What's wrong painting with a siphon feed gun? I recently picked up another DeVilbiss JGA spray gun from my local Craigslist. It's brand spankin' new, and I got it for next to nothing. So last night while celebrating NYE, I made mention of the fact that siphon guns are absolutely great tools and are most underrated by today's hobbyists. For making that statement, I was pounced on by some of my guests. It's as if these guns were totally outclassed by gravity feed HVLP guns and all of the sudden they are considered second class "crap". Most of these guys have never used a quality siphon feed gun, so I just wondered --
.......who still uses these great old pieces of spray technology?
I've painted cars with siphon feed guns for over 30 years -- yes, they are not as effcient as HVLP, but they work well. I do have two very nice Astro HVLP guns, but still prefer the siphon feed for certain finishes (especially for lacquer based primer-surfacer, and single stage coatings).
Here is my new JGA -- one of the best guns ever built
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/PICT0174Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/PICT0177Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/PICT0178Medium.jpg)
These are my primer guns (1970's Buffalo and a 1980's HF) both work well -- no HVLP required.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/PICT0181Medium.jpg)
This is my 1976 Sharpe model 75 -- one of the best guns ever made. That Sharpe 75 and my old JGA have painted well over 25 cars -- and I wouldn't trade them for anything
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/PICT0183Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/PICT0184Medium.jpg)
Last car I painted with the DV-JGA and SH-75 siphon feed guns was my old 1995 Rodeo. Here it is after a single stage respray 7 years ago -- painted in my garage with Dupont acrylic enamel.
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/Image09Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/Image10Medium.jpg)
(http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/goodfellow_2004/Old_Spray_Guns/Image11Medium.jpg)
How did I miss this post? The first new gun, and still favorite was a JGA gun. Around the same time I purchased a Devilbiss jamb gun as a companion I have found equally delightful in use. In 1987 my dad's brother passed and I inherited his Sharpe gun (looks like a twin to yours Ray) I don't recall the model number. My uncle restored two Model A Fords with stunning results using the Sharpe gun. I rarely use my guns and always grab the JGA out of familiarity and habit. In 1990 I bought a new in the box Devilbiss MBC 2 qt carry pot setup.
Boy did I ever learn a lesson when I put it to use the first time! Having never used a gun of that size I had no idea how quickly you could run a quart, roughly 1/2 gallon reduced of paint through a gun of that size! I recall the fan of material being half again that of my JGA! The MBC sprayed well, but man did that thing ever March through paint! That said, it is a truly magnificent beast of a gun. Years later I bought a Craftsman HVLP gravity gun new on a clearance that I have yet to use. Later still, I bought a new Binks gun and cup, siphon feed both new, unused and still in their boxes gun stupid cheap at a sale of a deceased mechanics tools. Not a #7, but appears about equal in every way. I have yet to use that either. It was too cheap to pass up like everything else sold at that sale. Unfortunately the guys widow trusted some fool that thought he knew tool values to price this massive lifetime accumulation of mechanic tools, plus the sweet Mac triple stack friction slide set insanely cheap! A bit sad to witness actually. Literally sold the whole works, piece by pice for likely a total of less than $1000 I bet. I also bought a brand new in the box Victor Journeyman torch set, complete clear down to the paperwork for $50 the same day to give an idea how under priced everything was. Certainly one time I wished I had an extra $1000 to burn for sure!
Thanks for this thread Ray!
Binks #7 was the preferred gun of the West Coast "Kustomizers" back in the day. The had to spray a lot of layers and Candies to bring out depth, and there was something about the Binks that made all those paint layers pop.
For general purpose non metallic production work the Sharpe 75 was a body shop staple, while the JGA was the gun for metallics of all types.
There was also a Sharpe model that was designed and used for the really heavy flake metallic formulas, but I can't remember what it was. I saw a paint job just out of the oven with one of those heavy large flake metallic formulas and it looked like you could pick it up with your finger right through the clear coat. It wasn't necessarily to my liking, but had a lot of respect for the painter and his equipment.
West Coast Latino influence had a lot to do with the popularity of the heavy metallics. Those guys didn't have a lot of money for speed parts, so they concentrated on custom bodywork and paint.
As a young guy, never in the trades, the big three, Sharpe, Binks,and Devilbiss were all known brands in the pre internet reading and knowledge I picked up. My understanding, all based on reading stuff only, was the Binks #7 was the end all, be all. All that said, my personal tastes and preferences (admittedly limited) always ran to Devilbiss guns. Just a personal preference I guess, it never changed either. HVLP is great for minimizing waste of costly material these days I know, but my need to lay down material is so infrequent these days that like as not I will accept the cost of excess material to apply paint using siphon feed guns simply because my use is both infrequent and it is familiar to me.