Cheap guns: my "newbie" observations.

S

StolenFox

So I bought two guns from Summit, a nice looking 1.4 lvlp unit with a aluminum cup for epoxy and finish and (based on "shine's" advice) a Vaper hvlp 1.8 for 2k primer.

Now I haven't sprayed a darn thing through them but after spending hours disassembling, cleaning and "finishing" all the machining I now wonder:

Is it possible that these guns a capable of producing better finishes than their price tag suggests? There was tons of grease, locktite, metal flakes, flash and incomplete machine work in both guns straight out of the box. Now that I've worked them over thoroughly I feel more confident in their use.

Granted, they are not Iwata's or Sata's but I wonder if the cheapies get a bad wrap because most don't spend the time "finishing the job" by thoroughly cleaning and detailing the machine work?

Guess I'll find out soon enough, the SPI epoxy kit is on its way!

S.F.
 
I believe you have found one major difference. As a newbie, I "upgraded" from a 40-year-old Craftsman siphon feed gun to a set of Devilbiss FinishLine guns. They were finished well and I thought they worked great (compared to the Craftsman). Based on the advise on this site I bought an Iwata LPH400 1.4 (silver cap). Close examination shows significant differences in several places. The machining involved in making the "tulip" on the Iwata gun is in a whole different league from the Devilbiss. The real difference shows up when you get the guns dialed in. The paint atomization from the Devilbiss is pretty good but the Iwata is just amazing. Here's a close-up of the two nozzles with caps removed. The one on the left is the Iwata and the one on the right is the Devilbiss.
Nozzlessmall_zpsfa48f537.jpg
 
That's certainly a big difference in design! By way of comparison, here's the summit lvlp and the vaper:image.jpg

S.F.
 
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