OD Paint

[mattveeder]

I am getting ready to spray OD for the first time ever. I am wondering if any of you would be able to tell me what size tip you used on a hvlp gun? I do have some knowledge when it comes to base clear paint. My local paint guy (a vietnam vet) said to me that the od he used when he was in the service they had to thin the od paint. I was wondering if my new age od paint needs to be thined. I bought the four gallon lot that is required. So as I would imagine that would be a lot of paint if I thined it. Thanks in advance for all of the help.

[m-37Bruce]

But you will need to thin it somewhat, ratio, I do not know? But an old timer once told me that you should be able to almost see you finger print thru the viscosity of the paint?
I have always used a gravity feed or a siphon gun.
JMHO & Good Luck

[Nickathome]

Can't help you on the HVLP spray tip, however with regards to thinning, you will need to consult with the recommended thinning procedures per the paint manufacturer. I used Gillespie #24087 OD semi-Gloss and it is recommended that a 2 to 1 ratio of paint to thinner be used. I used NAPA Synthol #8004 thinner for this and it turned out great.

[TOM R]

i use a normal grav feed gun with the aerovoe paint, and fill enough for the cup use a little laqure thinner stir well with a drill mounted stirrer and strain and spray, use the normal tip supplied with the gun on the guns factory settings, and clean the gun with the laquer thinner afterwards, i only use a few tablespoons worth of thinner with the paint does not take much

[MSeriesRebuild]

Lacquer thinner is most definitely NOT the product to use for reducing enamel paint. NAPA Martin-Senour "Synthol" is the now old synthetic enamel reducer that has been around for ages & will work great with Aervoe-Pacific or Gillespie enamels. The ratio should be determined per the paint manufacturers recommendation. Synthol is available in 3 different temp ranges, be sure to get the one that's correct for conditions on paint day.

Gun tip size isn't really a big issue with this type paint as you will adjust paint flow rate anyway when you set up your spray pattern, the one that came with the gun should be OK. The thing with HVLP is to be sure you have the required 10 PSI at the cap at ALL TIMES, this is where the paint & air mix to form the spray pattern. Various guns require various PSI settings where the air enters the gun to make the 10 PSI happen at the cap. For example, we have an Iwanta gun that requires 16 PSI at the gun regulator in order to have 10 PSI at the cap, we have a SATA JET 2000 digital gun that requires 29 PSI at the gun regulator to furnish the same 10 PSI at the cap. Note I said at the gun regulator, we have a regulator on the air dryer set at 60 PSI, a 25' hose going from there to the gun. It takes a 60 PSI setting on the regulator at the dryer on the dryer outlet side to furnish the 29 PSI at the gun regulator, sounds far out, but yes a 3/8" ID hose will cut the outlet pressure by 30 pounds in a 25' hose length. I said all this to push home a point, an HVLP gun will not do a good job unless the required 10 PSI of air pressure is continuously present at the cap, if pressure drops below 10 PSI at any time during spraying, the paint job will have the texture of sand paper. Be sure your compressor is capable of supplying a continuous volume of air without pressure drop. It must furnish whatever the PSI rating of the gun is at the regulator with enough reserve so pressure never falls short. Remember, HVLP guns GULP a huge volume of air. A regulator is a must on a HVLP gun, no way on earth to hold the proper PSI without one because of pressure drop in the hose.

You mentioned that adding reducer to the mix would make a lot of paint, not true. Yes you will have more liquid when you pour it into the gun cup, but all the reducer is going to evaporate. If you have 3 gallons of paint when you start, 3 gallons of paint is all you will have applied in the end, except of course that which is lost in overspray.

[M-Thrax]

You didn't state what type/brand paint your using!
If you bought Gilliespie or Arvoe paint then I myself would not use less then a 1.8mm tip as these are heavy alkilyd ( industrial) paints not a automotive type/quality paints. You can use a smaller tipped gun but you would have to thin these paints way more then the manafacturer recomends. Also if you do have the above paints then don't waste your money using a automotive paint reducer $$ read the can as it says you can useToulene or Xzlene (sp) which you can get at Home depot for half the cost of the automotive paint reducers. 4 gals paint should do you fine plus being your using a hvlp gun which have a better transfer ratio then standard guns. I used 5 gals on mine but that was a frame off job. Also with the above ( heavier bodied) paints your gonna have to run a higher pot pressure then you would with (lighter) automotive paints.

[MSeriesRebuild]

You didn't state what type/brand paint your using!
If you bought Gilliespie or Arvoe paint then I myself would not use less then a 1.8mm tip as these are heavy alkilyd ( industrial) paints not a automotive type/quality paints. You can use a smaller tipped gun but you would have to thin these paints way more then the manafacturer recomends. Also if you do have the above paints then don't waste your money using a automotive paint reducer $$ read the can as it says you can useToulene or Xzlene (sp) which you can get at Home depot for half the cost of the automotive paint reducers. 4 gals paint should do you fine plus being your using a hvlp gun which have a better transfer ratio then standard guns. I used 5 gals on mine but that was a frame off job. Also with the above ( heavier bodied) paints your gonna have to run a higher pot pressure then you would with (lighter) automotive paints.

This is why I always highly recommend getting detailed spec sheets from your paint supplier, this information will give specific tip size info for HVLP gravity guns, syphon type guns, etc. Will also provide specific reduction ratios for use with & without hardener. Most include a manufacturers tech line# if you need further assistance. As I've said many times, if your paint supplier can't furnish material spec sheets, it's best to chose one who can. Many have chosen to follow general rules of thumb, however the simple truth is rules of thumb are a numerous as painters. Personally I chose to go by the manufactures expertise, paint is something that can be screwed up so easy it's unreal, why take unnecessary risk if correct info can be easily obtained.

We use a 1.4 tip on our HVLP gravity gun for the industrial enamels, lesser paint volume makes it easier to set the gun up for the finest material atomization. The finer the material is atomoized, the smoother the finished paint job texture with a much lesser chance of creating a run. As this gentleman brought out, industrial enamels are heavily bodied paints, improper reduction & high volume flow will cause paint to run very easily. The spec sheet will give the proper ratios to make a good finish job easy. Understand I'm not suggesting you use the tip size that works for us, your gun type may make a huge difference in that area. Get the correct info first, then work from that.

[TOM R]

the way i described workes fine for me I have done the jeep, weasel, and m37 all with no problems no runs no fisheyes no orange peel