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Painting Conveniences

gyoung

Well Known Member
There have been some painting comments recently and I didn't want to hijack their threads but want to share some things I find useful. I am by no means an expert painter but I am serious about it and I value convenience. My painting life became much easier and more enjoyable when I embraced disposables. I use the Dekups system. 3M has an equivalent system. It has an hard outer shell and cap with a disposable collapsible cup and press fit cover. They mount to the gun with an adapter available for almost any gun. I've got the cups in all 3 sizes. The small 9 oz makes my full size gun (FLG4) as useful as a detail gun. If there is any extra paint in the cup, I put a plug in the opening and store it in the refrigerator. It remains good for several days after rewarming.

My mixing cups are disposable as are the scoops to transfer the paint from can to mixing cup. They minimize the mess so there's no cleanup of the can. I also use a squirt bottle for cleaning. It dramatically reduces the amount of solvent needed. With this setup I can clean my gun in 5-10 min with 2 Q-tips, 1 paper towel and about 100ml of solvent. The savings in solvent cost makes up for some of the disposable cost but the real benefit is saving time and hassle.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0023T8WME/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0769Q9WK6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097GYJ4B8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 

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Paint tricks

Yep. Best thing since whatever. I use the 3M PPS old version cups. Since I have a dog, I get unlimited cleaning and paint cans. Also use q-tips and squirt bottles to clean the gun.

One trick I use and very few others seem to like is rubberless syringes.
60ml catheter tip. Grainger.
Suck the paint right out of the can and it's already measured.
I use the syringes without a plunger for all other fluids. Label and apply a piece of clear tape and they last a long tme. Clean them when I clean everything else.

Remember all that packing paper? That stuff is great for masking and for laying out on the bench.
 
Big plus 1 for pps cups. I love those things.

Way back, a long time ago, I did some repair work on a DC-10. News print had been used to mask the stripes. You could tell because the text had burned into the white paint. While that is almost the ultimate in recycling I don’t recommend doing that. :D
 
Harbor Freight also now carries a version of the DeKUPS system. I have the DeKUPS system so I have no PIREP on it but would love to have someone give us one if they have used theirs. A big plus using these are dripless painting and the ability to paint holding the gun in all positions.
 
I’ve been using the Harbor Freight system and it works great. I have no experience with other systems to compare.
 
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