Internal mixing resin spray gun

Basketcase · #1 03-23-2017, 02:40 PM

Does anyone use one of these? I've poked around online and they seem like a great addition to the toolbox of anyone doing boat work. I'm not talking about the ones with a chopper gun built in, but just a spray gun that sprays resin and MEKP and mixes as you spray. Seems like this would save wasted resin and just speed up the process overall.

If I can find one for a good price, I may try one. I've been fiberlassing with buckets and sticks for 15 years and I've seen more than one bucket with an inch of extra resin in it. I've also had a hell of a time keeping up with mixing resin on larger layups. Seems like this would solve both problems.

Thoughts?

Something like the link below
http://www.spraygunindustry.com/Info...t105-1236.html

otterhound · #2 03-23-2017, 04:14 PM

Never used one but I can certainly see the value of it for small jobs. I'm sure it would be an efficient use of the resin. I had a dump gun that used paper cups and it was kind of a mess to use. The Binks rig would be much nicer to use I'm sure.
Rod

Basketcase · #3 03-23-2017, 04:43 PM

I also have a cup gun but your right, it does make a mess. Works well for gelcoat into a mold and that's about all the use I can find for it. That gun above looks like the pot would hold a good amount of resin and be easy to refill. I'm just thinking how great this would have been when doing the floors and stringers in my 20. I think it's worth the 995 bucks if it works as well as I think it will. Hoping for some first hand testimonials on a system like this.

gofastsandman · #4 03-23-2017, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Basketcase

I also have a cup gun but your right, it does make a mess. Works well for gelcoat into a mold and that's about all the use I can find for it. That gun above looks like the pot would hold a good amount of resin and be easy to refill. I'm just thinking how great this would have been when doing the floors and stringers in my 20. I think it's worth the 995 bucks if it works as well as I think it will. Hoping for some first hand testimonials on a system like this.

How is the MEK mixed? Didn't go to the link, but I like being able to adjust the ratio during different temps. How is the mek mixed?

With pails I know I am getting a homogenous consistent resin.

Yes, I am a dinosaur.

Basketcase · #5 03-23-2017, 08:29 PM

I get it. I too am used to the old school way. The theory is that it mixes in the air. To me that seems odd but it must work. The flow of mekp is adjustable and id guess that it takes some experimenting to get it right. You have to admit the idea is tempting. Readily mixed. Zero waste. No buckets. It's the same as the guns that spray glass from a chopper gun and also spray resin. I think they use those for bathtubs and such. Since I don't use a lot of chopped strands I don't need that but I've always been intrigued by a mixing gun.

Bigshrimpin · #6 03-24-2017, 08:18 AM

for $1000 you could buy a used venus chopper gun and a few pails for resin.

flyingfrizzle · #7 03-24-2017, 08:38 AM

By buddy has a chopper gun and was building Carolina skiff copies and was using clear mekp. Big mistake. One time he stopped up the gun or line to the mekp and sprayed half of a mold with out the mekp flowing and only half of the hull layup hardened. Big big mess. Then he went to red die mekp to ensure the mix was happening. Finally he sold the whole set up, and told me it was more trouble than it was worth. Clean up was a bit*$ and it was only good for spraying large molds (full hulls basically).

Me, I want to mix mine at the rate I want in batches. Throw away the mess hardly no clean up. If I for get to clean the roller...the bottle torch will fix that quickly.

If you did several full hull molds a week maybe but to do small jobs, I like to do it by hand.

kmoose · #8 03-24-2017, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingfrizzle

By buddy has a chopper gun and was building Carolina skiff copies and was using clear mek. Big mistake. One time he stopped up the gun or line to the mekp and sprayed half of a mold with out the mekp flowing and only half of the hull layup hardened. Big big mess. Then he went to red die mekp to ensure the mix was happening. Finally he sold the whole set up, and told me it was more trouble than it was worth. Clean up was a bit*$ and it was only good for spraying large molds (full hulls basically).

Me, I want to mix mine at the rate I want in batches. Throw away the mess hardly no clean up. If I for get to clean the roller...the bottle torch will fix that quickly.

If you did several full hull molds a week maybe but to do small jobs, I like to do it by hand.

I'm with you on the dyed MEKp and got to where I could gauge the ratio by the color when mixing by hand. Many would be amazed on how well resin and mekp needs to mixed until you use the dyed stuff. It solves a lot of problems. Too bad you can't use it with gelcoat.

gofastsandman · #9 03-24-2017, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmoose

I'm with you on the dyed MEK and got to where I could gauge the ratio by the color when mixing by hand. Many would be amazed on how well resin and mek needs to mixed until you use the dyed stuff. It solves a lot of problems. Too bad you can't use it with gelcoat.

I`m a good mixer. Small batches are good for one ciggie.
Never knew there was colored mekp. So does this cure a darker color of red than
regular mek?

Basketcase · #10 03-29-2017, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingfrizzle

By buddy has a chopper gun and was building Carolina skiff copies and was using clear mekp. Big mistake. One time he stopped up the gun or line to the mekp and sprayed half of a mold with out the mekp flowing and only half of the hull layup hardened. Big big mess. Then he went to red die mekp to ensure the mix was happening. Finally he sold the whole set up, and told me it was more trouble than it was worth. Clean up was a bit*$ and it was only good for spraying large molds (full hulls basically).

Me, I want to mix mine at the rate I want in batches. Throw away the mess hardly no clean up. If I for get to clean the roller...the bottle torch will fix that quickly.

If you did several full hull molds a week maybe but to do small jobs, I like to do it by hand.

I wonder if your buddy's setup was a pain because of the chopper gun? I wonder if just a mixing gun would be less of a problem.

I'm fairly certain the reason the red mekp was made is for these systems. I've used it before and it does help to let you know when you mixed enough. I really want to try one of these guns, but $1k is not an amount of money I want to experiment with. If it will make life easier and add value to my projects, I'm all for it, but so far I haven't gotten a warm fuzzy feeling!