Just found out my cheap paint gun was costing me 2 hours per job

I was digging through some old receipts last week and added up how long I've been using this $40 HVLP gun from Harbor Freight. Turns out I've had it for about 3 years now and did over 200 jobs with it. But then I borrowed my buddy's $300 gun for a fender repair and I finished the basecoat in half the time. No joke, I was blowing through way more material and doing extra passes because the spray pattern was so uneven. Has anyone else made the switch from cheap guns and actually tracked how much time you saved?

3 comments

3 Comments

david_walker973d ago

Borrowed my buddies Snap On paint gun once and honestly i didn't track the time but i tracked how much less paint i wasted. I was using almost half the material on a door panel. Made me feel real dumb for cheaping out for so long.

the_daniel3d ago

@david_walker97 that's the part nobody talks about, the paint savings pays for the gun eventually.

brooke_murray2d ago

@david_walker97 absolutely nailed it. The material savings isnt some tiny difference either, it adds up fast. I had the same wake up call when I borrowed a higher end gun for a project and realized how much less overspray I was dealing with. The cheap guns just blast paint everywhere and you're basically paying double for materials to get the same result. Once you see the numbers on paper it becomes real hard to justify the budget stuff.