My Dad had a big ol’ compressor with a regulator that he used for airbrushing. I can’t remember what brand it is, but it worked well. The trade-off was that it required a garage and was pretty noisy.
If you have some other need for a big compressor, that’s the way to go. Otherwise, if I were in the market for a compressor (which might be in the near future), I’d get a good-quality, name-brand, hobby-type compressor.
I have a compressor in the garage with all the attatchments needed to connect my airbrush, now the compressor regulator is pretty hardcore as in the first number are 0 then 20, 30, etc. Where should one put the regulated pressure when airbrushing…6 psi is kinda outta the question unless the another regulator involved that i dont know about which is probly true. Dont mean to hijack the post…just thought this question may fit this thread for general knowledge. [:D]
You need two pressure regulators in your setup. I did that even though I use a “airbrush company compressor” right next to my work bench.
A good pressure regulator is a great asset because we use low pressure for modeling most of the time, between 10-30 psi. Use the garage compressor regulator to get 40-60 psi output, depending on how long your air hose is to the work area. Get a second airbrush style air pressure regulator at your work bench end to get the pressure down to where you need it, say, 17 psi.
Not all the airbrush air pressure regulator are created equal. Get one that says “diaphram type control valve” which will give you accurate adjustment of pressure. Most name brand airbrush company regulator are this type, but they are very expensive at $50-80. I bought a house brand one from TCP Global, aka Airbrush Depot, that works very well for under $30. I also replace the 100 psi, tiny pressure gauge with a larger 2.5", 60 psi pressure gauge. In a good regulator, the pressure reading should not change more than 1 psi when the airbrush is on or off.
Don’t get the cheapie kind airbrush regulator which has only a orifice for the air. The control is coarse and the reading fluctuates. Good luck.
You can run a seperate (series) regulator if you need to. Anyway, to answer your question, regardless of which compressor I use, I run 15 psi for gloss finishes, 20 for flats.
I picked up a fairly cheap regulator & moisture trap from Lowe’s a couple of years ago, and they work great at low pressure. As a matter of fact, in the pic below, it’s set at about 6 psi. It will adjust from 120 psi to 0 psi. For what it’s worth, I’m a retired cabinetmaker, I’ve used compressors & regulators on a daily basis to run air tools and spray finishes for 30+ years.
Art
The tools compressor regulator & moisture trap from hardware store used to be very high quality and can handle high pressures too for safety. It means much better construction than the airbrush type regulator. But with all the cheap imitation from the Far East this days, I will be really careful. Besides, some air tools need oil mist in the air stream for lubrication. Some pressure regulator has a moisture trap looking thing which is actually for adding machine oil to the air. See this example from Habor Freight. Nothing wrong with that except the unknown quality. Adding oil is just the way it was designed to work.
Art, you may want to go on the Lowe’s web site to see if your regulator is still available. Information on make/model # will help others on this forum.
Thanks, Keilau, great suggestion.
The Regulator is Lowe’s “Kolbalt” brand, Model # KBA 10700AV / Item # 221026. Here’s the link to the regulator.
The moisture trap won’t pull up. It’s Kolbalt model # KAB 10600AV / Item # 221024. If you type in the Item #, you get some kinda sink grid. [bnghead] [*-)]
Anyway, about the only quirk that I’ve found with this setup is this:
I normally spray at about 25 psi. When I lower the pressure to around 5 psi, I have to keep my finger on the air brush trigger and let air flow through the brush to set the correct pressure. If you just turn the reg. down without bleeding air, when you do hit the trigger you’ll quickly find yourself out of air.
I’m probably making this sound like a bigger deal than what it truly is. It takes about 1/2 the time to do than to read the above paragraph.
Art
For the record none of those companies make compressors, they just have their name on them.
You usually get what you pay for in compressors and while the ones you are looking at are probably not real reliable, they will work, yes.
I have a Badger Millionaire and a Jun-Air silent compressor and while they are expensive they will last me the rest of my life.
In my work in engineering, I have found that there is one significant evaluation that people do of products or servics, often without knowing it:
Is the product or service worth all the hazzle that is involved in using it?
You might know the idea from the proverb ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’, which of course has nothing to do with that last straw in particular, but the number of straws the camel already carried.
Any one hazzle might be tolerable in isolation: Noise, connector, compressor located at the other end of the building, twinky adjustments. But once one starts adding them up and find more than a couple of these factors in the same user context, one might wonder what one actually is doing: Using the compressor, or managing it.
And that’s what it comes down to: How much time, effort and nuisance are one willing to accept to make a utility device work, as opposed to using said utility device. The more time and effort is spent on managing the device, the less time for using it. The more specialized stuff might be a bit more expensive, but that must be balanced against the nuisances of using it:
It doesn’t take too many such nuisance factors until it starts taking a significant part of the fun out of what one really wants to spend time with - modeling.
Again, this is the engineer’s way of thinking. Evaluate the primary purpose against the both operational and economical costs of achieving it. An inexpensive device to achieve a goal might save you some investment costs, but that gain is lost very quickly if the operational costs, both in terms of $$$ and operator’s hazzle (or all out limitations), are too high.
DoC
Well, asan update last month I bought one of the generic compressors from Harbor Freight. It was a 1/3 hp, 100 psi with a 2 gal storage tank on sale for $39.99! (had a special coupon for it in Flying magazine…) I also got the 2 yr replacement warrnaty for an extra 10 bucks so if it fails in the next 2 yrs - just go get a new one. All this for a tad under $50!
So far I’ve been very pleased with it. Yes - it is noisier than the Paasche, but thats the only gripe. i was able to use the moisture trap from the old one, (could have used the pressure gauge as well, but it came with one on it), and all the attachements work fine. It’s very easy to adjust the pressure on, and its nice to be able to crank it up to 60 psi or more for quick cleaning sessions. Its nice to have the tank filled up and ready to go at a moments notice.
All in all, I think its a good deal - especially for that price!
If it works for you, it is a good compressor for your need. Can’t argue with the price and extended warranty.
How loud would you describe the noise? How do you deal with it?
I wear a pair of ear-protection “earphones”, you should be able to find them at Harbor Freight or at any other hardware store. They look like earmuffs or old-school stereo headphones. You could probably use earplugs, too.
I don’t think the noise is anywhere near needing earplugs while it’s runnning. It’s louder than the Paasche, but then again the Paasche was 1/10 hp, and this one is 1/3. I can hear it running two rooms away if the door is open. Trying to identify the noise level is difficult - maybe about the same as a vacumn cleaner? But more of a sharper, pulsating type noise.
I use a Paasche DA400 which is quiet enough to be used next to my workbench. It costed the extra amount of a large ship/aircraft kit or two 1/48 aircraft kits. It is worth the expenses to me.
I tried a small DeWalt tools compressor once. It is reasonably quiet for a tools compressor and is like vhispering when compared to those Harbor Freight ones. But it was too noisy to me. Different people has different tolerance to noise. No, I cannot wear noise isolating earmuff while doing my hobby. It is too uncomfortable to me. Again, I understand you feel that it is ok.
Just curious about what people do. It is good to hear different solutions to the noise problem when modeling.