68KingFisher

Two things....Can you post a pic of the problem, and remind us what type of paint your using?

I've always had good success with either Dixieart or Coast Airbrush......Coast does seem to have the better customer service of the two.....I would've normally thrown BearAir in to the mix but they are no longer a dealer for Iwata and sell Peak instead.

Since I can't answer this question from experience, I'll defer you to a couple of threads I found posted on an airbrush site I frequent.....After reading these I felt you should too....hope this helps paintball co2 adapter? Co2

Like you said it got good reviews for the most part....I'd imagine it would work ok, and the reviews that mentioned noise levels said it was quite.....it would be nice to listen to it run before ya buy it though....Think one of them HD associates would fire one up for ya? I couldn't help but notice this unit shown at the bottom of that webpage and thought i'd point it out since it had twice as big of tank for less money....they even went so far as to mention "airbrush" in their discription of uses....it doesn't have quite the muscle but its got the bigger tank....that translates to less run time.....might be worth doin a side by side comparison at the store. Quiet Air Compressor 3 gallon - FP2047 at The Home Depot

Actually, the discussion I was referring too, did not take place on TU.....but on Airbrushtech's forum about a week or two ago.....the gal asking the question really seemed to be more fasinated by the fact the mini compressor she was inquiring about and eventually purchased against our advice, was shaped like an Elephant. I do understand what your saying about getting varied opinions depending on who's online and posting during a peticular timeframe, and your correct....opinions vary greatly and some get changed over time. I for one am a research fanatic....if I have a little bit of info on a subject I can't stop surfing the net or the local library till I've found more info.....I've found that in some cases a small amount of info on a subject can be dangerous when you start passing that along on forums....before you know it bad info is being passed around as gospel, and then you end up with the blind leading the blind....So, I try my best not to allow that to happen......When it comes to airbrushing info, all mine is based on many years of experience of trials and failures....none of it comes second hand.

Lugging a large CO2 tank up a flight of stairs would get old real quick....on the other hand you could drop the gym membership cause you'll be gettin all your weight lifting and cardio needs taken care of in one single action.....lol I have heard of guys using the CO2 tanks from the paintball industry, but they are pretty small so from what I hear they don't last too long....they might not weigh much but you'd be refilling them alot more....plus I hear it costs more to fill them at paintball stores then to fill a large tank at places like welding supply shops. And to clarify.....you DO want CO2 and not just compressed air.....one reason is that CO2 is whats known as clean air.....meaning it doesn't have any moisture in it,so the use of a water trap is virtually not needed and you'll never have to worry about moisture in your system.....secondly, a CO2 tank is pressurized to something like 30,000 lbs or so, and the natural nature of CO2 doesn't let it loose pressure until the tank is all but empty, where as if you tried to use simple compressed air your first problem will be to find someone that can fill it....most air compressors won't fill a tank past 150psi or so, and that pressure would start to drop as soon as you started using out of the tank, and before long you'd be out of pressure....maybe not air, but no pressure. I've seen guys use standard air tanks for airbrushing....you know the kind that you fill at the gas station so you can air up your flat tire at home?....alot of them are even converted propane bottles from someones outdoor grill.....Paasche used to make an adapter that would fit on the valve stem of your spare tire and use the air pressure in the tire to run your airbrush...I dunno if they still make them of not, but these all have the same issues....."you'll be low on pressure before you know it" and you'll find yourself spending more time refilling them then its worth. As an example, a fully charged 100lb CO2 tank will run an airbrush all weekend depending.....Now i'm talking about an airbrusher thats working a carshow or fair event and he's airbrushin tee shirts at 45-60psi for 10-12 hours a day or more.....FYI...a 100lb cylinder is the larger ones....like 5ft tall....same size as the tanks you see filled with helium used for b-day balloons and such......that same cylinder would probably run for weeks or even months when just used to paint a few lures on weekends. A 100lb cylinder is most likely too big for the average person to tote around which is why most are wheeled around on two wheeled dollies....but a couple of scuba sized tanks would be much easier to move around, even though tottin them up a flight of stairs might not be the greatest unless your lookin for a good workout in the process.

Hmmmmm......No pot to stir that I can tell, but I must admit Dean, that I'm missing the point in your "everybody" sentence...Care to clarify? As for your using, and being quite happy with a mini compressor, I think thats great....I'm sure there are alot of folks that swear buy those little units....i'm just not one of them. However, having said that I must point out that in the world of airbrushing...."Of course this is just my opinion".....that painting on lures is probably one of the least demanding applications on a compressor....especially for the hobbiest builder that may only paint a lure or two at a time on weekends.....where as most other airbrush applications shy of illustrators and model car painting, normally require higher pressures over longer periods of time...in which case a mini compressor isn't really a viable choice....therefore I have a tendency to always tell folks to purchase the biggest unit they can afford.....In most cases that is the best way to go....But there are always exceptions like yours, where your painting in the house, and noise takes a major priority over size and stamina, and I fully understand that, and would never try to convince you to use anything else. The point I was trying to convey with my compressor story wasn't so much about not buying a mini compressor, but how comical it is when folks ask for advice and then don't take it, and then complain about the results........I guess I shouldn't find that too surprising since my own children do the same thing...ask my opinion on something and then go do just the opposite....human nature I suppose...lol:)

Hehehehe.....Yup....wonder stuff like that all the time.....I recently was on an airbrush forum as a new airbrusher asked about purchasing a mini compressor....virtually every good airbrusher gave their opinion on why to avoid the mini and what to buy instead....everytime the newbie would post another picture of a different model mini compressor and ask "What about this one"......We'd all say "NO"....don't waste your money.....so what did he/she do after a week of that??.....they went out and purchased the unit we advised them NOT to purchase....then three days later they are back on the forum tellin us that their new compressor isn't gonna work so they are out the money and will be purchasing something else....."Well DUH!!!!!!"......We tried to tell them, but they still didn't listen....lol....go figure. Advise is only good if someone takes it......

Lucky sucker:yay:

Fair enough....let us know if we can help further.

Yeah...most of those little units are loud to run in the house without some type of insulated soundproof box....some seem to be alot louder than others....We had new windows installed in our home yesterday and the installers had a neat little compressor that probably had a 1-2 gal tank on it....I thought at the time that it would make a nice compressor for an airbrush....Till it fired up.....My God that thing was four times louder than my big 6.5hp 60gal unit....you couldn't hear yourself think with that runnin....it was terribly loud....amazing....so you might try and listen to one run before you buy it if you can....there are differences in noise levels....some are tolerable....some are incredably loud....so buyer beware!

That would do it.....glad they had an answer....did that fix it?

Hmmmmm.....Thats a good one that I have not run into.....but the way your discribing it, i'd say you might have some type of problem with the air valve in the airbrush possibly......I've had some weird issues with those things at times.....normally a good flushing with some solvents and then a couple of drops of airbrush lube will make it work right again. How old is that airbrush....do you know?......Has it ever been soaked in solvents before?

If noise is a big issue for you then you might look into CO2 tanks.....anything from scuba sized tanks on up to bigger tanks will run an airbrush just fine, without ANY motor noise....you'll just have to deal with lugging the heavy tank around to get refilled periodicly.....Alot of airbrushers swear by them.....otherwise your looking at some type of small compressor....most of which are fairly noisy unless your going for the little 1/8-1/10th hp units that I normally advise folks to stay away from....or if, you've got the funds to spring for a silent compressor that will sit at your feet and be so quite you'll never hardly know its there.....they are great but NOT cheap.....othewise go for a small unit with a storage tank, and build a sound restricting box around it to cut down on the noise....thats what I did for years when I painted out of our kitchen/dining room area of a single wide mobile home.

Thats it....your hooked now....be paintin yer own baits from now on....congrats bud, thats cool.

Yep, the average blow dryer for your hair will work fine....I use an adjustable heatgun on a low setting....you don't want to cook the paint....just get rid of its water content and allow some crosslink bonding to happen.....it don't require much heat to achieve that.

Yep....this is what I used....these are great pens....i've used them for artwork for years.

I guess like any product you have those that swear by them, and Aztek is no different. I was not aware that they now offered a metal body for their airbrush....I had to look it up and have a looksee.....everything else about the brush seems the same except the metal body....i'll bet that makes it feel alot better in your hand, to have a little weight to it...some folks love their ergonomic designed body......but Testors website(thats who makes Aztek)shows the suggested price for the deluxe metal airbrush kit to be $262.49........now i'm sure you could find it priced cheaper elsewhere, but still, it seems a bit pricey for what yer gettin if ya ask me....especially knowing all the internal workings are still acrylic plastic.....For that kinda money I'd buy a couple of nice Iwatas, or a couple of Richpens.....but thats just me.......I do like there paintcups...they fit my side bowl Iwata's and cost less cause they're plastic:wink:.

The regulator actually controls the air pressure going too your airbrush, and yes, thats where you'd adjust it when you want more or less pressure.....a regulator is a must on any sizable compressor since most will reach 100-120psi before they shut off, and you don't want that much pressure on your little airbrush hose....or the air valve inside the airbrush for that matter....one or the other would most likely rupture at some point if they were allowed to run at full tank pressure. As pointed out the water traps have drain valves that allow you to drain the traps.....they do have some type of filter media in them to hold the moisture back, and most will eventually clog up and need replacing....mine has a white stone looking thing, kinda like an airstone that hangs in an aquarium only bigger......I think there is alot of different types, but in most cases I believe they take years to need replacing.....i've been running mine close to 15yrs and its just now getting to the point that I should replace it....but what i'll do is just purchase a new mini regulator/water trap combo so i've got a new regulator....they aren't too expensive. The unit you posted would most likely run an airbrush fine.....it has a built in regulator with two gauges....one gauge is mounted in front of the regulator and shows you the tank pressure and the other guage is mounted past the regulator and shows you the pressure your allowing to your tools or in this case to your airbrush.

That sounds reasonable to me....i'll find another use for the Trex and move on to a different material.....I did snag a couple of pieces of red cedar that I can start with for now....Thanks again for all the great advice guys.

I gotta admit, the thought occured to me about drilling a hole and filling it with spray foam or something...or nothing, and just plugin the hole to see if the trapped air might help.....guess that'll be the next test.....thanks Pete.

Yep....thats exactly what happened.....I rough cut a lure shape this evening and dropped it into a bowl of water....it floated just below the surface the same as a large chunk did.....I screwed in three screw eye's and hung two split rings and treble hooks and dropped it back into the water only to watch it sink like a rock......I started removing hardware only to find that even the weight of one screw eye was enough to make it sink.....So much for using Trex.....guess i'll find another use for these scraps or just run them back down to the dumpster I got them from. Darn, I thought I was set for materials for awhile....easy come....easy go. Update:...the wife just walked into the kitchen and yells, "why is there poop floating in this bowl"?.....lol....I yelled back,"Its not poop, but it is a turd".....lol.

Well crap.....thats not what I want hear....dangit.....I went dumpster diving for nuthin!...i'm still gonna throw some hardware on a small chunk just to see what it does in the water.