Air Brush Help

[chapelstone]

If there is another thread for this please point me there. I am having a very hard time getting my dye colors to come out right. I dilute 50/50 with DA. I have dipped, brushed, swabbed and almost every other method I have found on here. The color almost always come out darker than I want or it is uneven. I know some of the evenness depends on the grain of the leather but this is not case here. 

My question, I have never had nor seen an air brush work. I am willing to get one, but how much space do I need to set it up. Does the work space have to be confined in any way? Is there a lot of drift, can you use them in a house setting or any where near your other projects? 

[particle]

You can use them in a house, but you need adequate ventilation. Depending on your size constraints, you can do something as simple as buying a portable box fan and strapping an appropriately sized air filter to the intake side of the fan. This will capture the majority of the airborne floating dye overspray. Even better, mount the fan to some kind of box, and spray inside the box. This will create a tunnel and vacuum effect. All this still leaves the hazardous fumes floating in the air. If you put the contraption in front of a window, that will help push the fumes outside. I don't remember who did it, but I've seen one person mount an exhaust fan directly over their workbench and ran the exhaust tubing out of the house. This will help remove fumes from adhesives and such as well. When airbrushing, you can hang sheets of foamcore around the workbench (to create the enclosure / vacuum effect) to contain and remove overspray.

Personally, I use a dedicated cabinet. It has two box fans mounted to the back wall of the cabinet, and each fan has its own filter. I can hang a 1x12 from the ceiling and clip a belt blank to it so I can dye long pieces. The air compressor sits at the bottom of the cabinet, and I have a counter-height shelf to hold my dye bottles, etc. while I'm spraying. I have a hinged piece of plywood on the top that flips over and rests on the top edge of the cabinet doors, which essentially deepens the cabinet and creates a semi-enclosure to help contain the overspray.

My setup may not be ideal for most people, but I needed something that would specifically work with belts so my cabinet is quite large (tall).

[Red Cent]

With the filter, you will get a mist that lands all over the place. Not noticeable until cleaning up. Cover your leather. I use a box fan with the filter in front and spray in the direction of the fan. The oil dye will have fumes that will choke you. If you do much spraying, get a good mask.

 

[Michael Sheldon]

Definitely, run a fan with a filter.

All you need to prove this, is to airbrush a piece with dye, then go blow your nose. That will prove beyond a doubt that the dye mist is going all over.