Cheap paint sprayer.

[Retired]

Hi,

Out of interest I decided to buy one of these;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

For just over £20 I didn't expect much but I was in for a pleasant surprise;

Grass box from Suffolk Colt mower I'm restoring as bought.

The same grass box after a lot of TLC now in cellulose primer.

Sprayed with this cheap sprayer yesterday on our driveway.

The sprayer as used.

Setting up this sprayer was very easy indeed it being virtually plug and play. I've been spraying cellulose for over 50 years and usually I simply mix at 50/50 half paint and half good quality thinners; I never bother using a viscosity cup.

With everything set up I started to spray; this was in brilliant hot sunshine; I had difficulty seeing how much paint was going on so initially I ended up with a pair of curtains; no real problem it being primer it will flat easily. I was truly amazed by how much paint the gun put out; with the trigger adjusted I calmed it down and completed the spraying; the hose and mains lead are short but the sprayer comes with a shoulder strap making it very portable; just the extension cord to move around. It's noisy; the gun is a bleeder type allowing air to constantly blow out and the air is warm and dry unlike the standard piston compressors where the air is cold and often moist. It's a very cheap outfit but much better than I expected; it certainly sprays in fact I could easily spray much thicker paint with less thinning.

The cup was tight to screw on but didn't leak at the joint; the gun is like any other spray gun to clean in fact much easier to clean then my previous expensive Apollo sprayer gun. HVLP technology (high volume low pressure) means more paint on the job less paint into the atmosphere.

I've only used the outfit once but I'm so far impressed and at the price if it only did one big spray job it would pay for itself. I didn't need the outfit but when I saw it on eBay I wondered if it would be any good or just a waste of money; the finish is good with the paint thinned 50/50.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

That's a great price - thanks for the recommendation!

What's a viscosity cup? I've got very limited experience with spraying.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Ian. A viscosity cup simply measure how thick or thin paint is.

https://www.google.com/search?q=how...me&ie=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_YKQxXbexDc6VgQaGioWwCw21

Above is a video clip showing better than text alone. I've mostly sprayed cellulose and I mix this at around 50/50 paint/thinners; it's thin but gives a beautiful smooth finish although for a novice I'd recommend using rattle cans a few times because the rattle can paint is very thin indeed; if you can spray and do a good job with a rattle can then using a spray gun is easier and the spray gun will spray thicker paint.

I don't use a viscosity cup because it's messy and just another item to clean; I just keep thinning paint until I'm happy with the coverage but if I'm doing a decent sized job I take note how much thinners I use to save time in mixing.

I need some sunshine because I've a mower grass box to spray with machinery enamel; the paint thinner arrived this morning (Xylene).

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Silentrunning]

Colin, I’m sure you are aware of the dangers of Xylene. Please be extra careful. We had a nasty incident at my place of work several years ago as a result of that stuff. Do not spray indoors.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Doug for your concern and relevant safety warning. Much appreciated.

Yes I'm aware but good of you to mention the very real dangers; I intended to explain the dangers but ran out of time. Never ever spray indoors paints such as cellulose or machinery enamel unless correct paint booth is used with extractor and safety lighting. The personal safety risk just isn't worth it and in a confined room; workshop or garage there is a real risk of explosion the vapour being ignited by something as simple as static from clothes. I've sprayed water based paints in our rooms whilst decorating but with as much ventilation as possible and wearing respirator with correct vapour cartridge.

I can't even brush paint with this machinery enamel today because it's pouring with rain and I'm unable to work with the doors wide open; just the fumes from the open tin are a good warning there's something nasty inside the tin. When the paint arrived I did brush paint in the workshop on a lovely summer day with the doors wide open but did this as quickly as possible; I've never previously used this brand of machinery enamel only finding out it was different when I tried to clean the brush; nothing I had to hand would dissolve it; white spirit and cellulose thinners had no effect upon it hence I had to buy the correct Xylene thinner; over the years I've used machinery enamels but these always thinned without trouble using white spirit. I must confess that this green enamel is excellent paint but I'm unhappy using it due to the danger involved; once the mower is completed I'll never use this brand of paint again. I like cellulose and have used cellulose by brush and spray for over 50 years without problem whilst taking reasonable safety precautions.

I'm sure you'll agree Doug that we who are more experienced need to stress the dangers when we post on forums; I'm pleased you gave me the nudge; thank you. Now where's the hot sunshine then I can complete the paintwork safely working on our driveway in the open.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Silentrunning]

Well put Colin. A while back I had a couple of tractor fenders I was going to paint. When I read the MSDS sheet I decided not to do it. I loaded the fenders and paint up and drove to a local body shop. For $50 US they painted the fenders far better than I ever could have. Sometimes you just have to let others do the work.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Doug. Sometimes as you say it's far more convenient and even possibly cheaper to let the job out; when it comes to risking health issues then it's definitely the cheapest option.

When I visit Rufforth Auto Jumble once a month there is a stall taking in "powder coating" jobs; they have examples of their work on display and it's superb; wheels and motorcycle frames appear in most demand to be coated; in my day it used to be stove enamel but now its powder coating. I haven't a clue as to cost. For members unfamiliar with powder coating here's a sample video;

I wonder what the health hazards are for such a guy doing powder coating full time; dust gets inside sealed watches?

Before I retired I used to let one of my team take electric motors to be painted; we sprayed most motors in house but some customers like ICI demanded paint specifications much higher than we could do in house; we couldn't even drill for name plate rivets in the cast iron explosion proof range; nameplates were attached with very expensive double sided self adhesive tape.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

Thanks Colin, that's a good explanation in the video .

When I visit Rufforth Auto Jumble once a month there is a stall taking in "powder coating" jobs; they have examples of their work on display and it's superb; wheels and motorcycle frames appear in most demand to be coated; in my day it used to be stove enamel but now its powder coating. I haven't a clue as to cost.

I've often wondered how much it would be to get things powder coated. I've had a few items that I've been tempted to have this treatment, but I've ended up leaving them with a raw finish or paint them. You've piqued my curiosity, so I'm going to try and find out local prices for getting one-off jobs done.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

The powder coated items I see at Rufforth Ian are absolutely superb; I haven't a clue as to cost but the stall is there every month so it must be cost effective. If you're really keen you can powder coat at home;

If you're really ambitious why not chrome?

I still can't spray the machinery paint gloss onto the grass box; it's certainly bright and hot enough today but there's the usual strong breeze coming up the valley; our climate is a real pain.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

At last the weather finally allowed me to spray the grass box with top coat. This little sprayer is amazing; the instructions state thin the paint with 10% thinner and if needed thin with another 5%. I didn't bother with the viscosity cup; I poured some paint into the gun cup and added some thinners; this proved too thick regarding paint so I simply added more thinner; on the second attempt the little sprayer did another good job; this time I was spraying machinery enamel and this enamel needed Xylene thinners these thinners are dangerous to health so safety precautions are needed and lots of ventilation; I waited until I could spray in our driveway giving excellent ventilation.

Whilst awaiting decent spraying weather I quickly brush painted the sections I knew would be difficult to reach by spraying; I did this inside the workshop as quickly as I could then vacated the workshop allowing the paint to dry. I've only ever previously sprayed cellulose so spraying enamel could be a problem? Well in fact once the paint was thinned sufficiently I didn't notice any difference between cellulose and enamel in fact at a guess I think the enamel sprayed on thicker. Spraying only took a couple of minutes; cleaning the gun took a bit longer.

I've been paint spraying for a lifetime so using this little sprayer I found to be very easy indeed; the result speaks for itself as seen in the pictures. The finishing touch was adding the new Colt decal. I finally reunited the grass box with the mower this morning.

Kind regards, Colin.

Not perfect but a great deal better than when I brought the mower home looking like scrap. The little sprayer did a first class job; a novice at spraying tends to get carried away and spray on too much paint resulting in runs or curtains so a bit of practice works wonders.

I ran a brush around the awkward to reach sections adding a thick layer of paint; when doing this the paint needs to harden before finishing by spraying.

I'm unable to use this restored mower in anger due to our steeply sloping site but I knew this when I bought the mower; it was just going to be a restoration project for the fun of it.

The original petrol tank started to play games with me by popping pin holes; I repaired two pin holes but no longer trusted the tank so I bought this cheap ugly plastic tank as a temporary measure; I'm looking into making a new tank from scratch again just for the fun of doing it.

 

[Ian]

What a brilliant restoration! Cracking job @Retired .

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Ian; much appreciated.

Yesterday I bought a TIG AC/DC welder; first project will be to make a new petrol tank for the mower. I've been welding for over 50 years but only ever used arc welders to weld steel; I've fancied a TIG for quite some time so I'm looking forward to experimenting using it on aluminium.

https://www.parweld.co.uk/shop/machines/tig-inverter-machines/xtt-202p-acdc-pulsed-tig-inverter/

I was lucky to buy this TIG it being brand new and unused at a very good price from a guy who had bought it but never used it due to it needing a 16A supply; I'm OK because my big oil cooled welder is supplied by 32A on a "C" type breaker.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

A nice paint job makes a lot of difference but what about the bits not seen that do the work?

Kind regards, Colin.

Recoil starter was jammed solid.

Water had got in and what a mess; the exhaust valve was stuck wide open hence zero compression.

Equally bad combustion chamber.

Decoked and joint face ground flat using wet & dry abrasive paper on a cast iron machine bed.

Clutch drum in need of TLC.

Receiving TLC; it came to the right place.

Valves don't come much worse than this. After the restoration the engine runs sweetly.

 

[Ian]

A night and day difference! How old would you estimate the machine was?

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Ian. I can only say the Colt is old and am unsure if serial numbers are listed on the web.

I'm still working flat our on the gardens; the mower restoration must have spanned six weeks due to more pressing demands on my time; I've just come down the mountain wet through with sweat feeling tired out.

Do you have a TIG welder Ian? Bron's just generously treated me to a TIG welder as both wedding anniversary and forthcoming birthday present the model seen here it being both DC/AC so will weld aluminium;

If only I could get some time in the workshop I'd love to play with it; first job though is to construct a welding trolley because gas cylinders are dangerous items and need restraining from falling over; I'll use my Oxford arc welder to weld the new trolley.

Perhaps Doug as a TIG welder?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Ian]

You're never short of a project .

Happy Anniversary!

Do you have a TIG welder Ian? Bron's just generously treated me to a TIG welder as both wedding anniversary and forthcoming birthday present the model seen here it being both DC/AC so will weld aluminium;

No, I don't have a TIG welder (yet) - I've got a lot of bits of kit that I'd like to get one day, and this is one of them! I've not been in my workshop for a couple of months unfortunately, as there has been a lot of upheaval at this end.

I'd be interested to see the results from the welder when you get a chance to play with it .

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Ian. I can't believe it's 43 years since I married my lovely Bron and we've seldom been apart since; Bron's my best friend and unlike so many couples these days that pull in opposite directions we are as one and I love her to bits.

I too have lots of difficulties in getting workshop time; over the last few days I'm been involved in a dispute with a welding gas supplier who charges VAT on the cylinder deposit. The cylinder deposit is fully returnable to the customer so doesn't attract VAT but this particular supplier adds on the VAT; today I've finally returned a full unused 30L cylinder of pure argon gas back to the supplier and received a total refund then Bron and I visited another supplier and collected a cylinder without having to pay VAT on the deposit; I've contacted three gas suppliers and all three do not charge this VAT.

I contacted Trading Standards but individuals are not allowed to contact them directly I was referred to The Citizens Advice Bureau and I'm now awaiting to see what happens. I can't do the simplest things without it blowing up in my face. Since buying the TIG welder I've found out it's not a case of plug and play; the gas is needed and this isn't cheap; collets and collet holders for the torch are needed and sized to material to be welded; I installed a 32A socket to power my Oxford welder; the TIG welder comes with a 16A plug so I'm awaiting for quite a few items to arrive I've bought through eBay.

I want to weld aluminium so this needs to be bought and I'm shopping around for aluminium sheet; in the meantime our rear garden which we call our mini park is constantly demanding attention due to the weather making everything go ballistic; just at the top of the mountain we have a 60' long laurel hedge; I cut this back a couple of weeks ago and have just done it again otherwise it will get out of control again; by the time I finally get workshop time it's going to be winter then I'll be working in a cold black hole; I'm fed up of the rain and wind; it just goes on and on.

I hope you have better luck in getting some workshop time Ian; I'll update once I start using the welder.

Kind regards, Colin.