Harbor Freight Airbrush

[Colt W Knight]

I have been wanting to airbrush leather dye for a long time, but I live in an apartment - didn't want to disturb the neighbors with loud air compressors. Also, the canned air is expensive.

Today, I as in Harbor Freight looking around, and they had an airbrush compressor kit on sale for $89.99 plus my 20% off coupon.

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-hp-58-psi-oilless-airbrush-compressor-kit-60328.html

Setup was very easy

Practiced a bit

I can't believe how much quicker, cleaner, and easier it is to dye something with the airbrush - not to mention so much less waste.

These bottles are 3/4 ounce, and I used about 1/3 of that practicing, spraying the test piece black, and bursting the other piece.

Faded edges

I have had airbrushes from HF in the past that I used for my guitar building back when I lived in West Virginia. These aren't precise airbrushes you can use for drawing and what not, but they work great for bursting edges, touch up, painting small areas, or stenciling. When I can afford to, I plan on investing in a quality airbrush, but I am very happy with how quiet and how well the compressor works thus far.

What they are not, is durable. If you drop these airbrushes, or set something on top of them, they will break. I was okay with that, because they are typically 10$ or less. Plus, when I was running lacquer through, it was easier and cheaper to throw them away after awhile than waste a bunch of lacquer thinner cleaning them.

TCP global sells extra glass jars for less than $2 a piece

http://www.tcpglobal.com/ABDTB-002.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjwo7auBRCOtoqn_s-G7aMBEiQAxArNrK-S1zKcIAcJfaoS7aCJZtoy1NX6jM61e093Xk3ilyMaAsKH8P8HAQ#.Vc5CXpc0d-4

Edited August 14, 2015 by Colt W Knight

[Rohn]

That is cool. I have an airbrush and am ashamed that I have not used it even once even though I have had it for many years. I guess I should get it out and give it a try. Your post may just inspire me to do just that.

[JLSleather]

I bought one of those little tools about a year ago to spray finishes. One day, I really MUST get an air hose that fits it The ones on the Paasche brushes are different (which I used to know, guess I forgot).

That airbrush should be fine for a LOT of work. You know, proper combination of masks n stencils....

[Colt W Knight]

I bought one of those little tools about a year ago to spray finishes. One day, I really MUST get an air hose that fits it The ones on the Paasche brushes are different (which I used to know, guess I forgot).

That airbrush should be fine for a LOT of work. You know, proper combination of masks n stencils....

Do they have the normal 1/8" that goes to the air and a proprietary fitting on the airbrush end?

That is cool. I have an airbrush and am ashamed that I have not used it even once even though I have had it for many years. I guess I should get it out and give it a try. Your post may just inspire me to do just that.

So far, I am really liking how much easier it is to apply the finishes, but I need to order some more jars. I need a jar for several dye colors, a jar for cleaning, and a jar for clear.

[Art]

PEC Global airbrushes are reasonably priced but great quality. I have been using them ( I have a few) for a couple of years and they are working well. I also have my older Iwata airbrushes that are in the mix and pretty much interchangeable. I do use a big Iwata compressor, but that shouldn't make much difference. Spraying spirit dye is ok, but you don't get the same penetration as flood (dip) dyeing. Also great for spraying finishes as multiple lite coats are better than one heavy one, and they dry faster. The acrylics clean-up with water, the dyes with alcohol.

Chuck Bauman uses the PEC (Veda) airbrushes for flame painting and recommends them. I don't do anything but spray dye and finishes and recommend them as they hold-up well. You can do some really fine line work and outlines and borders on leather with acrylics, but you have to practice some. Ditto fades with dye, but dilute, dilute, dilute. You can always put more on. These airbrushes vs. their cost are impressive.

Art

[Colt W Knight]

Ive never had a nice air brush, just cheapo ones from HF. I have been considering picking one up to learn to airbrush. Airbrushing involves a lot of skill and art. I can ussually master mechanical things, but I fall short in the art department.

[JLSleather]

Seriously.. I've seen some STUNNING things done with a $39.95 single action airbrush, an x-acto knife, and some sheets of paper. I mean STUNNING ...

[JLSleather]

Oh, keep in mind that "painting" with leather dye is not the same as painting with some other types of color. Stohlman's book Pictorial Carving has some great info in there about coloring leather.

Ever see Bob Ross? He does a lot of landscapes. With oil or acrylics, you just paint the background, then paint trees or mountains or birds right over top of the background. The new "layer" covers the old layer, so the brown tree covers the blue lake water, makes it look like the tree is in front. And if you're making aspen trees (mostly white) you do the same thing.

But with leather dye, that wont work. I could give you the whole speech, but the short version is, if you want aspen trees in front of a blue lake in leather dye, then you need to NOT paint the tree area wit the blue. So, you can almost think of coloring leather as the negatives of your photos.

[JLSleather]

I did this one 5 or 6 years ago. Someone was talking about rose patterns, and they had this one from stohlmans Inverted Carving book. There used to be a tutorial of sorts on this site, but maybe not any more (?).

This is not carved at all... just a piece of 3/4 royal meadow tooling leather, some fiebing's red, green, and brown, and a sheet of paper.

[JLSleather]

And even though it may not look like it, this was MUCH more difficult than the the rose ..

[Eddie1968]

i've been using a paasche that i bought at hobby lobby for years. its a single action. think it was less than $100. I only do burst though. Far from an airbrush artist. but it does save a ton of dye. here are a couple ive done. nothing real fancy but makes a nice effect.

Thanks,

Eddie

[JLSleather]

I think that's probably the Paasche model H. Great, simple, single action brush - nearly indestructable. And they work great.. no reason why any work I've ever shown couldn't be done with that one. In fact, for applying finishes / top coats, I think the single action / syphon feed is better ... easier to clean!

[Colt W Knight]

A little experimentng this morning

Top Right - Vegtan Leather

Top Left - Airbrush full strength Fiebings Light Brown

Bottom Right- Airbrush Fibings light brown 4 parts alcohol 1 part dye

Bottom Left - Fiebings light brown applied with dauber. ( which looks like just about every other brown dye when applied with a dauber.)

[billybopp]

I bought a HF airbrush years ago with the thought, at the time, of learning to use it well. Photorealistic airbrush art was very popular at the time (mid-80s). The HF really wasn't up to the task for that, but it did fine for larger areas where precise control wasn't needed. It eventually died when the needle got dropped and the tip bent. Later on I got a couple of Paasche airbrushes for modelbuilding, and love them. They were a natural to bring over into leatherwork, and do a really great job. Agreed the single action model H is a crazy simple tool and easy to clean. The VL is a little more complex, with a little steeper learning curve (although not all THAT steep), and a little more work to clean but well worth it where the extra control is of use. I also have a couple Iwata that were given to me, but haven't used them much yet.

The extra jars are a big help for keeping different colors, and come in a couple of different types. Some are just plain glass jars that you then put the airbrush siphon top onto .. and they come in all sorts of sizes. The bigger ones can be helpful if you're covering larger areas. You can also get jars with siphon tops included, which makes for faster changes.

Sometimes piston air compressors will cause pulsing at the airbrush and a bit of unevenness in spraying. If you see that happening, you might be able to use a longer hose to help even that out. In my case, I had to get an air tank (from HF) and replaced the hose that comes with it using some pipe and a T fitting. That provides plenty of extra airspace and helps to even out the pulses to a more controllable level and makes for a more even spray.

Hope that helps,

Bill

[Art]

I think that's probably the Paasche model H. Great, simple, single action brush - nearly indestructable. And they work great.. no reason why any work I've ever shown couldn't be done with that one. In fact, for applying finishes / top coats, I think the single action / syphon feed is better ... easier to clean!

lily.jpg

Don't forget the bottle capability of the siphon.

Art

[Art]

A little experimentng this morning

Top Right - Vegtan Leather

Top Left - Airbrush full strength Fiebings Light Brown

Bottom Right- Airbrush Fibings light brown 4 parts alcohol 1 part dye

Bottom Left - Fiebings light brown applied with dauber. ( which looks like just about every other brown dye when applied with a dauber.)

Cool, thanks for that Colt.

If you still have the stuff out, put a second coat on the 4:1 halfway up, let it dry a little and put a third coat 1/3 the way up.

Art

[YourToolinBuddy]

Wow your pictures sell the point. I'm breaking out my air brush and trying this. you caught my interest. Thanks.

[JLSleather]

And CERTAINLY that HB thing would do this, as long as you can spray about 20 lbs pressure consistently.

Do they have the normal 1/8" that goes to the air and a proprietary fitting on the airbrush end?

Different on teh airbrush end, but I was thinking the compressor end was 1/4"? I replaced the compressor end on mine so long ago with a quick coupler, so I don't really remember that either!

Edited August 16, 2015 by JLSleather

[Art]

And CERTAINLY that HB thing would do this, as long as you can spray about 20 lbs pressure consistently.

DSC00049.jpg

Different on teh airbrush end, but I was thinking the compressor end was 1/4"? I replaced the compressor end on mine so long ago with a quick coupler, so I don't really remember that either!

The compressor end is 1/4

The Badger uses a 1/4 on the airbrush

The Iwata uses a 1/8 on the airbrush

Just about everyone else is going to 1/8

When I had badgers, I, in a peak of pissed-offedness, put quick disconnects on everything including all the airbrushes, and hoses. Never regretted doing that. The cheap and medium priced fittings work just as good as the expensive ones. I might have got some of mine from Amazon or TCPGlobal, probably both. Nowadays there is a good selection on eBay, buy from Hong Kong or the guy in England, not sure what they are selling from China as the real Veda stuff is made in Hong Kong. eBay:veda airbrushes.

You can buy hoses with 1/4 and 1/8 female fittings if you don't like the quick disconnects.

When spraying spirit based (this includes Fiebing's Oil Based) dyes, the alcohol will deteriorate (turn to glop) any rubber seals, so use an airbrush with teflon seals. The new stuff is pretty much using neoprene o-rings and Teflon seals, but the old airbrushes used rubber.

Art

[Colt W Knight]

When I hooked mine to a real aircompressor it was 1/4" but the hose that came with this baby compressor is 1/8" on both ends.

[Art]

The air world is all over the place, at least they haven't went metric.

Art

[Colt W Knight]

I actually used the airbrush on a real project. The airbrush is so much cleaner and easier to use. Plus, It uses a lot less dye. I think these bursted edges came out well

[Colt W Knight]

Cool, thanks for that Colt.

If you still have the stuff out, put a second coat on the 4:1 halfway up, let it dry a little and put a third coat 1/3 the way up.

Art

Here ya go

Bottom is full strength light brown fiebings dye applied with a dauber

the rest is 3 parts alcohol and 1 part light brown fiebings dye.

When the coats were wet, you could really tell the difference between 1, 2, 3, and 4 coats applied with the airbrush. As the dye dried and absorbed into the leather, the difference between 2 and 3 coats was nearly unnoticeable.

[Art]

Great Colt,

Two and Three are close, but then four comes on strong.

Thanks for the demo,

Art

[Dan28]

Picked one of these up this past Saturday, as I want to do some sunburst type dye jobs. I tried doing that once before by hand with Black and Royle Blue. I thinned out the black and used a big hunk of wool that I rubbed on cardboard after soaking up some black dye to get rid of the bulk of the pigment. Then lightly brushed it from the edge of my piece to the inside try and get a gradient affect. It kind of worked, but took a while. I think the air brush will do it quite easily, I'll know in a few days. So far all I've used it for was a black belt just to test it out. I probably did about a little more than 50% alcohol to a little less than 50% Fiebings black dye. I'm sure I would have used a lot more dye if applying with a dauber.

I didn't use a respirator when I applied it, but I think I am in the future. Got a little worried that I may have breathed in some of the dye, even though I had an exhaust running.