The exhaust on the roaster was supposed to be bare metal. It came and the top half was bare galvanized, but the bottom half was cream/tan ugly primer.

I was really annoyed because it was sorta, kinda expensive. I wanted metal!

I did the usually Google/Amazon/Home Depot/Lowes scouting around.

Porter Cable makes a spray gun that I thought was at the price/performance tipping point. (I later found a Craftsman that is the exact same spray gun, just stamped “Craftsman.”)

After discovering the Amazon reviews were true, it needs more air than the box says, I did the Google/Amazon/Home Depot/Lowes thing again.

I picked a 30 gallon Craftsman Professional air compressor. Everbody comments on how big it is. I tell them that they don’t recomend it for spray guns. (you have to get the 60 gallon for that.) It isn’t that big, really.

Of course they don’t sell that air compressor in store. I made Chad stare at a 25 gallon 2 stage no-oil horizontal (read: hot dog style) craftsman for about an hour. It was the closest to the 30 gallon single stage oil-lubed that I could find. BTW: in my opion the best air compressor is vertical, 2 stage, oil lubed.

The only 25 gallon in Birmingham was at the Galleria Sears. I begged the Sears guy to pull it out of the warehouse. I could at least look at it. I knew I wanted to finish painting the exhaust. I also knew I didn’t want to have a horizontal tank forever. (really, who wants hot dog style?)

The guy comes back 10 mintues later and we open the beat up box. It looks like the compressor fell 30 feet. The tank was almost seperated from the compressor.

I order the 30 gallon vertical. (as I am writing this I see it just went on sale… errr.)Two weeks later it shows up and I paint.

It took 3 coats to figure out the compressor and 5 adjustment knobs on the spray gun. I think it looks good.

Why couldn’t it just come bare metal?