painting compressor

[RV9Aportorchard]

I've had no problems building my 9A with a small pancake compressor although it is noisy. However, now I am trying to do my own paint job and I was told that I need a compressor that is capable of continuous 16 SCFM at 70-90 psi. I checked with the local compressor shop and the only one that complies with that spec is hugh one 6' tall and 240 volts. Do I really need one that big to do a good paint job?

[Don Jones]

with a 15 gallon Sears oil less compressor in my garage at home. Had no problems what so ever.

[captainron]

I hope it's the Camaro and not the Nova!

[Don Jones]

Originally Posted by captainron

I hope it's the Camaro and not the Nova!

Yea if I can't paint better than that Nova, better give up building an airplane

[jetjok]

Originally Posted by Don Jones

Yea if I can't paint better than that Nova, better give up building an airplane

Hey! Thats my car! My finger got cramped holding the rattle can nozzle! Who sez that Wal Mart is not in the auto paint biz?
Note the onboard smoke system, pretty cool, eh?

[cytoxin]

It depends a lot on your equipment. Hvlp uses a lot of air. The old stuff seems to use less. However it’s not necessarily the compressor hp or volume but the reservoir size. I would suggest 5 hp, two stage, and 240 volts with 60-80 gallon tank. unless your done with air tools after this.

If you’re only going to paint one plane and that’s it, then a smaller one will work.
I used a 3 hp single stage 20 gallon to paint several cars. It could barely keep up so some planning is required. The source tank pressure would get so low as I was finishing a coat the gun pressure would start dropping off.

Not saying it can’t be done, but paint, ready to shoot, is nearly 100$ a sprayable qt. dont waste any

well gotta go, i have one more stripe to run err uh paint....

awesome 69 btw

[MNForrest]

You can get away with a smaller compressor (say 2.5-3hp 10-20 gallon) if you work in parts and pieces. Painting a car you need to work around the whole thing and return to the original wet edge - before it's not wet any more. Painting an aircraft one wing, stabilizer or fuselage hemisphere at a time you can achieve the same result with less air. Use the minimum recommended pressure at the gun for the paint and wait for the compressor to catch up and stop before continuing. Paint on a cool day. I also know guys that have hooked up portable compressor tanks in series to extend their spray time between "recharging" breaks.

ff

[frankh]

Now it says its 5.5hp but its a 115V machine so its really nearer 2hp. Think it has a 30 gallon tank?

I used HF HVLP guns wound up to 45psi with the trigger depressed.

Never noticed lacking for power, even during long heavy applications like the wing or fuse.

Frank