| Review by duasbata | posted 144 days ago | 914 views | 1 time favorited | 13 comments |  |
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Hi Guys. I don’t know if I’m doing this right or not. There was a previous review of this gun and I just wanted to give my review as well.
Came across Woodgal’s entry about the Critter so I read more reviews from Amazon. Got my Critter Sprayer from Amazon for $33.81 free tax/shipping.
Got 12 regular mouth Ball mason jars from our local Stater Bros. supermarket for around $10.
Filled 1 with blue tinted water (used food coloring) just for practice, 1 with clear water for cleaning, and 1 with white Home Depot brand latex paint thinned with Floetrol and water for testing.
I replaced the hose plug on the gun with a hex nipple so I can connect my sprayer requlator or disposable dessicant/air filter if need be.
It’s a brass 1/8×1/4 npt hex nipple from McMaster-Carr for $4.71.
I was curious to see how this gun would perform compared to my Devilbiss Finishline 3 gun.
The Devilbiss HVLP gun just sucks the air out of my Sears 25g 2HP compressor. It needs 23 psi at inlet dialed in with a sprayer regulator and a 2.2mm fluid tip.
When I sprayed latex for my built-in the compressor was almost always on for a solid hour that it took me to finish. The hose was getting hot.
Needless to say I got the wrong gun to use with my compressor.
However it is a very good sprayer but does take a while to clean.
On the other hand my Critter was just fun to use.
It took a long time before my compressor kicked in again so I got to enjoy spraying. I had so much fun I just sat on the concrete floor and just kept on spraying. Kinda therapeutic. I even offered to spray my neighbors Suburban(just kidding). I tested it on plywood and MDF and was satisfied with the results. Hardly any overspray.
Hanged the Critter using my devilbiss spray gun holder on my sawhorse.
For cleaning I wiped the fluid tube with a small piece of paper towel and screwed in the jar filled with water and sprayed for a few second until the water was clear.
I removed the fluid nozzle because there was a litlle bit of paint stuck on the threads and in the orifice. Cleaned the orifice and theads with toothpick and a spray gun brush dipped in lacquer thinner. All in all probably 5 mins.
I gave it 5 stars for the cost, ease of cleaning and fun factor.
Lumberjocks is an awesome site and am glad to share my experience.
13 comments so far
a1Jim
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17139 posts in 476 days
posted 144 days ago
Good Reveiw
I have one its a great little gun for some things
-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com
Hunterastin
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44 posts in 190 days
posted 144 days ago
i am in the process of building my first guitar, would this work good for shooting the finish on it?
duasbata
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13 posts in 147 days
posted 144 days ago
It is my understanding that lacquer is used for finishing guitars. And multiple coats of it. Unfortunately I haven’t sprayed lacquer yet on this gun. I’ve only used latex with this so far(and water). The best picture of a finished product sprayed with this gun that I’ve seen is Woodgals project. I don’t think she used lacquer though. Good luck.
CessnaPilotBarry
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1291 posts in 602 days
posted 143 days ago
I have one as well, and love it for smaller jobs, shellac, and sealers.
I think it would spray lacquer nicely on a guitar. I’ve sprayed many guitar sized items with great results.
-- - Please help keep Lumberjocks an enjoyable escape by refusing to participate in political discussions. Simply spit out the bait and ignore the thread...
duasbata
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13 posts in 147 days
posted 143 days ago
Hunterastin..
Came across this site on the web where he talks about his experience with the Critter and lacquer.
It’s on the last section called 6 Month Follow Up. Hope this helps.
Brad_Nailor
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1231 posts in 856 days
posted 142 days ago
Great review. I have one of these and I have had great results with water based poly, and latex paint with Flowatrol. It is fun to use and easy to clean. The only drawback is it’s small spray pattern…I used it to spray a cabinet and it took a while for each coat.
-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"
duasbata
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13 posts in 147 days
posted 142 days ago
Thanks Brad_Nailor. Hunterastin got me curious now that I might go out and get some lacquer and try it myself. I got a pint of General Finishes PolyAcrylic Satin waterbased finish that I got a few days back but haven’t tried it either. I’d also like to try some dewaxed shellac. My dining table might be a good candidate since it’s so banged up from me using it as a worktable sometimes. I’d tape it up in 3 equal sections and see how each one turns out. Then I can play the ”...can you guess the finish on this?” game at dinner parties!
firecaster
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482 posts in 318 days
posted 141 days ago
Hunter,
I have one of these. I usually use it for latex on outdoor projects. Do you not think the spraygun I gave you would work?
-- Father of two sons. Both Eagle Scouts.
Dusty56
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3512 posts in 587 days
posted 140 days ago
I myself , being a newbie to this , why would you need lacquer thinner to clean latex (water based) paint from your gun ??
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .
duasbata
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13 posts in 147 days
posted 140 days ago
There was a spot inside the nozzle thread that was just difficult to remove with the brush and water. The paint just wouldn’t come loose. Might be my worn brush. Lacquer thinner at the time was about the strongest cleaner I got. That’s all.
Dusty56
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3512 posts in 587 days
posted 140 days ago
Thank you .
-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .
bamboo
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2 posts in 78 days
posted 78 days ago
Hi,
After reading all those positive reviews on Critter, I bought one from Amazon. I tried to test it with water and nothing comes out. I have to till the bottle to let the water out in order to spray it. Did I do something wrong?
duasbata
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13 posts in 147 days
posted 77 days ago
Did you check the fluid tube to see if something is obstructing it?
What about the nozzle, can you see through it?
Try moving the nozzle a little higher up to get in line with the air stream.
How’s your compressor pressure setting?
If all else fails, call Amazon and ask for a replacement.
There’s definitely something wrong with your gun.
I had no problems with mine.
I recently sprayed the outdoor bench I made for my kids PINK which is what they
wanted.
I noticed that the nozzle tip gets a build up of paint and frequently
have to wipe it off. Nothing major. You will hear a difference in sound. The bench is about 4 ft long and 3 ft high.
Since the spray pattern is small it took a while but it was fun nontheless.
Afterwards the kids used a paint brush and went crazy painting butterflies,
forrest scenes, clouds, etc. Looks real nice. It’s the brightest item in the backyard.
Good luck with yours. I’m sure once you get it fixed you’ll like it.
It’s good for small projects and I’ll still use my Devilbiss for the big ones.