Another Airbrush Question

[ArcherBen]

After seeing excelent results from several on this forum I have decided to purchase an airbrush for dyeing and finishing my leather projects. I've done a fair amount of research and have pretty well settled on an Iwata Eclipse BCS for it's versatility. Now I'm wondering if the Siphon Feed is the right way to go. For those that have experience with airbrushes, what type of feed action do you prefer for working with leather?

Thanks in advance,

Ben

[CitizenKate]

Now I'm wondering if the Siphon Feed is the right way to go. For those that have experience with airbrushes, what type of feed action do you prefer for working with leather?

Which type you go with just depends on the results you want, and how you like to work. Here are some tradeoffs to consider:

Siphon feed airbrushes are more convenient to use when changing colors a lot, because instead of having to empty the cup and clean out the remaining drops of dye in the cup, you can just switch cups. You can usually hold more dye or paint in the cup with siphon feed, which means you wouldn't have to re-load as often.

Gravity feed airbrushes are usually better for very fine detail work, because they don't require as much pressure to operate, and are a little easier to control physically because of the size and shape of the instrument. If you're going to do mostly color washes and shading relatively large areas, either type of airbrush will work fine. If you want to do very fine lines, or coloring very small, finite areas of your project, you may want to consider gravity feed a little more strongly.

In my case, I chose a gravity feed airbrush, which can spray anything from a 3-inch spray down to a line the width of a pencil line without setting the brush down to change tips, settings, etc. I do spend considerable time cleaning dye out of the brush when changing colors, which is sometimes inconvenient to the point of being annoying. But I've used it for years now, and really love all the things I can do with it!

Kate

[ArcherBen]

Kate,

Thanks for the excellent response. I don't necessarily plan on doing a lot of fine detail work, mostly just applying a uniform dye and some occasional fading/blending of dyes. I've spent some more time reading reviews of the BCS (which is a bottom/siphon feed) and haven't read a single negative thing about it, so I think I'm going to go ahead with that one. If in the future I find the need for fine detail work I can always purchase a second brush. Again, thanks for the great information.

[TwinOaks]

For broad coverage like dying a whole piece of leather, I've had pretty good results with "El Cheapo". It's a Harbor Freight siphon feed external mix airbrush. I originally bought it for using with finishes, because the external mix is easier to disassemble for cleaning ( not that the paasche VL is difficult or anything).

A nice thing about siphon feeds is that you can use either the siphon bottle or a small cup that attaches at the same point. Another nice point is that for a quick cleaning between colors and finishes is that you can just attach a hose to the siphon mouth and drop it into your bottle of cleaner, then spray until clear.

I'm not knocking the gravity feeds at all, as I don't have any experience with them- all I've ever used is siphon feed. I do see a definite advantage in the gravity feed when doing detail work though. Gravity feeds do not have any problems with holding the siphon bottle at just the right angle for the hose to pick up everything. Also, permanently attached cups on top of the AB will never get just a little loose, allowing a project-ruining drip at an inopportune time.

Kate, for swabbing out the cup, have you ever considered a shotgun cleaning swab? It won't get in the little areas, but they're great for wiping the majority of the cup- then just wash it out. This occured to me b/c I use one for cleaning out the cup for my paasche.

Edited January 1, 2009 by TwinOaks

[CitizenKate]

For broad coverage like dying a whole piece of leather, I've had pretty good results with "El Cheapo". It's a Harbor Freight siphon feed external mix airbrush. I originally bought it for using with finishes, because the external mix is easier to disassemble for cleaning ( not that the paasche VL is difficult or anything).

I have a single-action sprayer I got for around $10 that I use for liquid finishes. They do work great for wide coverage, and are very easy to maintain.

Kate, for swabbing out the cup, have you ever considered a shotgun cleaning swab? It won't get in the little areas, but they're great for wiping the majority of the cup- then just wash it out. This occured to me b/c I use one for cleaning out the cup for my paasche.

I have thought of that (I used to shoot skeet pretty regularly), but I don't frequent the local shooting supply store as often as I used to. So I just use paper towels and cotton swabs, then rinse and spray-through with denatured alcohol, water, or acrylic brush cleaner, depending on the type of dye or paint I'm using. The swabs probably do a great job of sopping up the traces of leftover dye.

Kate