Acoustic Guitar Construction

To finish the guitar I'm working on, I was thinking of trying to spray the finish. I have used KTM 9 in the past brushing it on. I currently don't have much in the way of spray equipment. I can probably borrow a spray gun, but will have to get a compressor. I have a small 3 or 5 gal compressor but I don't think that will be quite enough. Any suggestions on a compressor, mind you I'm not looking to spend a fortune on one(I know, you get what you pay for). What kind of specs should I be looking for in a compressor?thanks

Kyle - you might give this guy a call or an email. His name is Jeff Jewitt, a renowned woodworker and finisher who also was at one time a luthier. He will not steer you wrong.

Here is his site.
http://www.homesteadfinishingproducts.com/

You might ask if he has anything slightly used to save a few bucks, but his prices are fair in any case.

I agree Jeff Jewitt is a great guy to talk to. I bought my spray gun from him. When you look at compressors you need to match the CFM rating to the spray gun. I think you should be looking for at least 5 SCFM@90PSI. If you have a compressor you need to find a gun that will work within the ratings of the compressor.

I have a dewalt D55168 only because it was what our big box store had that was rated high enough for a lot of spray guns.

I have a 5 gallon compressor and it's perfectly adequate for my needs.
The compressor itself gives out 6 cubic feet per minute at about 70 psi so the motor always kicks in on every coat I spray on a guitar.
A smaller compressor with a larger storage tank would also work in my opinion, but the tank would have to be at least 10 gallons and fully charged before starting.
Many years ago (35 maybe) I sprayed an entire car with a refrigerator compressor hooked up to a very large gas cylinder that I had hacked, admittedly it took forever to refill the cylinder to 120 psi, but I could get at least 5 minutes of full on spraying when it was fully charged which is easily enough to do any panel... but then I had to wait about two hours for it to fully recharge!
I'm not suggesting this is the way to go, but it's just an example of how things can be done on the cheap or even for zero cost.

Bob

Thanks for the replies. I may expierment a bit with my small compressor to see how it goes. Worse case scenario, I might be able to borrow a larger compressor from work for a few days.

I had seen on another forum where somebody suggested the mini mite 3 fuji system.(I'd post a link but not sure how to). Looks very promising. Have any of you worked with this and what do you think?

SKBarbour wrote:I had seen on another forum where somebody suggested the mini mite 3 fuji system.(I'd post a link but not sure how to). Looks very promising. Have any of you worked with this and what do you think?

http://www.fujispray.com/hvlp_systems.html ?

It looks great, but it's far more than I'd ever want to pay - but maybe that's just me! lol