to spray, even at high power.
- Hard paints. Which include polymer powder or rubber enamel (see Rubber paint: scope).
Manual Spray Gun
This tool, by definition, can hardly be called a polarizer, and it is more likely suitable only for spraying liquid paints on a water basis. Professionals never work with such a tool preferring to it more technically sophisticated spray guns on a pneumatic or electric drive.
A manual spray gun has more minuses than pluses, and this is what makes its steel unattractive among masters.
You can list all the shortcomings of the tools for a long time, so we will focus only on the most basic ones:
- Low power, which is enough only for water-based paints or, in extreme cases, alkyd enamels.
- Too small power reserve that is manually pumped. Spraying is enough for only a few minutes of work, after which the spray gun for paint must be pumped again, this feature affects both the application of paint and the speed of work.
- The low quality of the resulting coating and it is very difficult to choose the required mode of operation, the paint is either applied in a very thin layer or, on the contrary, begins to drain.
- Inability to work with any other paints other than water-based.
We intentionally do not dwell on this type of tool in detail, since, in fact, it is not a spray gun. But if, for example, you need to whitewash the ceiling in the garage, then this is the best option.
Electric spray gun
For domestic needs, this is the most optimal type of tool, but among professionals it is not very popular, and there are several reasons for this. The main one is the relatively low power, which is not always enough to spray heavy oil-based paints.
Also, power affects the speed of work, the lower it is, the slower the paint is sprayed and, accordingly, the lower the productivity of the tool. Of course, for a one-time operation of an electric atomizer it will be quite enough, especially if you do not plan to use it regularly.
Today, there are a lot of similar tools and moreover, many of them are quite high power, but even it is not enough to work with hammer or blacksmith enamels, which in themselves are very heavy.
You can argue about the advantages and disadvantages of electric spray guns for a very long time, but without trying to work with it, you can never say for sure whether it suits you or not. In any case, this is the cheapest tool compared to pneumatic counterparts, and if you need to purchase it only for single use, then this can be considered a good choice.
Pneumatic spray guns
This tool is rightfully considered the most popular among professionals, and the point is not only that its power can be regulated and it does not depend on the spray gun itself on the compressor to which it is connected. Depending on the need, nozzles can be individually selected for the pneumatic spray gun, which can not only affect the general appearance of the coating, but also the application speed.
Very often, choosing an airbrush with a pneumatic drive, they do not particularly pay attention to the airbrush itself, paying more attention to the compressor, believing that the whole painting process will depend on it.
This is fundamentally the wrong position, since not less, but often even more, depends on the spray gun.Many tools are of such poor quality that they can ruin all the work done, for example, if during the application process, the paint suddenly starts to fly out in clods, or spray unevenly, resulting in gaps or vice versa.
Advice! Before spraying, be sure to rinse it with a solvent appropriate to the type of paint chosen. This is necessary in order to remove all foreign impurities from the tool, which can curl the enamel in the process of applying it to the surface.
And in conclusion
As you can see, the correct selection of a spray gun for paint is a rather complicated matter, and even more so if you do not have the proper experience in this matter. The most correct thing is to ask for advice from a professional who can more accurately select a tool based on all your nuances and financial opportunities, which often become the basis for choosing a tool.
Moreover, the high cost of an electric spray gun is not a guarantee of a high-quality tool, but a tribute to the name of the manufacturer, who, for just one logo, adds several thousand rubles to the total cost, which is already rather big.
