Decanting paint

[Bullitt]

I am in the process of learning to use an airbrush and am interested in decanting paint for the brush. I tried this week with Testor's Plum crazy, sprayed into a clean glass, covered with saran wrap & poked a couple of small holes for the gas to escape. After a day or so I went to check & the paint had dried up, I figure I didn't spray enough into the glass to begin with. Any suggestions on the amount to spray, or what I may be doing wrong?

 

Thanks

[BigTallDad]

When using Tamiya (or other small paint cans) I generally spray the whole can into a glass jar that is about 3" in diameter; I also put half-a-dozen BBs (Daisy Air Rifle) in there to assist the mixing. For larger cans, decant until you have about an inch or so of fluid visible.

Decant the can, leave the jar open for about 10 minutes, then close the jar. Shake it gently and crack open the lid to see how much gas remains. Repeat as necessary.

Edited September 11, 2015 by BigTallDad

[Chillyb1]

Big Tall Dad is usually a great source for helpful hints and advice but this time I'm going to have to disagree strongly with a couple things in his post. NEVER, EVER shake recently decanted paint in a jar. Never. Ever. 

And I can't see any good reason ever to empty the whole can of spray paint in one go. I only ever decant the amount of paint I think I'll need for the immediate future. 

I use 3/4 ounce paint jars and never come close to filling one. I use Tamiya TS series paints almost exclusively. My process is to attach a short piece of a drinking straw over the nozzle, affixed with poster putty (roll some putty into a small "worm" and wrap that around one end of the straw and push it into place over the nozzle; check to make sure it is securely attached), then inserted into the jar while spraying the amount of paint I want. You can always add more later if and as needed. I leave it in the jar with the lid not quite tight. If I want to use it right away, then I use a stirrer to release the propellant gas still in the paint by gently inserting it and then repeating that until the paint no longer reacts violently to the stirrer. 

 

 

[Bullitt]

Thanks

[Mike Kucaba]

If you don't want to empty the entire can. Use a small drill bit and drill out the insert in the tip. Insert one of those plastic straws that usually come on other spray cans like WD-40. I was able to buy several of these somewhere.Insert this into the hole in the tip and epoxy this in place. When everything is dry,put tip on can and spray into jar. This is a super way to do this and if you save the tip and straw you won't have to do this again. I clean the assembly by using a pipette filled with lacquer thinner and push it thru from the bottom of the tip.

[LDO]

Also- don't wait a couple of days. Let it degas for an hour or so with a loose fitting lid, to let gas out and keep dust from getting in. 

Edited September 12, 2015 by LDO
misspelling