This is what Gary Lee referred to. It is noisy. I would not be able to model next to it.
Northern Tools has several airbrush compressors that are reasonably quiet, such as this one which recently sold out:
You are lucky if you got one of this. There is a huge difference in noise level between the two. They were priced about the same.
The majority of modeler would have perfer a compressor at 55-58 dB noise level. To argue that a noisy compessor is fine just because he/she can tolerate it is ingenious. The whole point of this forum to help people to avoid making that kind of mistake.
That Northern Tools compressor is GREAT. I bought one recently (as most of you know). It’s SUPER quiet. Once they get back in stock, I highly recommend it.
Just put the compressor in another room or the garage and run a long air hose. I did that for years with a Craftsman 1-1/2 hp 12 gallon tank compressor. You lose very little pressure even with 60’ of air hose.
I still believe that the little quiet Northern Tools compressor with 3/4-gallon tank is a much better deal than the Habor Freight one with 3-gallons tank at the same price.
I tested one. The noise is no higher than a typical airbrush compressor from Iwata or Sparmax, but the pitch is slightly higher, just barely. It is not the supersilent type at $600, but you can talk comfortable without raising your voice while airbrushing.
The Northern Tools compressor cylinder head (the part with the vertical heatsink fins) gets as hot as those house brand sold at TCPGlobal. If you leave it running continuously for 30 minutes, it is about 45 degrees F above room temperature. It is quite acceptable since the compressor has auto-on-off and would never run continuously. In normal use, the head will barely get warm to the touch.
The auto switch turns on and off at 45 and 60 psi respectively. These are very good to allow good pressure margin for different paints in most airbrushing jobs, except not quite enough airflow and pressure for T-shirt airbrushing. The airflow was very steady with all of my airbrushes. As usual, with compressor at this price point, your milage may vary.
I did not realize so many of you got this compressor. Please, report back in 6 months and a year. If it still runs strong, you got a hell of a deal. Good luck with your new toy.
Disclaimer: I have no relationship nor know any individual at Northern Tools.
We are talking about the cheap compressor solution here. The 60 feet air hose can easily double the $40 cost of the compressor. Besides, it is inconvenient to have to put away the long air hose each time after the modeling session. Few family will accept leaving the air hose stringing around the house all the time.
Most modeler cannot afford the Badger Million-Air compressor you recommended. But they would still perfer to have a compressor that is quiet enough to be in the workbench area and can hear the family when they call. There are many compressor which can fit this bill.
Again, it is a personal perference that how much noise you choose to live with while modeling.
Does anyone know if Northern Tool will re-stock their compressor, or is it gone for good? I still like my H.F. compressor, but after hearing you guys rave about the one from N.T. I just might try it out.
More powerful motor and 20 psi higher in pressure margin. Auto at 45 & 60 psi.
The tank cannot hurt.
Harbor Freight does have a better airbrush compressor at higher pressure that is equally quiet, closer to the Northern Tools spec. But it is $60 more than NT compressor and still without a tank.
Yes, they would. But may not be the same model. And likely to be a different price point. Hopefully, it would be soon because the last log sold so fast.
Keilau, this is how my Jun-Air looked when I brought it home. I took everything off of it and connected it to a 5 gallon tank. It’s quiet but it’s also 220V so I have to use a voltage step up transformer to power it.
Mike, yes, I remember your old Jun Air setup well. It was the finished picture of the Jun Air Compressor you posted that inspired me to add a tank to my Paasche DA400. Well, those are all years ago.
In the Aircraft forum, someone posted what he got from a Mexican Hobbymex hobby shop. It is driven by a refrigerator compressor and cost just about $214. That’s what a super silent compressor should be.
OK, Fellas, after all that stuff I talked about how great my Harbor Freight compressor is the dang thing went and took a crap on me last night. I heard the note of the compressor change and after that it wouldn’t build more than about 30 lbs of pressure. Fortunately that was enough to finish what I was doing and clean the airbrush.
The good news is that this morning I took the compressor back to H.F. and they gave me a brand new one, no questions asked (it was less than 90 days since I bought it).
So laugh at me all you want, I still like my cheap little H.F. compressor. I realize that for those of you that don’t have the luxury of having a H.F. store just two miles down the road it might not be so great, but it’s still working out fine for me.
Oh yeah, I’m thinking about doing a WIP on this Trumpeter 1/32 Me 262 I just started. Anybody want to see that one go together?
Still waiting for the review of the Northern Tools compressor, Ice. What’s the hold up?
Don’t worry guys, I’m still here. I’m still familiarizing myself with the compressor and getting more use out of it before I write about it. But as of now, I am very happy with it considering I spent $40. Very very happy.
