Airbrush Or Airbrushing

[Oldtoolsniper]

Couple of things I have learned.

Sometimes dyes will blend and change colors. If you apply red over yellow for a sunshine fade you may end up with a green so always test on scrap. The base or leather has a color too so test on scrap.

Tooling changes how the dye absorbs.

Leather absorbs the dye and each piece will do that differently. Save scraps of that leather to practice your colors on each piece will be different in how it takes the dye.

I keep a note book on how I mix the dyes so I can replicate the colors in the future. I mix by drops, not real scientific but I'm not building the guidance system for a rocket either.

I'm not an airbrush artist, I can't even draw. The artwork is done already and you are simply coloring it not drawing it with the airbrush.

To paint a chair black you do not need to be able to make the chair, you only need to be able to apply the paint to the chair and it will look just like a black chair.

I use the alcohol based leather dyes so the solvent is alcohol.

I also use Non Grain Raising wood dye as well. I use the alcohol based because it's the same solvent for my leather dyes and that way I'm not trying to mix water based and alcohol based dyes together.

Wood dye and wood stain are two different animals. Wood dye is color and wood stain is pigment. Dye enters the leather and stain sits on top. I use the NGR dye because there are a lot more colors and you can mix them for different shades. I'm also very familiar with them from woodworking.

Dye changes the color of the material and stain (pigment) coversup the material or sits on top. Dye leaves the leather visible and stain covers the leather up like paint only really thinned out.

I only had wood dye when I started and since it dyes my fingers, clothing, wood, concrete floor and everything else it gets on I figured it would work on leather. It does for me. If it's right or wrong I'm sure is a long discussion that ranks up there with Ford vs. Chevy. Who cares as long as it works, it does for me.

Trade name is below parentheses. I buy it from wood workers supply.

(Behlen Solar Lux NGR Dyes, BehlenWood Dye

HIGHLY FADE RESISTANT COLORS.

Premixed, non-grain raising NGR SOLAR-LUX is ideal for use under any top coat)

I'm pretty much convinced if you can use a can of spray paint you can airbrush. The only difference is cleaning and thinning what you spray. The beauty of the alcohol dyes is that you don't even have to be that clean conscious with them since they will clean up even after they dry with alcohol.

A good example is water based paint, once it drys water will not remove it so it must be cleaned from the airbrush before it dries. This holds true for most of the acrylic leather finishes, they thin with water but cannot be reactivated or removed with water once they dry.

The dyes for the most part are the easiest and most forgiving of all the things I have ever used in an airbrush. Even if you let them dry in the airbrush they wash right out with alcohol. I don't let them dry in the brush but it has happened to me by mistake. It will happen to you too.

I'm not sure what the difference between "Leather Paint" and "Craft Paint" is besides the price. $4.99 and up for leather paint and $.89 for the same amount of craft paint when it's not on sale.

Same thing with leather dye vs wood dye with the same solvent. Wood dye has more colors to use in mixing and there is a handy dandy color mixing wheel that is also for sale at woodworkers supply that really cuts down on the experimenting when attempting a new shade.

Marketing is amazing and here is my point. The most expensive paint on the planet has got to be fingernail polish. Some of it is $8.00 an ounce, using math for Marines that is $1024.00 a gallon since there are 128 ounces in a gallon. Even that craft paint is expensive stuff when you break it down that way.

I've used fingernail polish, ink, automotive paints, floor finish, craft paint, food dye, wood dye, lacquer, polyurethane, varnish, spar varnish, shellac, pre-catalyzed lacquer, polyurethane, varnish, spar varnish, shellac, two part clear coat, all of the oil based paints that come in quarts, gallons etc, rust oleum type stuff, contact cement and have determined that an airbrush is just another way to get the product applied to the object. You need to clean your airbrush the same as a good quality brush, if you don't well that's on you.

Is an airbrush always the best way, no. It's just another way.

I'm hoping this becomes a running discussion on airbrushing leather, it really is easy.

The pictures here are examples of really super easy finishes done with airbrushing. It's way easier than any other method I've tried and the only faster way I've found is dip dying. The colors I do tend to be close to the same since I have those colors in quarts which is a lot of spraying before they are gone.

I'm not an expert and I'm not an artist and I can't draw. I can push the button on an airbrush just like a can of spray paint and make a chair like object go from whatever color to whatever color without knowing how to make the chair like object.

Thinning what you are spraying ( the thinner is what the directions tell you to use for clean-up) so it works, cleaning the airbrush with the appropriate cleaner and getting past the fear of using one is all you need to get started in that direction.

It's not the answer for every situation, it's another tool to use.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Oldtoolsniper

[JLSleather]

Yeah, I think I'm going to look for a new airbrush, or two. They're almost indestructable, but not entirely. These have been around a good while, and I see that Paasche has changed the design of the VL series, and not for the better. So, I'll be thinking about other models. These still work for that "fade" thing I think people do for their boyfriends ... no precision or talent or time investment required there... Some of us did HUNDREDS of ladies' handbags like that years ago.

I think the big advantage of the airbrush in leather is speed. Fill the cup, and off you go. You get to skip a lot of trips back to the jar because the brush is empty.

There are of course many more advantages, but until I see someone actually using one of them, maybe that's a topic for a different forum. I haven't had the time to commit to it I would like to have, but there are a couple of 'starter' images over here. That animation is a pattern from a gal on this site (sketch) done with a Paasche VL-1 (no tooling, just FIebing's dyes). And the holster is one of those things that any dummy can do in under a minute.

[Oldtoolsniper]

JLS

I'm glad you are jumping in here. I was intimidated by all the voodo associated with an airbrush until I tried it. Getting it through my head that the object will look just like the object only a diffent color was the biggest hurdle. I use the Iwata brand and again that's the Ford vs Chevy thing. I just go from light to dark. Spray the whole thing light and then add the dark. You can always go darker from lighter and you can never go lighter from darker. Thinning the dye makes it lighter.

Your right any dummy can do it in no time flat. I'm a complete amateur in both leatherwork and airbrushing. My work shows that, however I think you can only learn by doing it.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Oldtoolsniper

[JLSleather]

When he was 5, one of my boys used a Paasche VL, a piece of 12 x18 vellum, and some grey dye (reduced Fiebings black) to paint a sky-scape. Clouds and sky and such. Never touched an airbrush before, but he had watched, so he put his paper on the easel, and swapped out different masks n stencils for different effects. Looked good - in like half an hour.

Airbrushing - from the voodoo side -- is much like leather work. There are some who will spend their day telling you how terribly difficult it is. Probably not the case EVERY time, but i suspect that story is told so you won't try it, and become their competition! And, there will always be small men who think (or would like to think) that they can sucker _^talk customers into paying more if it's "hard".

[bullmoosepaddles]

I have been trying to get a busy friend of mine to sit me down and tell me what I need to get started. I also do woodworking. So I will be good both ways. I use alcohol based dyes for much of my wood working colors. The traditional stuff I use pigment stains on.

Any suggestions on gun types, is it easier to buy one of the all in one kits. I have a medium size compressor. Just would like to same myself some of the suffering that ignorance seems to cause so often.

Thank you for any advice.

Gene

[Oldtoolsniper]

Gene,

I'm not an expert. Here is what I did. Went to the local craft store, Hobby Lobby in my case and bought an Iwata neon for my first one with the 40% off coupon. Before I bought it I looked at what they had to support the iwata line. Hoses, couplers, water traps, needles, etc. my reasoning on this was simple, I could drive there and have the parts the same day. My choice on brands was decided based on what I could source locally. They now carry a pretty extensive line of paasche airbrush equipment as well. I use both.

Here's the deal with leather dyeing, it spreads when you apply it just like wood only more. You can't really paint a picture with dye like you do with paint. My point here is really all that brush needs to do is atomize your dye and squirt it on the leather. They will all do that and do it easy and well. Fill the reservoir with dye right from the bottle and pull the trigger, it really is that simple. The mixing of colors to get other colors is the same as using a rag, brush, sheeps wool, paper towel, dipping or dauber, it's done prior to the application regardless of how you apply it. All of those things with the exception of your air brush mostly go in the trash after you use them. Your airbrush does not. Denatured alcohol is $12 something a gallon here and that's a lot and I mean a lot of airbrush cleaning, dye reducing, thinner for leather airbrushing. You are not trying to airbrush 1/16" crisp lines on a t-shirt with paint so don't get wrapped up in how fine of a line you can paint with it. The dye will spread and your line will be shading or a highlight not a line.

Your compressor is more than enough. Most any compressor will work, it does not need to say airbrush on it. You can run an airbrush on a regular compressor, you can't run a nailer on an airbrush compressor they are only for airbrushing. Don't use those disposable cans they are expensive and you don't need them since you have a compressor. Make sure you have a moisture trap. Not a real big deal with dye but you need it for about everything hooked to a compressor so make sure you have one. I run mine from a regular hose laying on the floor by my spray area, I use an old ironing board to spray on since they adjust up and down and store flat plus they sell covers for them most anywhere. I just spray on top of newspaper. In most cases your using about a thimbles full of dye so you need to figure out your own safety plan for that.

The fittings to go from regular hose to airbrush hose are In the plumbing department or compressor area of your hardware store. You'll need reducers to go down to the 1/4 " hose for your brush. Mine are all set up to use a standard run of the mill quick release fitting so I can use brad nailers, roofing guns etc on the same hose. I have an air regulator that attaches to the end of the hose so I can adjust pressure at the ironing board spray area. No running down to the basement to adjust the air pressure. I use the same set up for pinners and nailers, they save a lot of walking.

I use my airbrush a lot in woodworking too. Creating a shadow line on a raised panel door is simple. If you do it over a top coat of finish and screw up just wipe it off. You can then add the top coat over the shadow line and not smear it like a brush or rag does.

Paining fishing lures is easy. Paint then seal with top coat or finish. Apply the next layer and if it's not right wipe it off, when you get it right apply top coat, apply the next layer and if it's not right wipe it off and the previous work is still as it was because the top coat kept them separate. Works on full sized furniture too.

My advice is get what you can get locally to start out and then advance to the mail order stuff. You will then know what you want and need. Get a double action and then you won't know the difference because that is what you will learn on, it's really simple. Want to practice cheap just use food color and water on some sort of absorbent paper. (Leather is absorbent ) so it's like leather. Your not fighting runs on an absorbent material like a hard gloss one, and that's one more reason it's so easy. Food color will color leather too.

I see you understand the difference between stain and dye so that won't be much of an issue for you, they both will work but the results are diffent. I only use dye on leather, not because stain doesn't work but because I don't care for the look stain imparts on the leather.

Edited July 13, 2015 by Oldtoolsniper

[JLSleather]

There's definitely something to be said for easy access. That Hobby Lobby store is why I stuck with the Paasche as long as I have (plus, Im cheap enough I dont like to replace what isn't broken).

I put a new security light on the front of the house, which it turns out needs a simple box adapter. That little box thing is available over the counter in many stores. But not the one here - special order only. So now I have an entire project waiting on a $2 box.

But this goes for many things. Wherever possible, PICK your own. Go see the leather you're getting. Test the tool they're selling. Any time you get the chance.

The compressor I use came from Menard's with a stanley finish nailer. I've used those "airbrush" compressors, but fact is they'll cost twice as much and perform less. They were always kicking on trying to keep up. Just be sure you have a regulator to set the pressure (usually, I spray alchohol dyes between 15 and 30 pounds, depending).

Double action definitely the way to go. You'll see people talking about it's harder to learn - pay no attention to this. I've used both single action and double action (and I've seen some STUNNING work done with both) and the double is easier to use. Oldtoolsniper mentioned aerosol spray cans. This, basically, is a single action -- one button you can push to spray paint and air. Push down half way, you get less air, but the same amount of paint (causing a different look). The double-action allows you to also control the amount of paint with that same button. Simple.

In fact, that's ALL good information. Only thing I wouldn't agree with, is that you CAN paint a picture This is part of the stuff I had hoped to have up on the site by now... getting closer, though!

http://www.jlsleather.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/rose_paint.gif

[bullmoosepaddles]

JLS,

Thank you. I do appreciate the local pickup aspect. I live close to a Klingspore's Woodworking Shop. Most of my supplies come from there and the Lowe's 2 miles from home. We have a Hobby Lobby close I will be paying a visit to soon. I watched a video recently where a guy sprayed a holster in an amount of time that left me thinking I could have been doing that all along. And it looked better.

I appreciate your time and knowledge. I look forward to the article when you finish it.

The rose looks sweet. I can't draw. But my Miss Di can. Appears we both have a learning curve coming.

Be well Sir

[Oldtoolsniper]

JLS that's impressive and I stand corrected apparently you can airbrush with dye and it doesn't spread. Have not been able to get crisp line like the with dye on anything. Paint yes, dye no.

[JLSleather]

Not that impressive. Ever tape off the window trim to paint the walls? Same deal ...