To air - or not to air ? That is the question.
How experienced are you with either machine? The forte of an airless system is that there is almost no overspray. That's good ! But an airless gun can not easily feather the paint, the trigger is either totally on at about 1500 lbs of pressure, or totally off...nothing in between. The airless is a machine that delivers anywhere from 1/2 to three gallons per minute. Think about that...thats a lot of paint in a short period of time. That being the case if I were to paint my boat with an airless I would use a tip no larger than 11-12 thousandth in size, that would reduce the flow to a manageable rate. I would shoot with the gun about 14-20 inches from the surface. With a conventional air system, you will use about 50-60 lbs of air presuure and will apply the paint in a more controlled manner. you can adjust the width of the fan...more control, and you can lower the air pressure as long as you still have good atomization, that's good. With the air system you will use less paint and have considerably more control....so unless you have considerable experience in airless, you should probably stay away from it. Use either air system or the newer HVLP systems that you can learn about and rent at your local automotive paint store. Oh P.S. Airless systems are somewhat dangerous, in that if you accidently spray your hand, arm or finger from as little as 2-6 -nches away... there is so much pressure that the paint will be injected into your skin, and that limb could have to be amputated......convinced ?
