June 23, 2008

Kawasaki Heat Gun - Review

We're in the process of restoring a few old five-panel doors. The doors themselves are in pretty good shape, but they're covered with about eight thick layers of paint (each color worse than the last). The flat faces of the doors, we just scraped with a standard carbide-tipped scraper, no problem. But the molding on the panels proved to be trickier. With just a scraper, we kept damaging the wood fibers, meaning there would be a lengthy sanding step later on.

So we got in the market for a heat gun. First we figured that we'd get the Bosch. It's $100, but it's a Bosch, so it's worth it, right? We've actually even used it before and liked it quite a bit. But after thinking about it, we figured that there is probably a cheaper one out there that would be fine for our purposes and needs (which were neither extreme nor strenuous). So we looked around and settled on the Kawasaki 10-Piece Kit. What made us choose this model was the fact that it came with, not only a nice carrying case, but that it also included a few nozzles and a scraper. It was a fully-functional paint-scraping kit, all in one box. The cost was under $30, which was also good.

We've been using it for a little while now, and we're happy to say that it has worked as advertised. It's a great little gun with a 12.5 amp motor, two temperatures, and like we said, a variety of heads and scrapers. For under $30 it can't be beat. If you're a painter using a heat gun everyday , you might not like it, but if you're like us and you only need a heat gun a few times a year, this is a perfect tool for you.

There's not a whole lot else to say. But it does prove that you don't always need the big name, expensive tool. It does take a leap of faith ("Kawasaki makes heat guns?"), but sometimes it really pays off. Just know what you're looking for and shop accordingly.

At Amazon