Gravity Feed Spray Guns, a Top Mounted Cup gun

 A gravity feed spray gun is a type of spray gun where the paint or finishing material is stored in a cup mounted on the top of the gun. It is the air spray gun type, where the compressed air flows through the air line into the nozzle and atomizes the finishing material before it is sprayed onto the surface. The liquid finishing material flows by the natural gravity force into the nozzle room, where it is atomized and directed to the wood surface.

Gravity feed spray gun is very popular in the wood finishing industry. It is handy, simple, has high efficiency, good precision, and ease of use. This is the basic tool for the finishing man, from the industrial engineer and professional finisher to the hobbyists. In the big finishing industry, the spray gun is still much used as a tool to make samples, develop the color, and support the big spraying equipment. 

 

The Advantages of Gravity Spray Guns

As a basic tool for finishing, the cup gun is an important tool in the wood finishing industry. It is always available in the small finishing shops to the big woodworking manufacturer that uses modern finishing process. Here are the advantages of the gravity feed spray gun.

• Simple

The tool is small, handy, and simple in use. You can easily find how to use it when you start to hold and run it. Most people will understand this tool after using it for a few days. The tool is also quite safe and can be explored to apply many coating types. 

• Flexible

The tool is very flexible in uses. He has accessories to adjust the air pressure, fluid flow, and spray patterns, offering precise control over the application process. 

• Excellent result

The gravity cup gun provides the best atomization for the finishing material. He can give the perfect layer of finishing material. With the proper adjustment and application technique, the smooth and even finishing material layer can be obtained with the tool. 

• Inexpensive

The cup gun is simple tool; it can be made with simple technology. The tool is quite available in the market in various brands and can be purchased easily with small money.

The Disadvantage of Gravity Cup Gun

Even though the cup gun is very powerful tool for wood finishing, it also has limitations. Mainly, it is a small tool that is more suitable for small work. It is not suitable for the big-volume job. Here are some disadvantages of the gravity cup gun.

• Small volume

The tool is using a cup mounted on the top as material container. It makes the material volume very limited. Mostly the material volume that can be filled in the cup is about half liter. To much material in the cup will complicate the spray movement. The cup that is mounted on the top of the gun, makes the tool tend to be unstable and more difficult in the movement. 

The gravity cup gun is not suitable to spray the big furniture, such as a big cabinet, a big table, or other wide and long product, since the spraying process needs to be run continuously to make the even and smooth surface. 

• Inconsistency

The cup gun is widely adjustable. The finisher has to control and adjust the setting and also the tool movement to get a good result. It risks making inconsistency results, especially for big-volume jobs. 

• Need skilled person

The cup gun is a manual tool that needs to be used in the correct way. The finishing result highly depends on the application; then a skilled person is needed to run this tool. For the big-volume job, the result can be affected by the fatigue factor of the operator. If many people is needed to do the project, then the style and skill of each person may also affect the result. 

Things that Need to be Considered When Using Gravity Cup Gun

If you start to learn and start to be wood finisher, then the gravity feed cup gun is the first tool that you need to provide. It is the basic tool to do many finishing processes for wood finishing, such as application of stain, sealer, top coat, primer, base coat, enamel, etc. The cup gun is the basic tool to start the finishing work, from the simple and basic to be finishing master. The skill of using cup gun is the basic skill to be mastered before going to the next step to handle the more complicated spaying equipment. 

• Technique of use

The tool will give you the best finishing result if you use it correctly. There are two important things that are needed: the first is the tool setting, and the second is the tool movement. The spray gun setting is how to set the air pressure, the fluid volume, and the spray pattern. Make sure you set the tool properly before running the tool. You can find more in our previous article: Setting the spray gun  Setting the spray gun 

The second thing is the spray movement; it is how to set the distance and to move the spray gun to get the smooth and even layering. The skill to use the spray gun is the basic skill needed by the finisher that only be obtained by practicing. You can find more information in our previous article: technique spray. 

• Maintenance

Proper maintenance is very important to get the maximum benefit of the tool. The most important thing in maintaining the spray gun is the cleaning. Make sure the spray gun is cleaned soon after it is used when the finishing material inside is still in the liquid form. The lateness in the cleaning makes the process very difficult to do. The dry and hard paint is very difficult to be removed and cleaned and could potentially damage the tool. 

• Safety

Spray gun is quite safe tool. It is a simple tool with low pressure and almost no harm, but the finishing materials could be harmful. They are chemicals that could endanger health. The finishing material that is inhaled could harm the respiratory system. It can also potentially create injury if spread to the eye, nose, or other sensitive body. Most of the finishing materials are inflammable materials; then they have to be carefully handled. Make sure you consider safety when dealing with finishing materials. 

Tips for Buying Gravity Cup Gun

The woodworking machinery provides the spray gun in many types and many brands to fulfil the finishing industry; then you can choose and buy the cup gun easily. But however, you may need some tips to guide you before you choose and buy spray gun.

• The type and size

Spray guns have types and sizes, usually described in number. Make sure you choose the proper size and tips. For the gravity cup gun, you need to choose the air spray type. The HVLP type may be good for pumped spraying equipment but is not recommended for the cup gun, especially when it is going to be used for wood finishing materials. The air spray system is the spray gun that will give the best atomization of material. It will give the best layering of finishing material, smooth and even layer with the most flexible arrangement.

The other important spec is the tip size; it is the size of the opening at the gun. It will determine the volume of finishing materials that the gun will be able to deliver. The 1.4 to 1.6 size tip is the best choice for gravity cup gun since it can deliver most of the finishing material for wood finishing, stain, sealer, top coat, base coat, and enamel. Smaller tip size may work better for the less viscous material, such as wood stain, but will create difficulty in the application of more viscous material, such as : top coat, sealer, and base coat. 

• Spare part and service

As a tool used, the spray gun will be damaged after a certain amount of use and require repair. Some spare parts may need to be replaced due to damage and wear. For long-term purposes, then make sure you buy the tool that provides the maintenance and spare parts. The service center is also helpful to help you in handling and using the tool properly.