Much better! I can't see the scratch from here.
What about the HF HVLP guns? I thought you were using these and not the gravity guns? I've been looking for an excuse to buy one but haven't had the project to use it on. I've heard some decent stuff about them in the past.
I bought one of their cheaper HVLP, didn't work well for me. Need a stand for the guns and too much cleaning and wasted material for small jobs. Their more expensive HVLP stuff looks good.
Plus I'm used to siphon feed. I use 16 oz mason jars to hold paint, it's easy to see if there's enough paint left for another coat. Also eliminates a lot of cleaning and wasted material. Just unscrew the jar from the gun, put a lid on it, done with that. Wipe off the siphon tube and run a couple of ounces of lacquer thinner through the gun.
I've found that if I hang a gun and don't pull the trigger when it's disconnected from the air supply paint stays in the tube all the way to the nozzle. It doesn't dry out and you can come back a week later and shoot again. Pull the trigger which lets the paint flow back into the jar. Unscrew the jar, stir paint. Screw the jar back on. Make sure the nozzle doesn't have any paint on it (lac thinner and a brush will take care of that) and fire away.
So do you have a spray booth?
That was the on thing I found being a problem finishing basses is a dust free, moisture free place.
Difficult to get away from moisture around here. I do have a temp/humidity thermometer. I try not to shoot unless the humidity is below 65% and I use No Blush and Flow Out additives when necessary. Afternoon is usually when the humidity is the lowest. It does keep the dust down but it's not really a problem with lacquer. After at the most 5 minutes it's dry to the touch.
This is my "booth". Lately I haven't bothered setting it up. Overspray is another thing that's not usually a problem with lacquer if you're careful and get air pressure/paint viscosity/ gun settings right. What doesn't hit the bass is dry before it lands on anything that matters.
Sorry for hijacking your thread, Andrew.