All we ever wanted to know about air brushes and compressors!

[Scrappile]

Well I do not know everything I need to know about my air brush.  Thought I'd give it a try today.  using hobby paint.  I thinned it pretty good, maybe too good or maybe not good enough, I do not know.  Nothing sprayed out.  So I thought, still too thick, I'll try straight water, nothing came out.  Maybe it is my little Seyco compressor. It works on my nailer, but  heck I just don't know.  I gave up, Will get out the paint brushes.  Darn.  I really wanted to use it but I played it over an hour and nothing. So, I put it aside a will try again another day.

[OCtoolguy]

3 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Well I do not know everything I need to know about my air brush.  Thought I'd give it a try today.  using hobby paint.  I thinned it pretty good, maybe too good or maybe not good enough, I do not know.  Nothing sprayed out.  So I thought, still too thick, I'll try straight water, nothing came out.  Maybe it is my little Seyco compressor. It works on my nailer, but  heck I just don't know.  I gave up, Will get out the paint brushes.  Darn.  I really wanted to use it but I played it over an hour and nothing. So, I put it aside a will try again another day.

Were you getting air out of the hose without the airbrush connected? If so that narrows it to a defective air brush. 

[Joe W.]

9 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

Were you getting air out of the hose without the airbrush connected? If so that narrows it to a defective air brush. 

Trouble shooting 101 - Good suggestion!  I'll try to remember it if this ever happens to me.

[BadBob]

Is your airbrush a single or double action?

With a single, you get air and paint at the same time.

Using a double-action airbrush, you must press down and pull back.

Your airbrush tip could be clogged. Acrylics can dry very fast in some conditions.

Clean the airbrush to be sure it is not clogged, and then try spraying water or solvent through it.

The difference between a single and double-action airbrush is the paint delivery mechanism. A single-action airbrush delivers paint with only the press of a button. A double-action airbrush only lets air pass through when you press down on the trigger. It begins to let paint through when you slide the trigger back and allows more through as you pull the trigger back further. This allows you to adjust the size of the paint stream and the amount of paint passing through your brush as you paint. The ability to do this is the primary advantage of a double-action airbrush over a single-action airbrush.

[TAIrving]

14 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Well I do not know everything I need to know about my air brush.  Thought I'd give it a try today.  using hobby paint.  I thinned it pretty good, maybe too good or maybe not good enough, I do not know.  Nothing sprayed out.  So I thought, still too thick, I'll try straight water, nothing came out.  Maybe it is my little Seyco compressor. It works on my nailer, but  heck I just don't know.  I gave up, Will get out the paint brushes.  Darn.  I really wanted to use it but I played it over an hour and nothing. So, I put it aside a will try again another day.

Test it first by putting straight water in the paint bowl.  It should spray clear water.  That will suggest what to look for next.  

[Scrappile]

yep, as I stated, I tried  straight water, This is the $10 cheapie from Harbor Freight.  I does get good reviews.  The lady that checked me out, well she did not "check me out" I'm an old man,  she took my money and gave a me a receipt, She said she had a couple of them and she used them of decorating cakes.   She loved hers.  I kind think I may need to rethink my compressor.  It may only hold a blast of are then pressure drops quickly.. Okay for my little nail gun, but maybe not enough constant air for an air brush.  I think I have another air brush somewhere I purchased a long time ago, I will try and is no  joy there I will give my bigger compressor.  

Edited October 10, 2022 by Scrappile

[OCtoolguy]

5 hours ago, Scrappile said:

yep, as I stated, I tried  straight water, This is the $10 cheapie from Harbor Freight.  I does get good reviews.  The lady that checked me out, well she did not "check me out" I'm an old man,  she took my money and gave a me a receipt, She said she had a couple of them and she used them of decorating cakes.   She loved hers.  I kind think I may need to rethink my compressor.  It may only hold a blast of are then pressure drops quickly.. Okay for my little nail gun, but maybe not enough constant air for an air brush.  I think I have another air brush somewhere I purchased a long time ago, I will try and is no  joy there I will give my bigger compressor.  

Paul, I bought that same one. I have a 2.5 gal compressor that was given to me. I turned the regulator down to 20 psi and hooked up the air brush. It blew air as it should. You regulate the paint by turning the brass not that is on the jar top. Not the one on the airbrush. Mine blows air just fine and it takes quite a while before the compressor kicks in to replenish the tank. An airbrush compressor has no tank generally so I think your compressor should work fine. You have a blockage somewhere. I upgraded the air hose by buying a package at H/F that had the hose and also an air fitting that I needed to adapt to the quick disconnect on the compressor. I also purchased from Amazon another package of fittings that gave me a quick connect to the airbrush. 

These are the two things that I bought extra. 

Harbor Freight hose and fitting:  https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-x-10-ft-braided-nylon-airbrush-hose-69578.html

Amazon air fitting set:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VDSKGS2?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by OCtoolguy

[Dak0ta52]

I must say these air brush/paint sprayer threads have sparked my interest. My primary use would be to spray finish and I'm not sure that an air brush would be enough for the coverage I need. I have been purchasing clear gloss spray in rattle cans from Walmart for around $24 a case (6-cans). Now it has increased to $34 for the case. I believe a spray gun with a quality finish product would be a less expensive route. I'm looking at a kit that has 2 guns and comes with an inline regulator for each gun as well as filters and a cleaning kit. I will most likely purchase an air brush down the road for the occasional times I paint pieces. I have two compressors, one large shop compressor with plenty of power and volume, and a smaller, portable unit that would work for spraying smaller pieces.

[BadBob]

18 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

Harbor Freight hose and fitting:  https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-x-10-ft-braided-nylon-airbrush-hose-69578.html

I use these hoses and recommend them.

[kmmcrafts]

16 hours ago, Dak0ta52 said:

I must say these air brush/paint sprayer threads have sparked my interest. My primary use would be to spray finish and I'm not sure that an air brush would be enough for the coverage I need. I have been purchasing clear gloss spray in rattle cans from Walmart for around $24 a case (6-cans). Now it has increased to $34 for the case. I believe a spray gun with a quality finish product would be a less expensive route. I'm looking at a kit that has 2 guns and comes with an inline regulator for each gun as well as filters and a cleaning kit. I will most likely purchase an air brush down the road for the occasional times I paint pieces. I have two compressors, one large shop compressor with plenty of power and volume, and a smaller, portable unit that would work for spraying smaller pieces.

Yeah a air brush isn't probably the best option for spray finishing unless you're finishing very small items like ornaments etc. and just a few at a time. I haven't used my spray equipment that I have for painting cars until the other day. I really needed something better than spray cans to spray a lot of the water based poly. Since I had a quart can I bought a couple years ago to do just that but then didn't want to use my nicer spray guns for these type of paints. I took my cheaper gun ( which actually works as good if not better than the high dollar ones LOL ) a gravity feed Astro 2000 I think is the model with the 1.4 nozzle. It did a nice job and I can see myself using it more. I'll likely buy a new one as the real only reason I did use it for other paints than for cars is the gun it old and been used a lot but more important is that the chrome is peeling off and to hold it it's rough and hurts your hand, LOL.. definitely not something I'll hold long enough to paint an entire car, LOL. They still make the same gun but now they're colored chrome looking rather than plain chrome. Definitely don't need a large cup that they come with. 

Plastic spray gun cups are junk.. now they might be okay for cheap oil and water based paints but the potent car paints and solvents sort of distorts the plastic and then you can't get the lid to unscrew.. ( not a good thing if painting a car and need to refill and can't get the lid off ) I would shy away from a plastic cup.. that said I believe the most spray guns may have the same threads to replace the cup with a metal one, that's what I did with my Astro gun. Since you don't need a large cup I'd find a small metal cup for the smaller projects. 

If you're good with fabrication and have some common sense for safety with air pressures etc. and you only spray the same material through the same can you can customize your spray can to be refillable.. then buy the quarts and just refill your spray can if you're good with the spray quality from the can.. 

 

[Bill WIlson]

I have a mini HVLP spray gun that I got from Grizzly a number of years ago.  It works really well for spraying smaller projects.

it's similar to the one in this link;

https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-deluxe-mini-hvlp-spray-gun/h7673

[crupiea]

On 9/27/2022 at 6:22 PM, OCtoolguy said:

I'm leaning toward this one because of price and after viewing a few videos on youtube. It comes with 3 air brushes which may or may not be of any quality but for what little I'll use it, at least at first, I think it will fill the bill. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M72W5OV/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A10PRH2DFOVNA8&psc=1

I have this set and its a hard learning curve.  Spend way more time cleaning it and adjusting it than I ever did actually painting with it.  Frustrating, 
 

That said I bought this cheapo from harbor freight and it worked straight away with all sorts of cheap paint like those little $1 acrylic ones you get at walmart.


I use the same compressor as the amazon one.  You do need an adapter but I found one in the shop to get it up and running,.  very simple to use this one and gives good results.  nice smooth coatings on the projects and can do it right in the dining room. 

https://www.harborfreight.com/quick-change-airbrush-kit-93506.html

Edited October 12, 2022 by crupiea

[BadBob]

23 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Yeah a air brush isn't probably the best option for spray finishing unless you're finishing very small items like ornaments etc.

You can spray quite large areas with an airbrush using the proper tips. I used to work with someone who painted full-size cars with an airbrush. He had a wall full of trophies from car shows.

 

[BadBob]

A lot of the lower-cost airbrushes are not suitable for spraying lacquer. It will dissolve the seals.

 

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, BadBob said:

You can spray quite large areas with an airbrush using the proper tips. I used to work with someone who painted full-size cars with an airbrush. He had a wall full of trophies from car shows.

 

Yeah, I know it "can be" done.. but is it practical? I know a guy that paints cars with a roller and wins car shows.. It's not how the paint was laid out but rather the the wet sanding and buffing the less than perfect laid paint to make it "look" like a pro did it with high end spray equipment. So the guy that does a entire car with an air brush is either spraying one panel at a time or he's detailing the crap out of the paint after a crap spray job. You cannot possibly get around the entire car and get the correct flash timing for the second coat without having orange peel issues.. It's tough sometime even with proper spray equipment. You can also flash it with reducer to add a shine to paint that had been too dry for that second coat. 

Anyway yes can be done but it's like building a house and the only saw you have to cut your framing materials with is a scroll saw, LOL.. can be done yes.. and yes takes skill at a different level to achieve it, there are much better methods to achieve the end result and less work / time involved to do the job. I went to trade school for auto collision repair and worked at a shop for 10 years before running my own shop for a few years.. I know my way around that side of painting a little bit, don't know it all because I've been out of it for 12 ish years.. What I don't know is finishing wood products.. what I do know about it is if you don't seal it with something first it can take 5 times the amount of paint that the same surface area of a car metal would take.. also about 4 times harder to get a run / sag in paint on wood products, LOL.. Which is probably why I mentioned that painting larger wood products with a air brush might not be practical and a larger gun might be what is best. I'm just starting to toy with paints and wood products so I am learning new things.. maybe a air brush is good enough to do larger projects with I don't know.. 

[Joe W.]

5 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

Anyway yes can be done but it's like building a house and the only saw you have to cut your framing materials with is a scroll saw, LOL.. can be done yes.. and yes takes skill at a different level to achieve it, there are much better methods to achieve the end result and less work / time involved to do the job.

 That comment takes me back to when I first used a nail gun instead of a hammer for trim work.  Wow!
There is a satisfaction for many of being able to use non-powered tools to make things in the old ways, but for efficiency the right makes a world of difference.
 

[BadBob]

18 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

So the guy that does a entire car with an air brush is either spraying one panel at a time or he's detailing the crap out of the paint after a crap spray job.

He painted the car one panel at a time using automotive lacquer. You're going to love this: His air supply was a tire.

I, too, have been trained as an auto painter and worked in body shops for a while until I got fed up with the crapy work they wanted me to do. This training and experience did very little to prepare me for painting with an airbrush. It's a skill you must learn either by someone teaching you or by trial and error, as I did. I spent considerable money, time, and effort just figuring out how to do what I needed. I haven't counted them, but I own ten or more airbrushes. I started by buying the lowest-cost airbrushes I could find and worked my way up until one day, I was gifted a Badger Anthem 155, which did exactly what I wanted. It will spray a lot of paint very fast and can do thin lines if I ever want to. There are several Badger airbrushes that use the same tip and needle combination. I have all of them.

You can spray at least as large a pattern as a rattle can using an airbrush. You must use the proper tip size to do this. You can push a lot of paint through a 7mm tip and need a large paint cup.

[kmmcrafts]

35 minutes ago, BadBob said:

He painted the car one panel at a time using automotive lacquer. You're going to love this: His air supply was a tire.

I, too, have been trained as an auto painter and worked in body shops for a while until I got fed up with the crapy work they wanted me to do. This training and experience did very little to prepare me for painting with an airbrush. It's a skill you must learn either by someone teaching you or by trial and error, as I did. I spent considerable money, time, and effort just figuring out how to do what I needed. I haven't counted them, but I own ten or more airbrushes. I started by buying the lowest-cost airbrushes I could find and worked my way up until one day, I was gifted a Badger Anthem 155, which did exactly what I wanted. It will spray a lot of paint very fast and can do thin lines if I ever want to. There are several Badger airbrushes that use the same tip and needle combination. I have all of them.

You can spray at least as large a pattern as a rattle can using an airbrush. You must use the proper tip size to do this. You can push a lot of paint through a 7mm tip and need a large paint cup.

A tire for air .. Yeah I got out of it partly because of the safety liability of the corrupt owner wanted the workers to perform on salvaged cars. Putting unsafe cars back on the road because the owner needed to scam people for more speed boats I guess, LOL.. Plus my passion was custom work. I did air brushing some doing multi color flame paint jobs for show cars since back then flames was a big thing, LOL. I found that the badger air brush I had didn't have the paint capacity I needed to do most of the bigger flame jobs I had and found that a small half pint devilbis touch-up gun worked better for what I was doing. They've probably improved the air brush since my days or I just never learned the ins and outs of the set I had. Also back before the internet days you relied on the tool sales guy to know what he's selling or by word of mouth.. now days you can look up reviews and see demos etc. online.  My experience with them is limited as I just preferred the touch-up gun I had. The issue I had with staying in the business was finding enough customers that actually had the money to have a car done up that wasn't a insurance claim type work.. I was working with cash paying customers only because I wanted out of the liability of doing crappy repairs for the insurance using aftermarket panels that don't fit right etc.. They've since improved repop panels and parts but I have no desire to go back into it other than doing my own cars.     

[Rolf]

I had to do a repair to the gel coat on my boat a few years ago. So I bought a couple of these detail spray guns. They were a bout 8$ with a coupon back then.  I figured if the gel set before I could clean the gun I would just toss them. They worked surprisingly well and would great on a bigger project.

https://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools-compressors/air-spray-guns/adjustable-detail-spray-gun-92126.html  

[OCtoolguy]

10 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

A tire for air .. Yeah I got out of it partly because of the safety liability of the corrupt owner wanted the workers to perform on salvaged cars. Putting unsafe cars back on the road because the owner needed to scam people for more speed boats I guess, LOL.. Plus my passion was custom work. I did air brushing some doing multi color flame paint jobs for show cars since back then flames was a big thing, LOL. I found that the badger air brush I had didn't have the paint capacity I needed to do most of the bigger flame jobs I had and found that a small half pint devilbis touch-up gun worked better for what I was doing. They've probably improved the air brush since my days or I just never learned the ins and outs of the set I had. Also back before the internet days you relied on the tool sales guy to know what he's selling or by word of mouth.. now days you can look up reviews and see demos etc. online.  My experience with them is limited as I just preferred the touch-up gun I had. The issue I had with staying in the business was finding enough customers that actually had the money to have a car done up that wasn't a insurance claim type work.. I was working with cash paying customers only because I wanted out of the liability of doing crappy repairs for the insurance using aftermarket panels that don't fit right etc.. They've since improved repop panels and parts but I have no desire to go back into it other than doing my own cars.     

Speaking of unsafe jobs brought me back to about 67 when I was a heavy line mechanic in a Buick agency. Some clown brought in a 67 Buick Riviera that he had cobbled together out of at least 2 wrecked cars. When I raised it up on the rack I right away saw where he had joined two cars together. The frames were chewing gum welded together right in the middle of the car. A good jolt of any kind would have caused the car to split in two. I showed it to my service manager and he told me to stop working on it and he called the California Highway Patrol. They sent an inspector out and he immediately impounded the car. I have no idea what ever happened to the customer but that car never saw another highway mile. it really makes one wonder how many of those are out there at any given point in time.

 

[Gonzo]

On 10/13/2022 at 5:47 PM, OCtoolguy said:

     Some clown brought in a 67 Buick Riviera that he had cobbled……

 

Hey Ray, did he look like me?  

[OCtoolguy]

22 minutes ago, Gonzo said:

Hey Ray, did he look like me?  

I don't know. What do you look like? And how did you look 60 years ago.

 

[Gonzo]

23 hours ago, OCtoolguy said:

I don't know. What do you look like? And how did you look 60 years ago.

 

I look like the picture in my avatar. That’s me!  60 years ago, I looked the same, but not as much hair (hahahaha). 

[OCtoolguy]

1 hour ago, Gonzo said:

I look like the picture in my avatar. That’s me!  60 years ago, I looked the same, but not as much hair (hahahaha). 

Did you try to put 2 Rivs together with Bazooka gum? If that was you I hope you learned a lesson.

[Joe W.]

On 10/12/2022 at 12:18 AM, crupiea said:

https://www.harborfreight.com/quick-change-airbrush-kit-93506.html

Edited October 12 by crupiea

I got that airbrush kit about a month ago and used it once to paint acrylic on a bud vase.  Was happy with the results.
Last week, I got an order for this pattern, but to be finished with amber shellac, based on another pattern of a fish I had cut out and finished with amber shellac. Sooooo . . . used a brush on the cutout horse pattern and didn't like it.  The brush marks were showing.  So  . . . 

I used amber shellac thinned with Denatured Alcohol.  Ratio was something like 3 to one shellac to alcohol.
I sprayed each side lightly about 8 times.
I like the results, given the first time I've sprayed with shellac.
Will experiment more, as I would like to achieve a glass like finish, if possible.