Types of Spray Gun to Use and Special Considerations

With all of the different types of spray gun available on the contemporary market, and the array of strengths and weaknesses that each one displays, it might seem to be a puzzle that only a philosopher could solve to decide which one is best for a beginning painter. Fortunately, the situation is not as bleak as that – and there are recommendations from the painting experts on what kinds of spray gun are best for those starting out in the

Ideally, you should purchase three spray guns – a standard, siphon-feed spray gun for low body spraying and similar tasks, an HVLP or LVLP spray gun to serve as your main painting tool (with the choice of high or low volume depending on a balance between your personal need for rapidity and the size of compressor you can afford to buy), and a small touchup spray gun. Touchup spray guns, also known as detail guns or jamb guns (since they are often used for doorjambs), are very small and lightweight, and have a top-mounted trigger operated by the index finger extended flat along the gun’s top. This makes the touchup gun a very agile painting implement

If you can afford only one spray gun, then an HVLP or LVLP gun is probably the best choice. HVLP needs a large compressor while LVLP can make due with a more unpretentious model, with cost being the primary consideration once again. These guns are to be preferred if only one spray gun can be obtained because they waste less paint and quickly pay for themselves.

Since it is impossible to hold up your spray gun constantly, and there will be occasions when you need or want to set it down, you should make arrangements to make this possible. Standard spray guns and touchup spray guns – the latter simply being much smaller, lighter, but essentially similar versions of regular siphon feed implements – can rest on any flat surface, because they are able to “stand” on the flat bottom of their paint cups, especially when the cup is heavy with liquid paint.

The paint cups of HVLP and LVLP spray guns are mounted atop the nozzle, however, so it is obviously impossible to stand them upright in any way. Lying on their sides might cause internal problems if remnants of paint were flow into areas they should not. Therefore, a special stand is needed to hold them. This is usually upright and made of metal, and includes both a loop to cradle the paint cup and a jutting limb with a small bracket at the end to cradle the front of the handle.

An essential part of these stands is a loop at the top, projecting out over the paint cup’s top when the spray gun is in the stand. This allows a funnel to be placed above the paint cup to make refilling much smoother – a detail you should remember if you decide to fabricate a stand yourself.