airbrush

[bugsy]

what is your preference on the brand and model of airbrush.....that you use?

[leatheroo]

i am using a cheapo one and i am looking to buy a better one. i was thinking of paasche VL. looking forward to hearing other peoples advice.

[CitizenKate]

I bought a Badger 100LG with a fine tip about 5 years ago, and so far, haven't found any reason to buy another one. It's a great multi-purpose airbrush; it can spray anything from a pencil line to a 2" wash. You can get it at Dixie Art for around $70 USD. You can see one here.

I probably should mention some things about various features while I'm at it...

Gravity vs. siphon feed:

- Gravity feed usually allows more control and range of the spray pattern, maybe because it doesn't require as much pressure (someone else may know more about that). Color changes can be kind of a hassle, because you have to clean out the color cup each time you change colors.

- Siphon feed is nice if you will be spraying a smaller range of spray patterns (or if you buy your brush with an assortment of different sized tips), and color changes are much easier, because you can just swap out color cups. If you get a siphon feed, it's a good idea to get several color cups.

Single vs. double action:

- Single-action is fine if you just want to use a fairly wide spray. I use a single-action sprayer to put on liquid finishes.

- Double-action is better if you want to vary your spray pattern.

Kate

[steveb]

what is your preference on the brand and model of airbrush.....that you use?

I've got 2 Paasche VL's - they are workhorses - and by buying two the same, you get to interchange parts and become very familiar with the units and how to use and care for them

Airbrushes are very maintenance intensive, but I love mine and wouldn't trade them for anything.

You can go wrong with a Paasche - for the price, availability of parts and the performance

IMSHO - of course

steveb

[skip]

would any one of you mention what you have used your airbrush on, or at least show some of your work that you have dyed using your airbrushes, as well as list some of the reasons for going to air brushe instead of some other way of dying your leather work. I am just not convinced that it will save any time at all.

[tazzmann]

I use my air brushes all the time on not only motorcycles, but leather as well. It DOES take some time, especially if you use a gravity feed set up like I do, but for fine lines and blending color on leather, nothing beats it. I use both Acrylic and regular dyes on some of my leather and you can achieve some very good effects that you just can't get with a regular brush. My favorite is to spray, say a deer carving, with a lighter color brown dye and then use a darker dye on the shadowed area, very carefully blending into the lighter dye. It makes for a very realistic effect if done correctly. Plus, if you spray Super Sheen with an air brush, you can get a more even coverage and thus a much better end product, IMHO.

[leatheroo]

Skip, i use the airbrush for painting my leather masks. Blending is much better and no brush strokes

[CitizenKate]

Skip,

Here are a couple of examples of work I've colored with an airbrush. (My apologies to those of you who have already seen these pieces.) I use a wide spray from my airbrush with painters tape and other masking materials to color squares and other larger, intricately-shaped areas on my game boards. I also use the airbrush freehand (without any mask) to create the shading you see around the edges.

Using an airbrush has cut the amount of time it takes me to color a game board in about half the amount of time it takes to apply it with a brush. On my larger boards, that's hours. Applying a mask is an extra step you wouldn't take if you were hand-brushing, but once the mask is in place, the coloring goes very quickly. It's also easier to get the color to go on evenly when you're spraying it. Shading with an airbrush is very fast and easy compared to hand-brushing. My airbrush has paid for itself many times over.

Kate

[steveb]

I use my air brushes all the time on not only motorcycles, but leather as well. It DOES take some time, especially if you use a gravity feed set up like I do, but for fine lines and blending color on leather, nothing beats it. I use both Acrylic and regular dyes on some of my leather and you can achieve some very good effects that you just can't get with a regular brush. My favorite is to spray, say a deer carving, with a lighter color brown dye and then use a darker dye on the shadowed area, very carefully blending into the lighter dye. It makes for a very realistic effect if done correctly. Plus, if you spray Super Sheen with an air brush, you can get a more even coverage and thus a much better end product, IMHO.

Michael - ive never really had good luck in spraying super shene, although i love the idea of being able to do that - do you thin it?

How do you clean your brush and how much air are you pushing through your gun?

last question: do you use the same gun for dye and topcoats?

thanks

steveb

[CitizenKate]

Steve,

Not Michael, but thought I would mention I've had much better results spraying top coats and finishes (either acrylic or liquid wax) from a single-action sprayer, rather than the double-action airbrush I use for dyes and paints. The acrylics go on very nicely, but they tend to clog the nozzle, so the sprayer has to be thoroughly rinsed with warm water after each use. The liquid wax finishes require less maintenance; I can usually leave the liquid in the sprayer after each use, and resume spraying next time I need it.

Kate

Michael - ive never really had good luck in spraying super shene, although i love the idea of being able to do that - do you thin it?

How do you clean your brush and how much air are you pushing through your gun?

last question: do you use the same gun for dye and topcoats?

thanks

steveb

[leatheroo]

just bought a vl paasche on ebay for $51US and $15 delivery. i consider this a bargain as they sell for $140AU here in australia. cant wait for it to arrive. i think i will buy a H paasche as well for larger areas that need spraying.

[tazzmann]

Steve,

I use Airbrush City(http://airbrushcity.com/abk1/) airbrushes for my leather work which are all dual action (and pretty cheap on e-bay). I have one airbrush that is gravity feed (the GD100) that I do all my dyes and acrylics with and one that is siphon feed (the 1104) that I use for the Super Sheen as I have a cap that fits on the Super Sheen bottle nicely.

The gravity feed has a smaller needle in it (.02) and I can get a pencil line or a line as big as 1 1/2" out of it with good coverage.

The Supersheen requires a larger needle (.05) to spray on effectively. You don't have to push as much air with a larger needle and you don't have to dilute. I do dilute my Super Sheen with a little water just to thin it out a touch as I am running a .03 needle. I had to experiment a lot to get the correct ratio. In the jars I use (1 oz), I fill the jar up to just over 90% with Super Sheen and then put in enough water to bring it up to the bottom of the neck of the jar. This ratio seems to work good for me and my set up, but you might need to play with that ratio a touch depending on your airbrush and needle size.

As far as cleaning goes, I spray a lot of different things through my airbrush (I am even playing with spraying a mixture of water and Lexol onto the leather to case it before carving. I have been getting some interesting results.) and it depends on what I am using as to what I clean my brushes with. With any Acrylics or Super Sheen, I use airbrush cleaner or acrylic paint thinner to clean.

With the automotive paints that I use on motorcycles, I either use a solvent for cleaning larger paint guns or reducer, if I don't have any of the other available. A word of caution: a lot of airbrushes have rubber o-rings and seal. Acetone, reducer and paint gun cleaning solvent will DESTROY these parts. If you intend on using these products, do what I did and replace these parts with nylon versions.

Also, once a week or so (depending on how often I use my brushes that week), I will completely disassemble the brush and thoroughly clean and lubricate it.

I hope I explained everything well enough. Let me know if you have any more questions!

Edited January 24, 2008 by tazzmann

[steveb]

taz - thanks for the insight...i use an 03 needle for the most part and i have a little pancake compressor...i dont know that the airstream is consistent enough with that little stinker to push a bigger needle..might need to upgrade that unit to make the most of the brush... i use isopropyl , warm water and pipecleaners to clean my brushes and use a drop of lily white sewing machine oil every now and then to lube, i disalsemble an clean after every use....I have a great trick that i will share at some point when i remember to take some pics in my shop of how to spray belts w/o making a mess w/an airbrush

methinks if i am going to spray finishes, i wil get a dedicated VL jsut for that, they are cheap enough

steveb

[tazzmann]

Steve,

What is the max PSI for that machine? I have a 150 PSI 20 gallon compressor from Sears with filters and a precision regulator (not the stock one). I usually run about 15 PSI for my .03 needle. I would think about 8 PSI should be enough for the .05 needle depending on the CFM.

Also, make sure that any lubricant you use does NOT contain silicone. It can mess up your spray. I use airbrush lubricant. It is cheap and I KNOW I won't have problems with it.

Eventually I will get a Paasche or an Iwata to do my dyes, but for now the cheapo ABC airbrushes work well enough.

I would love to see how you do your belts. I use frisket film to keep my stuff from getting messed up from over-spray, but always looking for other (and maybe even better) methods! :D

[skip]

Thanks for all who posted the great information, I will look into getting a good airbrush for futire work in leather.

[mliebs8]

I use an Iwata Eclipse BCS and am very happy with it, I'm using it for the final finish on my hoslters and it's always flawless. Now if I could just get my leather work flawless I'd be set.

[LarryB]

About nine years ago I got this Badger 150 with 3 heads to it, fine, medium, large. I have used it for spraying my first coat of super sheen on my projects. I have used it to spray a few projects but I would like to get one that does finer and add that to my shop. I am far from a pro at using this.. I could use a lot of lessons on how to use one but I do enjoy using it and it will give a nice coat without any brush marks.

Enjoying this thread.

[TomBanwell]

I am using an Iwata HP-C which I bought almost 30 years ago. Has the technology changed at all since then? I'd be happy to buy a newer airbrush if it would work any better. I'm pretty happy with the Iwata, and am spraying mostly dyes now. I'm just wondering what I might be missing.

[leatheroo]

hey tom, i am waiting delivery of a new airbrush iwata hp cplus, the guy at the airbrush course used this one with amazing ability. he could get really fine lines, try unscrewing the tip, you should get a finer spray this way.

[TomBanwell]

Caroline, I took the tip off years ago and just don't use it. I think I want to buy a siphon feed airbrush so I can switch out colors faster. For painting masks, which model of airbrush does anyone recommend? Thanks,

[cem]

I have an Aztek airbrush I really like it but it might not be to everyones taste you can check it out here www.micromark.com item number 82887. There are two versions the metal one and a polymer plastic, ive had both and found the plastic one was too light so I sold it. I used to paint silicone stop motion puppets and had to change colours alot so this airbrush suited me as it can be flushed out quickly and you don't have to worry about damaging the needle as it is enclosed in the detachable tip, I also got the cleaning station to assist with quicker cleaning.

I bought mine about four years ago and remember Micromark was about the cheapest couldn't believe it when my local hobby shop was selling it for $600 AUD.

Cheers,

Clair

[TwinOaks]

Tom,

I've got a Paasche VL that I'm relearning to use, and I love it. The kit has 3 size needle/tips included. That outta cover all the needs, and it is a siphon feed model.

If you're not sure you want to go with that much investment to check it out, here's a link you might find useful click me.

They've also got an external mix brush for under $10 that I thought would be great for applying finishes (no clogging the tip).