Hey guys wanted to make a comment about this gun as well as ask a question.

This is my first paint gun that wasnt bought from Home Depot or HF and lemme tell you what a difference a nice piece of equiptment makes!! I have been fighting with three different guns I got with the largest fluid tips I could find (1.8) to shoot FeatherFill G2 and they all sucked. I wasted close to a quart of paint because they refused to work correctly. I figured today that Im over using ****ty tools. I only buy Mac or SnapON mechanics tools for work and I figured I dont need to be using cheap ass spray equiptment either. I got the Sharp Razor Primer gun with a 2.3 tip and it sprayed the FF down sooo smooth. I swear I was in heaven. Its a bit of an air hog and had my compressor kick on a few times, its a 5hp 2 stage 120 gallon compressor to boot. Either way it worked great.

Now for my question. Considering I drop a bit of coin for this gun being that I dont paint everyday or even every month, I wondered if I could change the air cap and fluid tip and be able to spray either Single stage or Base/clear. I just didnt know if the guns were made different and I need to get another one for just paint. I figure a 1.4 fluid tip and the right aircap would work just fine for color coats and I can change it over to a primer gun when needed.

Hope you can help with a part number or an answer as I cant seem to find any info about this, only their Finex line.

The Sharpe website says that you can get a 1.5 tip for that gun. If you dont want to buy another gun then i would get the 1.5 tip and spray a test panel and see how it lays down.

Maybe Im just getting confused about what Id need to get and how the different guns in that line differ. They have guns with different finishes, mine has a blue finish listed as a regular HVLP but they call it a primer gun and other ones the call say a clear gun or a base/clear gun. Then they say they are all the same body but where I get confused is other guns have different finishes?? Maybe its just to differentiate if you have alot of em?

If thats the case and they are the same body, then what should I be ordering? Just an aircap and a fluid tip? See I dunno if I also would have to get a different needle or if thats the same for all of em. What got me was the Finex line has a part number for changing the size of the gun as a kit. I didnt see a kit part number for the Razor line.

Remeber Im not a pro by any stretch when it comes to painting. I have painted a few of my own cars with decent results and more or less learned technique and how to setup the gun and such but when it comes to actually setting up the gun properly for the material to be sprayed thats where I get lost. More or less I need to know what I need to buy in order to change the size.

after some searching and reading the manual I guess they dont sell changeover kits like their top of the line stuff but you just buy the repair parts for the size gun you want it to spray like.

So would I just need the correct aircap and nozzle and not worry about the needle? If so I can buy it tomorrow and have a nice dual use gun :)

Down the road I may buy another one though cause they are really nice guns especially for a newbie painterr not to mention I got it for $200. I dunno if thats a good price or not but I did see that retail was like 339 bucks!!

Call Sharpe and talk to somebody that knows about the guns. On my Iwata all i had to change was the tip, even though the tip was $90:mad:

Call Sharpe and talk to somebody that knows about the guns. On my Iwata all i had to change was the tip, even though the tip was $90:mad:

Im thinking all I gotta change is the tip and maybe the air cap too but hell even $90 beats the hell outta buying a new gun for quite a bit more.

But yeah Ill be calling them tomorrow just hoped maybe sombody here may know

Talked to a tech person from Sharpe and he said that I needed to change the nozzle and the needle assembly. Cost for both is 87 bucks. For an extra 57 I can make it a 1.4 as well since they use the same needle assembly just different nozzles. He also told me that I can mix and match the aircaps for others in the line if I want to make it an LVLP or a metallic gun or a compliant gun among a few others. Pretty damn cool.

Moral of the story is to buy the "primer" gun and buy the necessary needle assemblies ande nozzle you need and youll come out cheaper than buying a ready to go gun in a different smaller size. I found out the primer gun is over $100 dollars cheaper retail but with the different needle valve and nozzle they jack the price up from ~200 up to 330 or more!!! Pays to shop and do your homework.

BTW I played with my new gun again today and it makes painting so much more enjoyable and fun when you arent fighting with the equipment. I commented that Id shoot paint all day long as long as I didnt have to prep or sand it lol.

Sounds nice and convienent, but be careful. I once sprayed a candy red Harley tank with a gun I used primer in and I noticed a couple of gray specks afterwards. Here the gun wasnt totally clean, even though I thought I did a thourgh job cleaning it. Some paint broke free from somewhere inside. Boy, I was happy then!:mad: I now have a seperate gun for primers, paint, and one just for clear. I believe you need matching needles per each cap and nozzle fluid tip size. One needle doesnt do it all.

I would leave the sharpe as your dedicated primer gun.I would buy the devilbiss plus for topcoats,it comes with 3 different tips(1.2,1.3,1.4) and you get all this for less than $300.I paint everyday for a living and I would never use my primer gun for topcoats,and I keep my guns spotless.

I would leave the sharpe as your dedicated primer gun.I would buy the devilbiss plus for topcoats,it comes with 3 different tips(1.2,1.3,1.4) and you get all this for less than $300.I paint everyday for a living and I would never use my primer gun for topcoats,and I keep my guns spotless.

I couldnt agree with you more.... HOWEVER, there are people out there that dont paint for a living. 99% of these people dont even work on cars for a living. I am the 1% that does and didnt want to deal with crappy equipment but didnt want to make the investment to purchase SATAjet's for very few paint jobs (not even completes, just spraying paint). This is where value becomes paramount. This gun is Made in the USA, works GREAT, and has the abilty to be more than one type of gun for the person that cant afford to pay for 2 or 3 different guns. I had a roomate that was a professional painter and all he had was SATA and had somewhere like 5 or 6 maybe more different guns for different jobs. Even he told me way back that if you can count the paint jobs you've done then you dont need to be spending money on more equipment. That made up my mind... Get a nice gun that isnt a total POS and get going.

Other than professional opinions on how different guns spray, Im wondering why, if the gun is perfectly clean, would there be any problem using it as a clear or color gun? I understand the possibilty for contamination but if its spotless then it should spray just as well as if it was only used for clear or color. Dont get me wrong, I understand in a professional enviroment, you arent gonna keep a primer gun as clean as the day it was born but for the lowly beginner or even rookie painter like my self I think that I can keep the gun clean enough for the work Ill be doing.

All in all, I like how this gun sprays and Im also glad its American made and Id buy another one to use as a base/clear or even a third so I can spray each just cause Im patriotic like that and I like a gun that doesnt F**K up constantly without costing a ton of cash like a SATA. Ive heard alot of differing opinions about the Devilbiss stuff but never anything harsh about the Sharpe products.

From recomendations from pros I know Id use a SATA but for me and I think anyone thats in my shoes this gun is great and is very versatile.

Other than professional opinions on how different guns spray, Im wondering why, if the gun is perfectly clean, would there be any problem using it as a clear or color gun? I understand the possibilty for contamination but if its spotless then it should spray just as well as if it was only used for clear or color. Dont get me wrong, I understand in a professional enviroment, you arent gonna keep a primer gun as clean as the day it was born but for the lowly beginner or even rookie painter like my self I think that I can keep the gun clean enough for the work Ill be doing.

Atomization superiority. Of course there will be no problem with a cheaper gun spraying paint; but it's tolerances and design enables a better gun to lay metallics better and produce a better finish when clearing. People who rarely paint often are frustrated with how their jobs come out. A good gun can improve one's painting; whether a greenie or professional.

I've been using Sharpe since my first paint job. I highly recommend them for the home sprayer. They don't really hog air (5hp 33gal compressor for most of my jobs) and they spray very nicely.

I would still not recommend using a single gun for both primer and paint, but if you have to, you have to..

What I would recommend you try, is calling sharpe and asking about their remanufactured guns. They are about half price, and are of top quality. My first guns were remanufactured and preformed flawlessly. I bought a primer gun and a color/clear gun.

I've painted a few things with my sharpe combo, and they came out nicely (on my website)

Good Luck in your painting, and if you use the same gun for both, clean it two or three times before changing from primer to paint..

well thanks for the info about remans!! I never thought that a company like that would sell refurbished units but I will call about that. I would love to have a few guns but I really cant justify the cost of it right now. I bought this because I did an engine swap into a customers car that required quite a bit of metal working and he wanted be to body work and paint the engine compartment (oh and its a baby LS1 5.3 with Z06 cam, springs, pushrods and intake going into a 1950 Plymouth Special Deluxe lol). The hengine compartment requires feather fill, urethane sealer primer and its get a few coats of black single stage and a cut and buff. Definitely nothing special and definitely something I can really justify spending twice as much money on equipment wise to do something that small.

Oh and about the air caps and needles and nozzles, the razor line is a liuttle different. It has a single gun body for all the different guns and then depending on the type of spraying your doing the have different interchangeable aircaps. Silver cap is for HVLP, the got a blue cap for waterborne paints, a gold one for compliant regulated areas ect. Then for sizes it comes down to the nozzle and needles. Certain sizes of nozzles share needle assemblies with other sizes such as the 1.4,1.5,and 1.7 use the same needle but different nozzle. Same for the 2.0 and 2.3. So you can more or less mix and match parts and get more utility out of the gun which I like.

One of the coolest aircaps they sell is the LVLP for guys with small compressors. I guess they dont hose on the material as good but its cool that they even though of the total beginner when they developed this gun.

I am a stickler for cleanliness with paint tools, I am an artist by hobby to get away from cars and my brushes are as spotless as they can get. I will definitely be cleaning the gun a few times before spraying color just to make sure though, maybe even break it down completely and get another cup.

Thanks for the replies.

You can use one gun for everything.....but you have to break it down completely to clean it.I don't know how the razor is built but all other sharpe guns have a stupid plastic gasket between the fluid tip and gun body...stupid idea as these easily get lost or damaged.Sharpe guns also feel clumsy and off balance.I paint everyday and I also use sata..but I do use a devilbiss plus for some jobs.This gun is made in the usa and you can get results comparable to a sata at almost half the cost.A hobbiest is not going to clean a gun as good as someone with experience and they will feel intimidated by breaking it down and that stupid gasket will complicate things.If you spend all that time and energy in buying different needles air caps and time,you may as well buy another gun,even if you just buy a cheap harbour freight gun for primer.Just my 2 cents.

If you spend all that time and energy in buying different needles air caps and time,you may as well buy another gun,even if you just buy a cheap harbour freight gun for primer.Just my 2 cents.

I agree. You can buy an Astro primer gun for around 90 bucks which is a Sata NR95 knock off gun. It sprays great for price.

The ONLY way to clean a gun is to break it down completely period.
Haven't picked up a gun in a few years nor care too but a few articles in the ABRN (Auto Body Repair News) rated the razor fairly high in performance but rated poorly in design as its a pain to clean...according the article.

Im willing to break it down. As far as the nozzle goes.. there is no plastic gasket. It just screws into the body. The aircap has a plastic o ring that holds the threaded portion on but thats it.

As far as the Harbor freight thing goes... READ MY FIRST POST!!! I fought with one from there as well as a few others from different department stores. I finally said screw it and bought a decent gun. I read up on different semi-pro guns to see what was the best as far as parts availability, general opinions on the gun as well as price vs. competition. The Sharpe gun seemed to excel in most of the categories I was looking at. The Devilbiss stuff seems to be either marketed towards home buyers (starting line) or rich home buyers (finish line). I dont know a painter that uses Devilbiss professionally and that bothered me as well as them being marketed in alot of places youd expect bargain shoppers to be looking. I was looking for an American made tool that worked well for a reasonable price. I felt 200 bucks was reasonable. Maybe not 50 bucks for some Chinese POS but at least it will work right and Ill have a reason to take care of it other than use it once and throw it away.

I couldnt find anyone local that sold Astro guns and the lack of support for it as well as the fact I like to support my neighboring businesses kept me from going after this gun. I need to reiterate that I support AMERICAN business anytime I can and I support LOCAL AMERICAN businesses anytime I have the opportunity. I know that part of it is outside the realm of this conversation but I wanted to buy from a local dealer down the street from me that could help when needed or get parts for me when I wanted them. You dont get that when you buy on Ebay or some cut rate online store. Im happy with the gun, I think its alright to clean although it could be faster but I break down any gun to clean it anyways.

Just remember Id shoot SATA if painting was my profession which IT IS NOT!!

You obviously didn't do enough research on devilbiss,the starting line(junk) finishline guns are the bottom feeder bargain basement made in taiwan crap.The devilbiss plus,gti,cvi,are professional made in U.S.A. spray guns.There are many painters who use them everyday,if you think your sharpe is the shizny,you would never pick it up after using a devilbiss plus.Like I said before,add up what you will spend on air caps,needles,and fluid tips to do everything with this gun and $ wise you will be close to buying another gun.For $275 and 3 different tips the dev plus is the best deal for a spray gun on the planet.

You obviously didn't do enough research on devilbiss,the starting line(junk) finishline guns are the bottom feeder bargain basement made in taiwan crap.The devilbiss plus,gti,cvi,are professional made in U.S.A. spray guns.There are many painters who use them everyday,if you think your sharpe is the shizny,you would never pick it up after using a devilbiss plus.Like I said before,add up what you will spend on air caps,needles,and fluid tips to do everything with this gun and $ wise you will be close to buying another gun.For $275 and 3 different tips the dev plus is the best deal for a spray gun on the planet.

Bingo. I used another's Starting Line and they are crap. Wait till that nicely "engineered" screw on cup top starts giving you grief. "Wow, that's a good price and look how nice and shiny they are" (Overheard Starting Line comment). ---I drove hoime and got my own gun to do the job.

I've been spraying for years and just because you haven't does not mean you should not do the research and get a better gun. You don't have to buy a SATA or Iwata but at least get what C.C. recommends.

Ill look into it and see if its sold at my paint supplier. Since you say it really is that good, would you be able to compare it to another gun that would be its equal as far as quality? Would it compare to a SATA or an Iwata or any other? My knowledge of painting comes from my old roomate and differing opinions on the internet. Just hoping to get a feel for what this gun stacks up against. Also does it perform better as a clear gun or is it good as a Base/clear gun?

The Plus is for clear and the GTI is for base, but if you are only going to buy one to do both(base & clear) buy the Plus.

I spray with sata rp,sata rp 3000,sata 3000hvlp,and a devilbiss plus.You can get the same results with the devilbiss plus but it is not as well built as the sata,but still a great gun..I have never used iwata,they cost more in my area than sata, so its a no brainer for me.I wouldn't say it was a good gun if I didn't use mine daily,you won't be disappointed.My oppinion comes from spraying in a quality minded production/restoration shop for 23 years.Like the other fellow said it will work for base and clear,but it really shines as a clear gun.

see then you are like my old roomie as he uses Sata3000's and shoots Spies Hecker for the body shop he works for (head painter for Niello which is a large dealership in the Sacramento area and he paints Audis, VWs, Porsche, BMW, Lambo and Ferrari) so I took his word and advise as gospel.

I have to reiterate though that this isnt my main job as in being a painter. I dont have access to a booth (my booth is made out of some 2x4s and thick poly sheets stapled to it). Same time I dont like crap equipment but I know I dont need top shelf either. Im gonna ask tommorow about the Plus and see if they carry it or if one of the other shops in town does as I like to be able to get parts quick.

Thanks for the advise Ill let you know how it turns out.

see then you are like my old roomie as he uses Sata3000's and shoots Spies Hecker for the body shop he works for (head painter for Niello which is a large dealership in the Sacramento area and he paints Audis, VWs, Porsche, BMW, Lambo and Ferrari) so I took his word and advise as gospel.

I have to reiterate though that this isnt my main job as in being a painter. I dont have access to a booth (my booth is made out of some 2x4s and thick poly sheets stapled to it). Same time I dont like crap equipment but I know I dont need top shelf either. Im gonna ask tommorow about the Plus and see if they carry it or if one of the other shops in town does as I like to be able to get parts quick.

Thanks for the advise Ill let you know how it turns out.

Parts do not have to be bought locally. You can order them yourself. I sometimes have my supplier order them because I have a running account and just let them do it; it's their job. They can't get things any faster or slower than I can unless they have it in their warehouse.

my supplier does have alot of inventory so its easier to get it through them. I may not get the same price break as say some internet superstore but if I need to exchange something or return it , I can drive 2 blocks and have it in my hand normally. Hell even if they had to order it out its normally next day from their warehouse. Beats the hell out of have to UPS it back and then wait for them to do the same.

On a different note, I buy from local suppliers cause they are in the same boat as me. Business isnt great right now and if I have a choice of who I give my money too its gonna be the shop or store that I can talk to the owner. This helps me out too cause when people as for recommendations for a shop my name will come up. You can only save so many cents to lose hundreds of dollars on the backside of it. For people that do this as a hobby that may not matter but the more shops I have a good repoir with the better off I am in the long run.

Off topic a bit but I think the economy is in the tank for a number of reasons but I know one of them is this Walmart mentality that the best deal is the cheapest price. That ultimately sends jobs overseas and more people are out of a job or they themselves end up working at Walmart as well. If we got back to the way things were before the big box stores and went to the local hardware store and talked to Herb, the counter guy that knows everything about everything in the store, we would be better IMO. Cheap prices gets you Home Depot service with idiots that dont even know what youre talking about half the time and even if they do they dont know where to find it. Thatts the price you pay for a lower sticker price and it only hurts everyone. Ill stick to buying from mom and pop shops as long as I can.