What Should Be a Spray Gun Nozzle Size?
Choosing the right nozzle size for your spray gun is important to paint any surface well. If you’re using an inappropriately sized nozzle, this may lead to uneven paint coverage and longer hours of painting. While this may be a minor detail that amateurs cannot notice, professional painters know the real value of looking for the perfect nozzle size. Here are three major factors to consider in choosing the size:
Examine the paint’s consistency
The first thing you will have to consider is the consistency of the paint you’re spraying. The heavier the coating, the larger the nozzle size should be. As an example, primers are commonly thicker compared to the top coat and may require a 1.7 or 1.8 mm tip. If you cannot secure a new nozzle, you may add paint thinner to the mixture as a secondary solution.
Consider the surface area
While the consistency of the paint is a major factor, you must also consider the surface area of your project. Larger surfaces like walls may require bigger nozzles for you to manipulate the fan pattern to an appropriate size. Smaller surfaces demand smaller fan widths to prevent overspray. A good strategy, therefore, would be to keep nozzles of different sizes so that you can easily change one for another depending on the situation.
Check gun model
Last but not least, check the model of your spray gun since some nozzle sizes may only be compatible with specific designs. You may check the manufacturer’s instructions to see the range of nozzles tip that may fit the gun. For example, some guns can only support a range of 0.8 – 2.0 mm while bigger guns can employ nozzles of up to 7.1 mm in diameter.
