Newbie needs a bit of advice

S

sihollies

Guest
Hi
I registered on the forum a couple of days ago & this is my first post.
I would like your advice on my first reasonable airbrush purchase.
I bought a tanked compressor with a couple of generic/cheap dual action trigger airbrushes, but the thread on one of the air hose connectors failed/stripped after very minimal use, so thought it would be beneficial to purchase a better quality one.
I initially bought the kit to spray finish small wooden jewellry boxes that I make, with a water based varnish or lacquer as to eliminate brushmarks.
Ideally i would like an airbrush that can accommodate a fairly viscous varnish or finish, but dont have much experience in this technique and would think that the liquid would need to be diluted????
I am aware that airbrushes are available with different nozzle sizes and logically thinking, would say that a larger nozzle size would allow for a more viscous/thicker solution to pass through it???
Please correct me if my logic is flawed. :)

To be honest, my principle reason for joining the forum was to as advice regarding the above, but after looking through the gallery on the site, it brought back memories of when I used airbrushes at art college and before, and has inspred me to use my equipment for some artwork at a future date.

Any advice whatsoever is greatly appreciated, as I truly have VERY limited knowledge on spraying techniques.

I am looking at a budget of UK £80 -£100

Many thanks in advance
Simon
 
Hi! Welcome to the forum. Yes you are correct about the nozzle size. Iwata is probably what people will recommend here.
 
Thanks for the reply.
I have deduced from what I have already read on this site, that Iwata seems to be the best brand.
I am watching a few on Ebay, and the prices vary massively on model to model, but as stated before, I really dont know what specifics I should be looking for to accomodate my needs.

Simon
 
If you could push your budget another £30 or £40, If you want an Iwata then the eclipse is great and will last you forever. Aircraft.net have them and i think they are cheapest around at the moment

Lee
 
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I guess I should also mention that I have used both a Paasche VL, but much much more - a Badger 150 to spray an oil finish on dozens, and dozens of hand carved gunstocks. The Badger did a pretty decent job of it over the years. The Iwata Eclipse BCS is a much better build than the Badger, much more robust with better finish and attention to detail.
 
Thanks to both of you.
I knew I was going to get alot of advice from the members on this forum, so thank you for that!!
Is there any chance you could explain why each of your recommendations are beneficial to my needs, as like I stated, I am new to this.

Thanks again
simon
 
well, I can start by letting you know that I have each of the brushes that I mention, and have used them basically to do exactly what you are wanting to do.

The Creos GSI PS290 with trigger grip has a .5 needle and nozzle combo, and comes with both a round nozzle cap, and a fan style cap. This allows you to pick the spray pattern that works best for you. I use mine to apply clear coat as a final finish on my paintings, whether smooth board, or canvas. It will move a LOT of paint.

A Paasche VL, while not being one of my favorites, is a old style work horse of a brush that has enough different sized large needle nozzle combos that will allow you to apply any kind of finish you want. They have been doing the job you are asking to do for maybe 70 years with this exact same brush.

The Badger 150 is another work horse that has several different sized nozzle/needle combos, and is a no nonsense piece that will just spray the tarnation out of most of what you feed it. Probably the least expensive to buy, and maintain.

The Iwata Eclipse BCS is a fantastic build. Built like a tank. Comes standard with a .5 needle/nozzle and is another one that will spray just about anything you feed it. This brush is just about the same as the GSI PS290 I mentioned first, but for me, not quite as versatile.
 
Thanks very much DaveG
The info that you have provided has given me a sound basis as to what I should to look into buying.
I will certainly look into each model.
Would you say that I would need to dilute the finish/varnish prior to applying it to the piece when using the above airbrushes??

Simon
 
Thanks very much DaveG
The info that you have provided has given me a sound basis as to what I should to look into buying.
I will certainly look into each model.
Would you say that I would need to dilute the finish/varnish prior to applying it to the piece when using the above airbrushes??

Simon
hmm, I would need to know the brand of finish you are planning on spraying, so that I might have some actual experience with it. I have sprayed both water based, and oil based poly finishes from the can with the addition of maybe 5-10% water or thinner. Danish oil - straight, tung oil -straight, tru-oil -straight. With many of them, I would just add some to the brushes bottle, test spray, then thin if needed right in the bottle.
 
The beauty of the eclipse bcs, is that you can buy the hp-cs head for it, and then you have an awesome .35 nozzle, that while not marketed as a detail brush, is actually an awesome all round option and really is capable of amazing fine work. So if the artistic urge surfaces, you don't have to get an entire separate brush.

Do be aware thought, that the .5 of the bcs is still probs not great for anything toooo viscose, so thinning may still be needed.
 
Thanks
I have been using Mylands high build lacquer and Morrells bartop lacquer, but I don't have any specific brand that I use..
I will look into the eclipse, and I can see where your coming from 'Squishy' regarding buying it for future projects, but on first looks, they are probably out of my price range.
So, would a .35 nozzle be adequate for applying varnishes?
Thanks again
 
Thanks
I have been using Mylands high build lacquer and Morrells bartop lacquer, but I don't have any specific brand that I use..
I will look into the eclipse, and I can see where your coming from 'Squishy' regarding buying it for future projects, but on first looks, they are probably out of my price range.
So, would a .35 nozzle be adequate for applying varnishes?
Thanks again
I have never tried to spray varnish, so I have no idea. My gut says no. Even regular airbrush paint needs thinning. I have shot metallic through, and the .35 struggled with that. May be if it was suitably thinned, but I figure you would be looking at lots of coats to get the finish you want.
 
I'm pretty sure the lacquer(s) you are mentioning would shoot fairly well through the .5 set up's with a little thinning. You would probably need to thin close to 35- 50% to shoot with the .35 Eclipse set up
 
Thanks Squishy
To be honest, that was the answer I was expecting at some stage, but didnt want to hear it.
In my last project and my first using an airbrush, I built up the finish of the item using a brush and finished it off using the airbrush to eliminate brush marks using a very diluted varnish/lacquer, and it was quite successful.
I suppose my question now is, which is the best affordable airbush that can accomodate a medium to high viscosity finish??

Thankyou all for your input, it is truly appreciated.

Simon
 
Dave has your solution:
Eclipse HP-BCS is the 'siphon' feed, its a .5 out of the box
Eclipse HP-CS is a gavity feed, its a .35 out of the box.

As Squishy has rightly pointed out, you can certainly change the head to make the BCS a smaller nozzle/needle size if needed.

As is the general agreement, youre going to need thinning of some ratio

I'm pretty sure the lacquer(s) you are mentioning would shoot fairly well through the .5 set up's with a little thinning. You would probably need to thin close to 35- 50% to shoot with the .35 Eclipse set up
 
Thanks Squishy
To be honest, that was the answer I was expecting at some stage, but didnt want to hear it.
In my last project and my first using an airbrush, I built up the finish of the item using a brush and finished it off using the airbrush to eliminate brush marks using a very diluted varnish/lacquer, and it was quite successful.
I suppose my question now is, which is the best affordable airbush that can accomodate a medium to high viscosity finish??

Thankyou all for your input, it is truly appreciated.

Simon
What Dave said. I think that ps290 or maybe a badger 150 will be your best bet with the eclipse being too pricey.
Advantage to the 150 for the ability to buy finer needle and nozzle setup for future artwork.
If it's just for varnish and your compressor is capable than a $15
.6 mini gun in the lph50 knockoff variety or generic quick change external mix airbrush will do the trick. (I side to this one for coating stuff under a foot or so)
Remind me and I'll post a link to what I'm talking about if need be tomorrow.
 
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Yet again, thankyou all for your advice.
So many makes, models and numbers!!:)
I will look into every single one listed above and after I have bought and used it, will let you know how I get on.
Although I cant really afford it, I can see that the Eclipse seems to be the one that I should go for.

Simon
 
After all your input and advice, I thought it was common courtesy to let you know what I have decided. (You may not be interested:))
The general concensus on this site is clearly that Iwata are the best, so I have gone with the advice of several of yourselves and have ordered the Eclipse HP-BCS, as it seems that it is an all rounder that should last forever??

When I am using the airbrush, how should it be stored between coats of lacquer or varnish?? With the cheap one I had before, I just used to submerge the nozzle in a tub of water, basically not knowing what to do.

Thanks again as I wouldnt have had a clue prior to joining the forum

Simon
 
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