After much consideration I purchased a Sharpe Titanium 1.4 gun. Today was my first time using it as the last time I painted was over ten years ago and I used an old Devilbis gun at that time. I was working on my hood, deck lid and doors which just recently came back from being soda blasted. I first shot two coats of DuPont Variprime (etch primer). It went down okay, but seemed "spotty". The gun was not spitting and made a nice pattern on a test panel (per MARTINSR previous post). I then shot URO primer which went on a little better, but was still spotty. I also noted that I had to hold the gun fairly close to the surface to get the product to cover a little more evenly. The end result is okay, but I have some questions:

Should this type of primer have a slight shine to it? I was expecting totally flat and dull from a filler primer.

Is this how a HVLP gun sprays, or perhaps this is how these new materials are supposed to work? It almost seemed like I was not getting enough product out of the gun. My inlet pressure was around 35psi (I started a little lower, but this worked better).

Thanks in advance.

Gary, if you go to the Sharpe site on the following link you will see the recommendations for the Titainium.
http://sharpe1.com/shp-dup.htm#1

They have no recommendations for using it with a primer, but that is not really a problem, it is just a gun and will work fine. But what I do want you to look at is the CFM needed for the gun. It needs 13.5, that may be more than you have. If it is, your gun is starved and would create the problem. But, I must say that the HVLP gun, usually needs to be closer. I have not shot the Titainium so I don't have any direct knowledge of the gun.



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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

Last year when we rented a corner of a body shop to keep working on our '69, the owner taught me how to go slower and stay fairly close (Using DP Primers), otherwise, faster and farther away meant "Mist" type of spraying. It really worked.

Hope this helps.


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Team Members Forever #341

Richard, Judy, MAXX2

'69 Elke (Frame Off); GM HO 350/330-Mildly Ported Vortec Heads-Manley Severe Duty SS 2.02/1.60 Valves, Comp Cams Full Roller Package (Magnum)-Custom Grind CS 3315/3316 HR112-.510/.520 Lift, Edelbrock Air-Gap W/750 Performer Manual Choke-Performer 100 HP NOS, March Pulleys, 4L60 (Non Computer) W/Lokar Shifter, 12 Bolt Posi.

Sounds like you dont have enough air pressure so the primer is not atomizing properly.I had this problem with my HVLP also.What size compressor are you running?Try switching to a shorter hose,10 Ft.or so.Are you running a hose straight out of the compressor?If you are i would run 3/4 copper pipe at least 25 ft to a regulator,that made a big difference for me as far as air pressure.Sharpe has a piping layout diagrams on their website.

Thanks for the comments. The more I think about it, perhaps this is just the way these things spray. Again, my test patern on a vertical surface looks great. I also think my compressor is adequate as it was not running very much at all and is rated at 15cfm @50psi so 13.5 cfm @30 or so psi should be no problem. One thing I did NOT have is a regulator and guage at the gun. Perhaps there is some loss with the length of hose I have, dryer, etc. I'll play around some more when I prime the next panels.