[911Freak]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

1.0 mm: Light industrial, hobby, spot repair, base coat, clear coat
1.3 mm: Base coat, high solid, single stages, clear coat
1.4 mm: Base coat, clear coat single stages, sealers, low solid clear, clear coat
1.5 mm: Base coat, sealers, enamels, medium to high viscosity, clear coat
1.8 mm: Primer, high viscosity

Good info!
When I shot paint professionally I had several paint guns. SATA Jet NR 95 w/1.4mm for most base/clear and high metallic paints, NR92 w/1.8 for primer and change out to 1.4 for etching primer. I also had a cheap MacTools HVLP exclusively for small jobs and primer that I could leave etch or primer in the cup for hours...

These were high end at the time but you can pick up a good used one for decent money... Lots on flea bay.

If your a DIY I suspect any of the afore mentioned guns will work ok, but personally I like to buy the best tools if I'm doing a job more then once or twice knowing I can always sell them later and get decent money for them. If you can find one of the SATA used in good condition it might be a good buy for good tech on a budget...

I've tried some of the cheaper guns (<$100) and they just don't have the precision that the quality tools do. You get what you pay for applies as it does for most other tools. It's the fit and finish of the tool that really makes the finish product superior (laying down a lot of paint in a fine and controllable manner), not clogging or spitting out clumps of mettalic or dripping for the nozzle and the ability to prescicely adjust the fan and quantity of paint you want for a specific job (high volume - low pressure). As well as the ability to break the gun down for cleaning with the parts fitting together in a precise manner time and again.

iMO the cheap guns just can't do this consistently over time of usage...

HTH