Scott as much as i love Stew Mac, you should check out other sources for spray equipment. If you are American you need to shop at harbor freight or similar.

Really what you need are a good compressor, which you can hit up any hardware stores to find the best deal. Then you need some good automotive guns. I use a couple HVLP (High Volume Low Pressure,) guns i got from an automotive supply chain (like harbor freight.)

Really there's not much you can't spray with that.

The biggest thing that a pro shop will have is the spray booth. And the facilities to store, and dispose of the more hazardous chemicals. Actually depending where you live some stuff may be outright illegal for you to buy, or to spray outside of the pro shop.

personally I have sprayed 2 part 2K urethanes with just a compressor and my guns. But that may not be kosher where you live.

Look at what you might want to buy from Stew Mac, then shop around for better prices elsewhere. They carry a ton of stuff, but a lot of times they have giant giant markup.

Another thing is, try talk to some auto painters, they can and will point you toward suitable products. But like Kemmerycustoms says, a lot of those paints are not cheap. And a lot of times the smallest amount you may be able to buy, would cover literally hundreds of guitars.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Here try these guys.
http://www.touchupspraypaint.com/products.php?cat=39

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

One place a person might check is a custom sign shop. Not one of those computer design vinyl shops but a true hand lettered (letterhead) sign shop those guys can do some pretty trick stuff and a lot of them are very good with an airbrush

Thanks for the info!

I do have a Harbor Frieght near by. I was just there a day ago as a matter of fact. I was checking out the belt sanders, routers, and band saws which are all things I want to add to my home shop. I have wanted some of these larger peices of equipment for some time. I have needed them for other projects I have done in the past and have always found a way around them. (borrowed others, rented or what have you)

The thing that worries me about harbor frieght stuff is that a lot of it just doesn't hold up over time. I kinda consider the orange Harbor Freight brand tools as a one or two use only piece of equipment. Simply because that is about all I ever get out of it before they break. The good thing is they are so inexpensive that I can justify buying one of them for a project as needed even if it will only last for that one project.

I also took a look at the spray guns that they had but they didn't look to be of decent quality. As for the StewMac spray guns I just assumed that they would be the best ones suited for the purpose since they were offered by StewMac. But now I know I can look elsewhere.

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2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

Scot there are a bunch of places to buy spray guns.

Stew mac seems to only have siphon feed guns. I would suggest looking into gravity feed, HVLP guns instead. But you do need to look around, always comparison shop.

Stew Mac carries quality stuff, but they are notorious for rebranding, and upping the ticket price substantially.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Hi guys: if we are talking about buying compressors and spray guns - then the world is chock full of makers and sellers. Enter those words into Google and Ebay when you have several hours to spare for wading through the results.

One thing to remember about compressors. Although you do not need a huge one for spraying guitars you do need one with a higher free air delivery than the gun you plan to use requires. So look hard at spray guns first: if you plan to buy one with an air consumption of 10-12 cfm then you need a compressor that exceeds that number, or it won't drive it.

Also, do not go mad with top of the range spray guns. You are not planning to spray cars or boats: a small gun with a modest cup capacity will be absolutely fine.

One more thing: do not confuse air guns and air brushes. Those and their associated compressors are entirely different animals. You ain't going to spray a guitar body with an airbrush...

I recently bought some new gear. I got a tidy little 25 litre compressor with a gun to match, rated at 5cfm with a 1000 mil cup capacity. Far more than enough for guitars!

You should be able to get everything you need for well under $200. Bigger is not particularly better for this job.

Good luck - C

Thanks Ceri, I was hoping you would chime in on this question.

and actually I might be spraying my boat with this gun
Not the entire boat, just some design work. But I don't want to go larger just to accommodate one job (the boat) so I'd still stick with the appropriate size for spraying guitars.

Thank you for the tip on the cfm of the compressor and gun. I would have surely "not" taken that into consideration without the advice.

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2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

Since the cfm issue was just brought up that I was not aware of are there any other issues that I need to know before choosing a gun and compressor?

what is a good volume I should be looking at? Ceri, you mentioned 1000mil. Is that the standard measurements they are sized or rated at? Or is that just for you all across the pond? Buying a gun here in the US would they still be listed by mil? Or something else? (I have no idea because I have not started looking for the gun yet since I don't know enough to know what I actually would need) I want to do all the research for what I need for tools for guitar building, then start shopping. Instead of jumping in arse backwards and buying tools first just to find out that there was something out there better suited for the job.

I'd like to thank everyone who has offered advice on this thread already. I consider all advice very strongly and use it all to come up with the best solution for me. I really do appreciate all the help. You all are helping me make the right choices and no doubt will save me money on getting set up for this project.

Thank you Kemmerycustomshop for the tip on the Kustom Shop Hot Rod Flatz. I checked out the products section and that looks to be exactly what I am looking for. The flat black they have is perfect!

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2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

the Flat is accomplished in the auto industry by using a flat clear coat. the coclr coat is actually the same as is used in gloss paint jobs.

the clear coat for flat has more solids in it, and is harder to spray without getting blotchy.

you can always use flat colors out of a spray can.

Hi Scot: I would presume that where you are cup capacities will be measured in fluid ounces. That is the case on Stew-Mac's website, at any rate:

http://www.stewmac.com/?PCR=1%3A100%3A1 ... rencyid=17

At a glance, those guns look high spec - and highly priced. I'm sure the quality is excellent, but for finishing one guitar at a time you can do just as well at a more reasonable price.

The quart cup on that expensive one is strictly for fellas like Mr Kemmery who might be finishing a row of guitars all together. Way over spec for home building - if you filled it you'd just make your wrist tired holding it and do a worse job! And then you'd throw three quarters of the lacquer away.

Filled to the brim my 1000 mil gravity feed cup is around 35 fl oz, give or take. That wildly exceeds the requirements of someone finishing guitars one at a time - I'm never likey to fill it.

BTW: I notice that one of those Stew-Mac guns is rated at 1.5 cfm, the other at 3. That's a good indication of what is appropriate for guitar finish work. A big automotive/marine type gun would be inappropriate for such duties.

And both of those guns will be driven fine by a very modest sized compressor. Again: we're finishing guitars here, not painting battle ships!

Lastly: pay good attention to anything Mr Twelvebar says on this subject. In addition to others he is one of the gentlemen round here that knows his eggs on this stuff.

Good luck - C

I really like the smaller gravity feed guns. I took a look at a few at the local home improvement store. I was talking to the guy who worked there and he offered to fill up a couple of guns with water for me so that I could get an idea of what they would feel like and how they would handle during spraying. I must say, the smaller gravity guns just seemed to feel more comfortable and stable. I cant explain why. They just did. The larger gun was ok, but when it was close to full it felt more unstable. I didn't care for the siphon style guns. They didn't feel as comfortable.

I took a look at the StewMac sprayers and have a question. How many fluid ounces is it normal to go through per coat of paint and clear coats? Would the 8oz gun be sufficient? Or would I have to do a refill to finish one coat?

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2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

Helpful guy - good service!


This depends on what material you are shooting. With some finishes you have to spray the next coat before the previous one has fully dried for a well bonded structure. So you will be spraying many coats in a day at, say, 45 minute intervals.

With nitro it is a bit different. Some people (including me) like to do maybe as few as two coats a day and then leave it overnight for the solvent to evaporate. Dan Erlewine and Don MacRostie recommend giving the surface a light sanding at the end of each day to "break into" the latest coat and facilitate that evaporation process. You can leave nitro for a long time between coats because the solvent in the new layer "re-activates" the previous one to a degree, permitting the new coat to "burn in".

This all makes nitro in some ways the easiest finish to spray and so a good place for a beginner to start. Move on to the more skillful finishes later.

So, I imagine you may start out with nitro, and since you'll only be spraying two or three coats at a go you will only need small quantities in the cup at a time. Till you get used to the quantities involved you will likely be throwing away as much as you use because you have over-filled the cup - which is better than running out half way through a color coat.

(I like waterbased finishes. I haven't used the one Stew-Mac sells, but they claim it too has burn in properties. It would be another way to go as a beginner, because it makes clean up easier - amongst many other benefits.)

So the answer to your question depends on the material and process you are using. But for finishing one guitar at a time I'd think an eight ounce cup would be fine. (With some guns you can switch between different cups.)

Be interesting to hear Mr Kemmery's comments on this stuff. I'm sure he finishes more guitars than the rest of us.

Cheers - C

Thanks for the explanation Ceri. I'm glad to hear the 8oz or similar size will work. It felt much better then the rest I looked at. As long as I can get away with out having to refill constantly during a spray process then I'd be happy. I do like the idea of the 2nd cup and switching cups instead of refiling. Is a 2nd cup something that is normally offered at additional cost with most brands?

_________________
2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.