Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

johnnyv49

Seaman Apprentice
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Mar 18, 2014
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Has anyone ever tried to shoot Gel coat with 2 different guns? I was thinking first coat with the cup gun to get material on the boat and then the final coat with wax from a gravity feed just to smooth it out a little bit. Maybe a a little less sanding.

Thoughts?
 

Woodonglass

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

I'm NOT a Gelcoat Guru. We have some here on the forum. From what I've gleaned from them it's pretty much like painting. If the undercoat is rough then the topcoat will be too. The nature of gelcoat is that you apply it to 20 mils and then sand it down to get the smoothness required. It's not really possible to spray it on smooth like paint. Again, just my opinion, ondarvr or Yacht Dr. may come along and blow me oughta da water!!!!:D
 

gm280

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

I have never sprayed any gelcoat either. But wonder why use two different guns to do the job? Cup/siphon guns are old school and legally no to be used (but they'd have to actually catch you, wonder what those chances are), and the newer and way better guns are now HVLP guns that do a way better job with out so much overspray. Just wondering...
 

Woodonglass

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

He's not talking about the old cup guns like you paint with. He's talking about the Gelcoat cup guns like this...
1244_58_large.jpg
 

ondarvr

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

Like already said, the second coat tends to follow the first coat in texture, once applied rough it's hard to level it out with the next coat.

One thing you can do is if the first coat it's rougher than you would like, you can squeegee on a coat of gel coat, a Bondo spreader works well. This fills the low spots and adds nothing to high spots, so it eliminates a great deal of sanding, you can add wax to this coat or spray another coat with wax over it.
 

johnnyv49

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

Thanks everyone. The cup gun (shown above) did the job and gave me the results I expected. After reading this I opted to just go for the cup gun and a whole bunch of sanding. That is how I learned anyway. I will say this...for anyone looking to do a large area that is essentially a sanded down new spray job, the cup gun is the way to go. It puts a good amount of material on the hull so you can actually work with it. I know my gravity feed is meant for paints so that was always the issue. Also I tried 2 tips just to control the flow of material. Note for everyone...#4 is too small and does not work with Gelcoat. Use the #6 tip that the gun generally comes with.

I would be interested to see how the #4 shoots Paint though...
 
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Axkiker

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Nov 18, 2013
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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

What I dont get is why the cup guns are so expensive. There really doesnt appear to be much to them. Heck they arent even expected to leave a smooth finish. Seems like they would be no more expensive than the cheap knock off hvlp guns.
 

Woodonglass

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

It's prolly cuz they're a specialty gun and they don't sell that many so they have to make their money on price not by volume of sales.
But I'm just guessin!!!:eek:
 

sphelps

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

You know the rules .. No pics means it didn't happen ! :D
 

Axkiker

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Re: Cup Gun 1st Coat of Gelcoat Gravity feed 2nd?

It's prolly cuz they're a specialty gun and they don't sell that many so they have to make their money on price not by volume of sales.
But I'm just guessin!!!:eek:

I get what you are saying, but there isnt much at all to these guns. It wouldnt be hard at all for one of the knock off mfgs to pic up one of these and make a copy. Heck at 100.00 a piece I would think they could make a great profit.

I would like to get one at some point just to see if I could copy the main body. It seems the cup part is throw away so all you really need to re-produce is the gun mech... I would think there could be the possibility of reproducing them via a plastic injection. They wouldnt be as long lasting but then again at 1/4 the cost who cares.

Just random thoughts from me tonight.
 
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