Alternative to an airbrush?

[AlZilla]

I like the effects that an airbrush can provide. The fade-in edges, etc.

But have no desire for an airbrush. Had one ages ago and never again.

But, could an atomizer or spray bottle be an alternative? I see small bottles sold for perfumes, essential oils and the like.

Anyone tried it?

[fredk]

A larger spray, ie giving a larger spray,  for misting water onto plants, is better. The smaller bottles give a very fine spray and you are for-ever spraying cos it doesn't give out much. If you're spraying and don't want the spray on a certain part use a piece of cardboard to mask it

Edited Tuesday at 05:45 PM by fredk

[AlZilla]

Thanks, @fredk. A plant mister is easier to get, too!

[mbnaegle]

Might depend on what kind of air-brush you were using, but more so what you are doing. There are lots of different kinds that work different ways. Some take more skill and provide better detail control, while others are simpler. For basic painting where I'm not getting too "artistic", I'm a fan of the Binks Wren airbrushes (expensive new, but cheap used), though that general design concept is offered by other makes as well. It's a externally mixing gun, meaning it's like an air gun with a tube in front of the nozzles that siphons paint up out of the pot, making for easier cleanup. It's also a single action button, where pressing the button only activates the air. Other airbrushes out there like my Badger 150's are double-action, where pressing the button activates the air, but pulling back on the button gauges how much air is coming out, which can be tricky to get the hang of. All of mine are syphon feed that need air to pull the paint/dye up a tube, while others are side or top gravity feed.

I think a spray bottle would be hard to gage when to start and when to stop pumping, how to fade it, etc. but I've never tried using one for paint or dye. I think they would be hard to clean, so it ends up being a disposable. Air-powered spray guns have the advantage of providing consistent pressure for as long as you hold the button or trigger.

If you're looking for simplicity and need to do volume, these old dye sprayers are about as simple as they come. Not sure where to buy them these days, but it gives you some ideas. This one I recently restored, (full of dry dye and the lid was rusted out). No moving parts and minimal cleaning needed. It uses very little air pressure, which bleeds out a hole in the top of the handle. When you cover that hole with you're thumb, it redirects the air to spray out the front. Not sure who made it originally.

Also have a couple of these old Dyo-Flex guns. The air is always spraying out the front and the trigger moves it closer or farer from the syphon nozzle, changing if or how much fluid is spraying.

[fredk]

Garden plant sprayers are cheap. Available in plastic or glass. Get a cheapo plastic one to try out. I have 5 or 6 glass ones, cost £1.50 per about $1.75 each, you can probably get them cheaper. I opted for the glass as its easier to clean after the dyeing. Dye doesn't stain glass like it does plastic

They're easy to clean. I put the spray head on a spare bottle (it actually doesn't need to fit ) and spray alcohol thru it until it sprays clean. A quick wash then in soapy water finishes the job. If you can find a lid that fits the spray bottle you can keep the dye in it for future use

[dikman]

Mbnaegle has pretty well summed it up. A spray mister is not going to give you much control over the area being "sprayed" or allow any sort of detail work. The external mix airbrushes are the best option for what you want to do, they're simple to use, easy to clean and inexpensive. Where I live they often come up on Marketplace pretty cheap.

[AlZilla]

I appreciate the rundown on airbrushes. I definitely learned some things, but for the few times a year I'd use one, I'm not buying, maintaining and trying to remember where I put, an airbrush.

I'll post back here if I get passable results. Overspray and spatter might make me happy. Perfection is just terminally boring.

[chuck123wapati]

16 hours ago, mbnaegle said:

Might depend on what kind of air-brush you were using, but more so what you are doing. There are lots of different kinds that work different ways. Some take more skill and provide better detail control, while others are simpler. For basic painting where I'm not getting too "artistic", I'm a fan of the Binks Wren airbrushes (expensive new, but cheap used), though that general design concept is offered by other makes as well. It's a externally mixing gun, meaning it's like an air gun with a tube in front of the nozzles that siphons paint up out of the pot, making for easier cleanup. It's also a single action button, where pressing the button only activates the air. Other airbrushes out there like my Badger 150's are double-action, where pressing the button activates the air, but pulling back on the button gauges how much air is coming out, which can be tricky to get the hang of. All of mine are syphon feed that need air to pull the paint/dye up a tube, while others are side or top gravity feed.

I think a spray bottle would be hard to gage when to start and when to stop pumping, how to fade it, etc. but I've never tried using one for paint or dye. I think they would be hard to clean, so it ends up being a disposable. Air-powered spray guns have the advantage of providing consistent pressure for as long as you hold the button or trigger.

If you're looking for simplicity and need to do volume, these old dye sprayers are about as simple as they come. Not sure where to buy them these days, but it gives you some ideas. This one I recently restored, (full of dry dye and the lid was rusted out). No moving parts and minimal cleaning needed. It uses very little air pressure, which bleeds out a hole in the top of the handle. When you cover that hole with you're thumb, it redirects the air to spray out the front. Not sure who made it originally.

Also have a couple of these old Dyo-Flex guns. The air is always spraying out the front and the trigger moves it closer or farer from the syphon nozzle, changing if or how much fluid is spraying.

now these are cool!!! Haven't seen one of these in years, in grade school art class, we had some that just had a straw and you blew through them to create the air pressure. Once upon a time, these were in almost all wood shops for shooting stains and such.

 

[AEBL]

@mbnaegle, those sprayers look a lot like external mix airbrush (like a Badger 350) ...
@AlZilla, see if a "bar mister" would work for you. You ordinarily fill it with vermouth to spritz a martini. I'm sure you could use it to spritz dye (wear gloves, obviously, unless you want to match your work). Some of them look like old-fashioned perfume bottle sprayers.

Edited 6 hours ago by AEBL
needed to add stuff