I’m interested in doing some airbrushing…basic stuff and couple to maybe a few boards a year. This model is on sale at the local hardware store whre i have some store credit so I’m inclined to buy one they carry as opposed to using harbour freight or something cheaper
http://www.porter-cable.com/index.asp?e=547&p=5278
Will it work for me? I’m completely new at airbrushing
That would be fine.Just turn down the pressure,It’s big enough to run air tools and nail guns also.Air compressors are really handy items. RB
When buying a aircompresser the big deal is the CFMs. This looks like a nice little unit, and at 3 CFMs it will work great for what you are after. Like RB says they are nice to have around. hard to do with out one when you need to clean the board before glassing or before airburshing.
Don’t waste your money on an airbrush compressor. These are on all the time (no tank) and are useless for any other compressor duties (like blowing off blanks). Harbor Freight sells several “real” compressors for under $150. These are decent quality and will last. Go to an automotive paint store and get a mini water filter that attaches in-line with the airbrush hose. Use a bigger water filter at the compressor outlet.
Mitchell, When you say “airbrushing” if you mean the small pen-like airbrushes used for fine work, then that compressor will work fine. If you are going to use automotive type spray guns to paint the whole bottom of a board, though, I think a larger tank is better.
If you are spraying a large volume of paint, the smaller compressor will empty out fairly quickly, kicking on the motor. In my experience, when you are spraying directly off the motor, you can get pulsing through the gun. Not good.
I’d go with at least an 11 gallon tank. Doug
Mitchell, I would go ahead and buy it. Im using about the same set up and have not had a problem with it even for doing a whole side of a board. I don’t know whether my air gun is for cars or not, I just picked it up at foam-ez a while back for 15 bucks. The motor will run off and on when you do a larger job, but at least with mine, I havnt had a problem with it pulsating or coming out uneven at all.
Mitchell -I use a similar compressor for painting, air nail guns, pumping tires, … The only problem you might see is that the “surge” required when the motor kicks in may trip a circuit breaker or the breaker on the unit. I always look for a 20 amp. circuit for it and have no problems. As was said, a compressor is more than for painting boards - in addition to a spray gun, get yourself a portable tank (about the size of a propane grill tank - sold at home depot, auto stores. Let’s you fill a tank of air @ 100+lbs. of pressure to carry around to fill tires etc. It’s like having a giant aerosol can of air to do anything with). For a few boards a year and the added benefits you will see from it it’s a good way to go.
Pete
Well thanks for the (mixed) input. What I’m hearing is that it will work but on larger sprays the 6 gallon tank may empty out and the motor kick on - an annoyance but not unbearable.
Would an 11 Gallon tank be enough to spray a whole board top and bottom?
Dude it will work great, I have a tiny little compressor from Sears that is about a 3 or 4 gallon tank and has a built in regulator, I airbrush with it all night long and it works fine.
Larger spray guns drain it out fast … but for spraying only a surfboard, you can make it work … just let it build back up between coats …
Unless you plan on using lots of bigger spray equipment or air tools (most require a great deal of air volume), don’t waste the time and space on a bigger compressor … nice to have but very expensive if you don’t need it.
And as mentioned, for the sake of crying out loudly, don’t blow your money on one of those little airbrush pumps that are grossly overpriced and good for no other purpose.
Howzit EndlessWinter, Last week I did a thatch roof on a palapa and week used a pnumatic stapler. What I liked was the boss had this small Senco compressor that was a 1/2 HP and I'm sure it would work really good for airbrushing also. It was extrmely light weight and I was told they only cost about $125. I'm going to get one since they will also work with brad nailers and it was so quiet I could hardly tell when it was running.Aloha,Kokua
If I can bumble in here - mebbe a few definitions along with suggestions
Awright, an airbrush compressor would work for you, but it’d only be limited to airbrush use ( and blowing the dust out of your computer keyboard, which is what mine gets used for most of the time ) . They are compact, annoying sounding and tend to vibrate a lot, enough to walk itself off a table top…and this is a good grade Paasch, god knows what the cheapos are like.
You then get 115 volt (here in the States) household current types, which tend to be useful for household and light ‘work’ uses but not industrial.
Then, it’s industrial sized. 220 volt and up ( again, in the US) which put out mongo air and have the big tanks.
I have one of each, which get used appropriately. If, for instance, I want to sandblast something, I need the 220 beast of a Senco. If I am gonna put some brads in a picture frame or most of what I use air tools for, I fire up the 110V Hitachi.
As a side note, an airbrush is a little gizmo that uses a little paint to do teensy areas. The hose it uses is smaller in diameter than a pencil. Typically has a paint jar or reservoir of about 1-2fluid ounces or less -say, as much as a shot glass. If it uses more paint than that, it’s a spray gun.
Now, compressors these days break down into two basic flavors: Oil-lubricated and oilless.Oil lubed types generally last much longer ( with a little maintainance, like checking and changing the oil now and then) and are better machinery. They run quieter too. Oilless are what’s found in a lot of the cheap ones, they make a really annoying sound at work and they are basicly disposable.
More on compressors:
It’s all in the output. Nor in the claimed horsepower, as that’s as reliable as a politician’s promises. SCFM @ X PSI is what you want to compare, Standard Cubic Feet per Minute at X Pounds per Square Inch. That’s the numbers to look at.
Now your true airbrush won’t use but about 1 CFM, very roughly, at no more than 45 PSI. Compare that to, say,a larger spray gun, which can eat up 10 CFM at 60 PSI if run constantly. Look at the specs on the tool. It will,or should, tell ya in there someplace how much air at what pressure it needs to operate right. Your compressor should do something like 50% of what the tool uses, at a minimum.
For instance, if you are using an air sander in 30 second bursts, and it’s gonna use 8 CFM @ 90PSI, you want a compressor that’ll do at least 4 CFM @ 90 PSI, or the pressure will slowly bleed away. An air nailer, especially a finish nailer, those you use very intermittently, so 30% of capacity is okay. Sandblaster? Figure 90% of the time it’shooked up you are shooting sand, you want a beeg compressor to keep up with it.
But there are lots of other things an air compressor can do, which you will find awfully handy.
Filling up tires
Blowing dust
Welding plastics, with a small, cheap gizmo
Spray painting, not just airbrushing.And as Pete C said, you will definitely want inline filters, plural.Water and oil get into your paint, well, it’s clean off the paint somehow and start over. Filters are cheap.
Detail grinding - like a Dremel except noisier
Die grinders - what handy little gizmos they are. Air hogs, though
Nailing, with brad guns, finish guns, sidewall guns, framing guns, roofing guns, staplers. Small brad nailers don’t use much air but framing nailer(s) worked hard can use a lot.
Air wrenches - just like the garage. Though the little 3/8 drive ones are pretty useless, take it from me. Can use a lot of air, but great time savers.
Air chisels - amazingly useful sometimes. Uses a lot of air, but sometimes ya just gotta use 'em.
Cutters - wow, do they use a lot of air, but really cool tools.
Sanding - I have one of these and like it, but it eats lots of air. Random orbit and rotary sanding. Very variable speed too.
The list goes on - there is a pneumatic version of just about any tool. What you might want to do is figure what you’ll use the most and base your compressor choice on that.
I am kind of a heretic in some things, including this- air tanks don’t matter that much, if you are one guy using one small-ish tool. It’s about CFM, not gallons capacity. If you run out of air and the compressor goes on, take your finger off the trigger, wait a moment and you’re okay - the compressor catches up. If, on the other hand, you have two guys using high-air-use air tools and both are working at the same time-that’s another story.
Now, as I said, horsepower ratings are…well,lies, basicly. Fiction. You are far better off using amp or watt ratings. Convert one to the other by Watts/Volts = Amps or Amps x Volts = Watts.
For your basic wall outlet, you don’t want to go over 15 amps total of everything plugged into that circuit, or else you will pop a breaker or blow a fuse. Which can be a pain, when you have a job to do after the hardware store is closed for the night and you ran out of fuses. If you are using an extension cord…wayull, it too eats power, your 14 amp compressor just started drawing 16 and you just started blowing fuses again. Better to use a long hose and plug in direct than an extension cord.
Hoses… I have used just about every kind in common use. The hard white/translucent polyethylene Coca Cola hoses, as we call 'em, the PVC coated types and the cute ones in colors that look like the hose in your sink sprayer, clear-ish with reinforcing threads in 'em.
The coca cola hoses suck. Their only virtue is they are cheap. Kink, break,wrap around everything on the job. My favorite use for them? Chopping them into short pieces with an axe.
PVC is fine in the summer, when it’s warm. In the colder climes, they get kinda inflexible, stiff and they are a hassle.
The clear fancy ones? Well, they work, but they are pricy, tend to kink and knot around things. Good for finish carpentry as they don’t mark wood.
My suggestion - get neoprene, in colors. The black can leave skid marks, the yellow and reddish ones I have used don’t.
Couplings - I like brass better than steel couplings. Prices about the same for either. And generally you will need to have a bunch of them,tools and hoses don’t come with them. Don’t forget the Teflon tape on the threads.
Anywho -that’s my call on compressors. Hope that’s of use
doc…
Michell,
Hopefully you’ve searched the archives because you can find a ton of good information by searching “compressor”. There’s ton of good info. Although Doc’ just did a hell of a job summing up.
Last year I was in the same boat as you. Ultimately I bought a used Campbell Hausfield 17 gal that was in good shape for $125. It’s 110v but can be wire for 220v which I’ll do once I get a circuit installed. I also bought a cheap detail gun from Harbour Freight. They work fine but if I run a decent amount of air through the gun, i.e. if I’m spraying a wide fan over a large area, the compressor kicks on a couple times during a project the size of a board. I think that’s reasonable. Hopefully that gives you some useful info.
Something I learned when I spoke to a compressor company and a pro paint supply place here in SoCal’: They both recommended I have 25 ft. of piping on and incline to allow the condensation to collect and run back to a trap/drain. The point is that the compressor makes hot air and as it cools it condensates in the lines. The recommend 25 ft. to allows it to cool and the water will drain back down the incline to the trap. When I asked using a water trap they said to use one but the piping gets a lot of the water out first so you don’t overwhelm the trap and you won’t have to drain as often. Whatever. I’m a newbie and two very legitimate sources tell me I should have it so I figured I need it.
My problem was where the heck am I going to run 25 ft. of pipe on an incline. I came up with a condensed condenser so to speak. I plummed a bunch of pipe up and down on the wall with a trap and valve on each down leg. I wound up with about 32 ft. of vertical plumbing and I hardly ever have to drain my water trap.
Oh yah. Don’t forget a regulator after the water trap. You need that for fine tuning.
Here’s my condenser. Before someone says something, No, I didn’t spend big cash on the ball valves. I got a bunch of them in a trade.
Sorry about the big pic, seems no matter what I do to the pics I upload to my host they always come out the same size here.
