Wasted $200 on a cheap paint gun before I learned my lesson

I bought this off-brand HVLP gun off Amazon for about $200 thinking I was saving big. First job I used it on, a 2010 Honda Civic hood, came out looking like orange peel city. I spent way too long sanding and buffing trying to fix it, probably added 3 hours to my day. Finally bit the bullet and borrowed a buddy's Iwata gun for the next job. Night and day difference - the spray pattern was even, no runs, and the finish came out smooth as glass. That cheap gun went straight in the trash after that. Anybody else get burned by bargain paint equipment or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylorshah28d ago

Orange peel city" - that's where I grew up, still paying rent there apparently.

mason_lopez28d ago

Man I felt that one deep. I bought a $150 spray gun off Amazon two years ago and it turned my first real project into a total nightmare. The fan pattern was so uneven it left these weird tiger stripes on a fender I was painting. I spent a whole weekend wet sanding and buffing just to get it halfway decent. After that I picked up a used Devilbiss from a buddy for half price and it was like night and day. You really do get what you pay for with these things, dont you?

william_harris28d ago

Oh man, you're not kidding. I was reading an old car restoration forum where a guy broke down the internals of a $100 gun versus a pro model. Turns out the cheap ones have air caps and needles that are basically stamped out, not machined. That's why you get that garbage fan pattern. Your story about the weekend of sanding brings back bad memories for me too. It's one of those lessons you only have to learn once, right?