Would this compressor setup work for painting?

[kp texan]

Well, I've had this thread in the Body Shop section for over a day now with no replies so I figured I'd hit a larger audience in the Garage section:

I bought this 33 Gal. compressor from Sears a couple months ago:
http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?cat=Compressors+%26+Air+Tools&pid=00916 732000&vertical=TOOL&subcat=Air+Compressors+%26+In flators&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

It's 8.6 SCFM @40 psi and 6.4 SCFM @90 psi.

It works pretty well for everything I've done up to this point (airing up tires, minor impact/air ratchet use), but I'm kind of kicking myself in the arse for buying it since its obviously underpowered for painting with an HVLP spray gun (not to mention it's a noisy oiless type).

My two options if I want to paint my own Blazer are:

Try to sell this compressor and buy a new one. I would sell this one used for about half what I paid if I'm lucky (it's like new right now), and then buy a much bigger compressor which will run me atleast $550-600 to give me the SCFM I need. My problem with this right now is the money issue (not to mention what I have to hear from my wife about replacing an almost new compressor with a much more expensive one). I would like to avoid this option until I can afford it in about another year.

My other option is to take my neighbor's air compressor (his compressor is the same model as mine and identical in every aspect) and link them together using 2 short air lines and a "T" and then coming off that fitting with a line for the spray gun. I also realize that we would have to be careful how we did the electrical connection of this so as not to overload anything. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this should effectively double my CFM up to roughly 17.2 SCFM @40 psi, give or take. The Sharpe Finex HVLP gun like I would like to purchase uses about 14 SCFM so hopefully this would work. My neighbor actually has a "Heep" that he wants to paint too so I know he would be fine with it and he also expressed alot of interest in setting a nice paint booth in his garage.

Other than it being noisy as hell, is that idea just too rigged up or would it work?

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,

Wes

 

[ryoken]

Huh, I don't remember seeing this in there, I woulda replied for ya..

That will paint your truck fine... I've painted 50' boats with less.. If it concerns you, set up an auxilary tank inline... spraying takes much less air than people think.. the gun isn't running every instant...

definitely buy an inline seperator at the gun...

need any paint advice, hit me up...

 

[kp texan]

Thanks so much for the quick reply!

If I were to paint small things such as a new bumper or parts, would my compressor alone suffice? I know it would be best to combine both compressors to paint the body on my K5 but it would be nice to be able to use the gun on smaller things without having to do that.

I've been doing some looking around and the Sharpe Finex seems like a pretty good gun for the money. Any of you guys have experience with them? Also, which size nozzle should I use? I see the Finex 300 being sold with 1.3mm, 1.4mm, and 1.5mm nozzles so I suppose it just depends on the type of coat you're putting on.

Thanks,

Wes

 

[ryoken]

unless your gonna be shooting basecoat or lacquer, get the 1.5...

And the finex is a decent gun, our other painter has one that I've used, sprays nice..

Don't even bat an eye at parts painting... seriously, people always WAY over estimate what a spray gun uses.. Don't read too much into the numbers, they're pretty meaningless.. you can paint your truck with that compressor...

 

[Leper]

That compressor will be fine. Let it fill before you start painting. the low pressure guns dont use much ...pressure. The only time you could possibly have a problem is if you held the trigger the entire time and never let off. Even then, it would take a while to use up 33 gallons of reserve while the compressor was running.