Air Brushing

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

What's goin' on...

Yesterday I attempted to use an air brush for the first time. The set up used is the Testors AZTEC (FYI I've had this over 4 years). When I used it only propellant discharged from the tip seconds later it was in liquid form and then the nozzle of the brush froze. Absolutly no paint came out of the brush AT ALL!!

I started out using one of the small jars provided in the kit that had a small orfice in the lid(attatchment to the brush) Then I reduced the paint 2 parts water to 1 part acrylic Testors. I put the can of propellant in hot water then took it out when I was ready to start painting. I heard that heating the propellant will give consistant pressure.

This attempt was strickly to get aquinted w/ the air brush I wasn't tring to do any work just yet. Now what did I do wrong? Why didn't the paint siphon? I'm aussuming that the orfice in the lid of the jar was the vent? Also was there a step I missed? Is there a way to keep the propellent from condensing at such a rate to the point where it freezes the end of the air brush?

Thanks in advance for any input,advice, or troubleshooting tips.

[Olle F]

Did you have the can of propellant standing straight up? I'm not 100% sure, but I would think that it can do what you describe if it's laying down.

[MR BIGGS]

Do yourself a favor and get a small compressor and pressure regulator! Getting consitent results from a Propel can is VERY difficult! At the very least put the Propel can in a bucket of warm water. This will help keep the liquid inside the can from freezing and drastically changing your air pressure.

ANTHONY R.

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

What's goin' on....

Olle.

Yes sir the can was upright not on its side.

Anthony.

I want to get verse w/ the air brush first just to see if I like it ( so to say) before buying a compressor and the misc attatchments.

[Olle F]

That's strange... Granted, I haven't used propellant in many years but have never seen or heard of that happening. Even if you hate the airbrush right now, I can almost guarantee that once you get it to work you will like it better than rattle cans. As Anthony said, get a compressor. It won't give you any grief and you can get a decent one for the price of 10-15 cans of propellant. And once you have a compressor, you'll find that it's useful for many other things around the house.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Olle F

[wdcav]

I've had those problems with propel cans and my cheapie testors brush. Everything from the freezing up of the tip, to sputtering of cold liquidy propel. I've found that just moving the can around before using it can stir it up and make it spray ###### out. Before use, I had to leave mine perfectly still, careful not to move it at all or face the consequences. But as others have suggested, a compressor really changes the works. My gf has a badger compressor and a Badger Crescando (spelling?) brush, and I've been attaching her compressor to my testors brush and it was working much much better then bottles. But now I've even gone the extra step and just swiped her brush and started using it and liking that setup even more.

So get a compressor, and get acustomed to your current brush and then later I'm sure you'll see the light.

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

What's goin' on...

Well I can tell you this much as a truck/trailer mechanic I've spent this most of this winter in a service truck dealing w/ the air line off the compressor freezing at the chuck (It's real fun when on the side of the highway trying to change a tire when the impact won't hardly work beacuse the air line froze) I ###### near threw the entire air brush kit in the trash when that happened! I cannot express how discussed I was when this happened! This hobby is my escape from having to fix things! Later on I'll try it again until then I'd like to get some advice from those who've done it for years.

I sure do appreciate your input.

[Olle F]

You should definitely not throw the airbrush away, this sounds like a freak occurence and shouldn't have anything to do with the airbrush itself. I would probably be just as frustrated as you are right now, but just take a step back, and breathe slowly....

I'm still not sure about what's happening so I'm just guessing, but there could be something wrong with the can and/or the way you used it. The propellant will cool off as it exits the bottle and expands (like any other compressed gas will), so maybe you just happened to get more pressure and gas flow than it could take without freezing. First of all, I would try to use it without heating the bottle and with the valve half closed, to minimize the gas flow. If you can get the propellant to flow without freezing, pour some paint thinner in the jar and try to spray.

Again, I'm just guessing but it sure sounds like the gas flow happened to be too high, either from the heated bottle, the valve being turned down too far, or a combination of both.

[m408]

O.K. Scott, now you have me worried. My kids got me a nice Paasche air brush set and a small compresor for Xmas. I got a regulator and moisture trap for it, but I'm still afraid to try it. I just know that I will mess it up. I even got some food coloring to experiment with. I know, not paint, but I figured that I could at least figure out how the air brush worked with it and it would be easy to clean. I'm going to watch, with great interest, how you make out. Everyone says that air brushing is the way to go, but still unknown territory to me.

[CAL]

O.K. Scott, now you have me worried. My kids got me a nice Paasche air brush set and a small compresor for Xmas. I got a regulator and moisture trap for it, but I'm still afraid to try it. I just know that I will mess it up. I even got some food coloring to experiment with. I know, not paint, but I figured that I could at least figure out how the air brush worked with it and it would be easy to clean. I'm going to watch, with great interest, how you make out. Everyone says that air brushing is the way to go, but still unknown territory to me.

Ya just have to jump in. There isn't a whole lot to screw up break or distroy that cannot be easily fixed.

I used to repair lots of brushes, but I have only seen one beyond repair, save for all the Azteks I junked, and it wasn't the brush. It was the guy opperating it. He shouldn't have been let loose on the streets much less with an airbrush. EVERTHING was broken completely or damaged on his Badger 150.