Air Brush Problems

[archeryrob]

Bob, I did notice the regulator slipped to down under 20PSI and I turned it up to 35 and it worked better. I have a 20 gallon compressor so it's not right next to me. With the 60/40 mix I was able to one coat with an olice and a yellow, but still almost on the yellow. But it's a hell of a set up from where I was. I am still getting spotty inconsistent spray but I just move my hand back and forth a lot. I still have dirt or paint issues.

Sonny, no I did not strain the paint. I just marked 1 5/8" on the bottle as that should be 60% and poured the rest in the trash. It works fairly well now, but I am not skilled enough to know if it could be better yet. What is this $5 HB brush, who is HB short for? I probably will want to get my own. I have noticed I am not the most keen on the bottom feed and might want to go with a gravity feed. But, I am still learning. I have to practice and I need to learn to make the spray finer.

I fixed the runny plugs with a coat of yellow on the sides and olive over the back to look like an eel. They are easy Striper Swipers, but beginners have to start easy and I tripped and fell hard starting.

Edited March 21, 2012 by archeryrob

[Sonny.Barile]

I meant to write HF. "Harbor Freight" I wouldnt reccomend HF airbrushes. They are cheaply made and finicky. I use the HF brush to spray glitter paints because I know these particular paints will clog the heck out of my Badger. I dont mind constantly cleaning the HF model becaue I could always just toss it if it breaks orif I lose any parts. Why I said to not thin in the original bottle is because the craft paints can be on the shelf forever and sometimes have a lot of solids or even a skin of dry paint film on the inside of the bottle. This makes for headaches and constant clogging. I pour the paint in to another jar through a strainer. I havent had any cloggiing issues since I started doing this.

[EdL]

All good info but as noted not all airbrushes are the same. Also not mentioned is that airbrushes come with a certain size needle and nozzle. Some are supplied very small and would make the paint choice VERY important while some come with larger sizes making paint choice only important instead of very important. How can something so simple in concept cause such headaches. Its not easy for beginners but keep at it and eventually it will be mastered. Takes some patience and practice.

[jasonmichalski]

no one has said a thing about air pressure I spray vinyal paint, but if the air pressure is to high and I thin to much it will spit and splatter because it pushs air past the paint and starts to dry and plug the tip. I may have missed if you said what the air pressure is but you need to lower it as you thin and for detail work, and if your air is comming from a hot compresser it can cause plugging from dring at a high rate before the paint can leave the brush.