Source for compressed air


cncproadwarrior

cncproadwarrior

North of the 49th
I have an air brush that I have never used and am looking for suggestions for compressed air. I have a small electric compressor in my garage that I use to inflate bicycle and car tires but I'm assuming that would be too big for an air brush.
 
actually it probably won't be big enough. The other issue with the tire inflator is going to be the pulsing of the air that it produces. The output needs to be smooth and even, most tire-flators won't do that well enough.

There are several ways to get good compressed air without buying a large compressor.

1) the cans of air (expensive, but handy if you use it rarely)

2) an air brush - specific compressor, these run $100-150 and can be found at Hobby Lobby and Michael's among others. It is what I have used for 20 years. Other than adding a moisture trap it is ready to go out of the box.

3) a compressed air cylinder/bottle. Expensive at the start but you can refill it for nothing forever. My dad used one for 50+ years as a commercial artist.
 
kenw said:
3) a compressed air cylinder/bottle. Expensive at the start but you can refill it for nothing forever. My dad used one for 50+ years as a commercial artist.
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Yes, I used an compressed air cylinder/bottle (air pig) and a 12v tire inflator for the first few hobby years. The problem with the inflator is the pulsing irregular, non metered flow. you need a regulator (found on the air pig) to set the flow at 20-40 psi.

Every so often (Xmas is coming...nudge nudge) there are sales at Lowes, Home Depot etc (at Canadian Tire here in Canada) of compressor/brad nailer/+ accessory sets that go for $75 to like $125.

Also, air compressor size is immaterial to airbrush use. You can use a 10,000 cfm 2 stage compressor for your airbrush, but it's huge overkill. You can use a 2 cfm compressor, but you'll be forever waiting for your psi to return to normal. Its all where you're at in the hobby.

If you can find other uses for it, like this year I redid my Kitchen (and next year the bathroom) so I use my Ingersoll Rand portable air compressor for air nailing window trim and baseboards, as well as hobby use. I have a 3hp compressor for the garage for my other hobbies :D AIR TOOLS!!! :cool:
 
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What I have is a compressor - not a tireflator. It delivers 5.1 SCFM @ 40 PSI. With a regulator would this then be ok to use?
 
cncproadwarrior said:
What I have is a compressor - not a tireflator. It delivers 5.1 SCFM @ 40 PSI. With a regulator would this then be ok to use?
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Yes and No. You will have a MAX of 40 psi coming thru, but it will still pulse. It will get you started tho. The pulse is, for artibitrary numbers say: between 10psi on the intake of the pump, and 60 psi on the compression stroke. You've essentially limited the output to 40 psi, but you're still experiencing the swells of 10 psi. Mind you this swell may occur in a fraction of a second. Hooking up your compressor to an airpig smooths out the flow.

http://bridgewater.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-tools-equipment-Air-Pig-W0QQAdIdZ162845921

Also, for you scuba divers out there, here's an excellent alternative. Using the 3000 psi 80cuft scuba tank, you can hook a hose regulator to the low pressure line on the stage regulator. Off road guys use these tanks for running air tools on the trail. You should be able to get a solid week of airbrush use from this tank setup. Air fills at the scuba shop are anywhere from $10 to $20, and an annual $20 vis test and every 5 years a $50 hydrostatic test of the tank. If you're like me and airbrush once a month a tank should last all year.
 
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I've used a compressed air cylinder for many years with good results. A 100 PSI charge is good for about 2 or 3 painting sessions. The mini regulator/filter came from a mail order airbrush supply outfit, and the airbrush hose adapter is a Badger part.
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I've used a scuba tank as a compressed air source and it works really well. The two stage regulator on the octopus gives you a nice steady air pressure until the tank is just about empty. If you're also using the tank for diving, you do have to be careful not to let any back presure build up and get fumes into the regulator or you'll be spending a lot of money for a new one. As SGS said, the cost for an air fill is pretty minumal and it will last a long time when being used with an air brush. The tank is a little unwieldy in size but, if you're a diver, you should be used to moving tanks around.
 
For the Canucks on the forum, Canadian Tire has a Friday Saturday sale with a portable campbell hausfeld compressor for $69, reg $139.

I imagine there'll be black friday sales too...
 
iomalley said:
For the Canucks on the forum, Canadian Tire has a Friday Saturday sale with a portable campbell hausfeld compressor for $69, reg $139.

I imagine there'll be black friday sales too...
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Black Friday????

They also have a MotoMaster on sale for $99, regular $249.
 
iomalley said:
For the Canucks on the forum, Canadian Tire has a Friday Saturday sale with a portable campbell hausfeld compressor for $69, reg $139.

I imagine there'll be black friday sales too...
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This is the one I picked up for a $100 at Canadian Tire. Nice compressor for the price, does the job without pulsating air pressure at the air brush. The only down fall I have with this compressor is that it is loud because it is oil free (diaphragm compressor), so it is loud. But still a great buy for the job at hand. I was looking at hobby compressors at my local hobby shop starting at $145 and up, but the tanks are too small for my liking. This compressor can be used for so much more outside the hobby too.

View attachment 16441
 
cncproadwarrior said:
Black Friday????
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Yeah that's what they call the day after Thanksgiving when the stores all kick off the holiday shopping season with big sales discounts, etc to get folks spending their money. Probably comes from using the expressions operating in the red or operating in the black to describe losing or making money.
 
NWCanuck said:
This is the one I picked up for a $100 at Canadian Tire. Nice compressor for the price, does the job without pulsating air pressure at the air brush. The only down fall I have with this compressor is that it is loud because it is oil free (diaphragm compressor), so it is loud. But still a great buy for the job at hand. I was looking at hobby compressors at my local hobby shop starting at $145 and up, but the tanks are too small for my liking. This compressor can be used for so much more outside the hobby too.

View attachment 16441
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Looks like a nice lil compressor for the money. I've gotta do something myself soon, cuz the 220Volt, 5 hp 2 cylinder monster in the garage is just that, a monster. Besides the garage is not heated, and its getting too chilly to paint. I'm gonna bit the bullet and get a small compressor and a booth for the house, so I can stop stacking up cars to be painted!
 
Thanks for the ideas guys. I know exactly that I can hook up my air brush to my compressor. Now if I could only find my air brush...:rolleyes:
 
Yesterday evening I purchased a Pancake Air Compressor - 3 gallon oilless from Harbor Freight. It's regularly $59.99 but till the 20th [I believe] with a coupon it's only $39.99! The printable coupon, 'Wouldn't Print', but they were good enough to work with me on it. A buddy did have the coupon number on his PDA to show them though but I'm fairly sure they would they would allow the sale anyway.

Havbent used it but the box says it maintains pressure within a 5 Psi variance so it ought to be pretty good?

I'd act quick on this one as it seems to be a pretty good deal!
 
i personally have a craftsman air compressor aout 7 gallons and a 30 gallon add on tank and i use a stardard pressure regulator and i run it between 30 and 60 depending on my sittuation but my tanks have no less the 80 psi i have a constant air flow no pulsing i run this setup in my basement and my regulator has a water seperator in front of it . works great for me


i also got my airbrushes from harbor frieght one of my favorite places to shop
 
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