I broke down and bought the Eastwood dual voltage gun. I started with the hf gun. I wanted to give my opinion on both. I searched and searched the Internet before buying the Eastwood and have read mixed reviews. Read tid bits here and there about this and that. Kinda broken up info if you will.
HF gun
Pros
-cheap
-decent starter gun
-easy to work
-has an led to tell you when the unit is on and also a seperate light to let you know it's energized
-can run to a local hf and buy one the same day
-very controllable
-has a regulator on the handle
-comes with a water filter
-if you break it, it won't cost much to replace
-it's a decent starter gun to see if its something you want to get into
-wires are made plenty long enough (eastwoods too short)
-there's several mods you can do to it to make it a much better gun...but the remote mount cup seems like a pita
Cons
-cheap. Drop it once and it will likely break. Mine did but its an easy fix
-doesn't shoot a consistent and good pattern.
-when the powder gets low in the cup it starts messing up
-if your shooting down sometimes it will dump a nice lump of powder on your part
-it's hard to find extra powder cups. Stupid thing is hf sells powder in a cup that looks identical to the powder cup that goes on the gun but the threads are just that much smaller that it won't fit.
. Dumb. I found our if you wrap the threads with tape a little bit, it will screw in.
-the gun and the box are alot bigger than they need to be
-needs tweaking to make it better, it's liveable if you have patience
Eastwood gun
Cons:
-does not come with a regulator or a filter
-the ground on the handle is not fully grounded when you screw a fitting or a water filter on. I had to add a washer
-the tip or diverter that comes on it spreads the powder out like crazy and wastes a bunch. A quick fix was rob the small one from the hf gun. The electrode is not threaded where the tip goes on either. The tip just slides on. Think that will loosen up quickly. Super glue to the rescue when that happens.
-the cup will leak out the box. It's cheesily siliconed sealed. The silicon was peeling out the box! I already knew about this issue. I went ahead and cleaned the silicon off of it and sealed it with clear two part epoxy. Here's something I'm gonna tell you that no one else has mentioned (that I've seen anyway). You think by looking at it that a Phillips screw and the silicon hold the threaded top for the cup on. Nope. The plastic tubes are threaded and screwed into the gun body. The threads are kinda crappy too so be careful. Use a rag of some pliers to grab it and loosen it.
-the wires are too short
-there's no on/off switch nor are there power or indicator lights. Kinda crappy on their part in my opinion.
-shoots alot more powder with the same air pressure. Seems much more consistent.
-oddly, seems like the powder sticks better and goes on better. May be higher voltage on the high setting vs the hf gun. The spark does seem stronger. I dunno. Just works better!
Pros:
-looks and feels better quality
-small
-lighter and more balanced
-the power supply is 1/3 the size of the hf
-shoots more consistent. I actually changed the big diverted than came with it to the small hf one and it shoots like a dream (compared to the hf anyway :lol)
-has dual voltage
-a performance kit is available from Eastwood for it
-Eastwood has great customer service and backs their products
-I bought it for $129 shipped from Eastwood on there eBay auction. No idea why it was that cheap
-all their powders come in cups that screw right onto the gun. You can also buy extra cups cheap. Yes! That's a big plus for me right there.
-overall I like this gun alot more. I'm thinking about buying one or two more and put quick connects on the wires to make swapping colors easier. I could just buy single voltage guns for cheaper and use them. The box is what makes it dual voltage.
-has a thumb button to energize it compared to the foot pedal on the hf gun
Here's a comparison
![Image]()
HF gun
Pros
-cheap
-decent starter gun
-easy to work
-has an led to tell you when the unit is on and also a seperate light to let you know it's energized
-can run to a local hf and buy one the same day
-very controllable
-has a regulator on the handle
-comes with a water filter
-if you break it, it won't cost much to replace
-it's a decent starter gun to see if its something you want to get into
-wires are made plenty long enough (eastwoods too short)
-there's several mods you can do to it to make it a much better gun...but the remote mount cup seems like a pita
Cons
-cheap. Drop it once and it will likely break. Mine did but its an easy fix
-doesn't shoot a consistent and good pattern.
-when the powder gets low in the cup it starts messing up
-if your shooting down sometimes it will dump a nice lump of powder on your part
-it's hard to find extra powder cups. Stupid thing is hf sells powder in a cup that looks identical to the powder cup that goes on the gun but the threads are just that much smaller that it won't fit.
. Dumb. I found our if you wrap the threads with tape a little bit, it will screw in. -the gun and the box are alot bigger than they need to be
-needs tweaking to make it better, it's liveable if you have patience
Eastwood gun
Cons:
-does not come with a regulator or a filter
-the ground on the handle is not fully grounded when you screw a fitting or a water filter on. I had to add a washer
-the tip or diverter that comes on it spreads the powder out like crazy and wastes a bunch. A quick fix was rob the small one from the hf gun. The electrode is not threaded where the tip goes on either. The tip just slides on. Think that will loosen up quickly. Super glue to the rescue when that happens.
-the cup will leak out the box. It's cheesily siliconed sealed. The silicon was peeling out the box! I already knew about this issue. I went ahead and cleaned the silicon off of it and sealed it with clear two part epoxy. Here's something I'm gonna tell you that no one else has mentioned (that I've seen anyway). You think by looking at it that a Phillips screw and the silicon hold the threaded top for the cup on. Nope. The plastic tubes are threaded and screwed into the gun body. The threads are kinda crappy too so be careful. Use a rag of some pliers to grab it and loosen it.
-the wires are too short
-there's no on/off switch nor are there power or indicator lights. Kinda crappy on their part in my opinion.
-shoots alot more powder with the same air pressure. Seems much more consistent.
-oddly, seems like the powder sticks better and goes on better. May be higher voltage on the high setting vs the hf gun. The spark does seem stronger. I dunno. Just works better!
Pros:
-looks and feels better quality
-small
-lighter and more balanced
-the power supply is 1/3 the size of the hf
-shoots more consistent. I actually changed the big diverted than came with it to the small hf one and it shoots like a dream (compared to the hf anyway :lol)
-has dual voltage
-a performance kit is available from Eastwood for it
-Eastwood has great customer service and backs their products
-I bought it for $129 shipped from Eastwood on there eBay auction. No idea why it was that cheap
-all their powders come in cups that screw right onto the gun. You can also buy extra cups cheap. Yes! That's a big plus for me right there.
-overall I like this gun alot more. I'm thinking about buying one or two more and put quick connects on the wires to make swapping colors easier. I could just buy single voltage guns for cheaper and use them. The box is what makes it dual voltage.
-has a thumb button to energize it compared to the foot pedal on the hf gun
Here's a comparison
