Care to share your reduction PSI ratio?

huskystafford

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I was just wondering what is a good starting point for reduction psi for different substrates and what is your preferred starting point(where you start and decide if you will add more reducer or not when you see how airbrush and paint is behaving). I know there is many stuff which decide how much reducer or paint like humidity etc. That's why I am asking about starting point.

So I was thinking something like this(probably also important what kinda paper you use if you spray on paper I would guess):

PSI / REDUCER / PAINT / SUBSTRATE / TYPE OF PAINT / AIRBRUSH


this is just an example :
30PSI / 3 drops reducer / 10 drops paint / T-shirt / Wicked 0.35 Eclipse


I am asking just for good starting point. Probably this info would be use full to some new airbrush member as well. :) Care to share? :laugh:


edit: I added airbrush, cause I forgot about we are using airbrush :rolleyes:
 
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PSI REDUCER PAINT SUBSTRATE TYPE OF PAINT


this is just an example :
30PSI / 3 drops reducer / 10 drops paint / T-shirt / Wicked
T-shirt is usually 60 PSI and no reducer through a .5 or .35 set up so it can get into the material and last a lot longer, just so ya know.

Wicked detail 3 drops reducer to 1 drop of paint @30 psi CM-C+ .18
CI most time straight out the bottle @30 PSI CM-C+.18 But if I want to build the color slowly 3 drops reducer to 1 drop paint.
But most of the time I just add drops until I get the flow I want , As far as substrate other then textiles it usually is 30 PSI as a starting point from there the PSI only go down.
Great question and look forward to see what other have to say.
Oh and through my .35 set up I hardly reduce the paint at all .maybe 3 drops paint to 1 drop reducer.
But different climate means different reduction ,
 
T-shirt is usually 60 PSI and no reducer through a .5 or .35 set up so it can get into the material and last a lot longer, just so ya know.

Wicked detail 3 drops reducer to 1 drop of paint @30 psi CM-C+ .18
CI most time straight out the bottle @30 PSI CM-C+.18 But if I want to build the color slowly 3 drops reducer to 1 drop paint.
But most of the time I just add drops until I get the flow I want , As far as substrate other then textiles it usually is 30 PSI as a starting point from there the PSI only go down.
Great question and look forward to see what other have to say.
Oh and through my .35 set up I hardly reduce the paint at all .maybe 3 drops paint to 1 drop reducer.
But different climate means different reduction ,
Thank you Mr.Micron for your input. I am on the same boat. I look forward to see what others have to say as well.
 
this is a valid question but there is no fixed answer to it as different paint brands need different reductions and different airbrushes need different pressure Herb gave you a good starting point but it is up to you to find what will work for you
dang I forgot to add airbrush -.-
 
Probably I forgot something again :whistling:

PSI / REDUCER / PAINT / SUBSTRATE / TYPE OF PAINT / AIRBRUSH


this is just an example :
30PSI / 3 drops reducer / 10 drops paint / T-shirt / Wicked 0.35 Eclipse
 
this is a valid question but there is no fixed answer to it as different paint brands need different reductions and different airbrushes need different pressure Herb gave you a good starting point but it is up to you to find what will work for you
I was wondering about you guys, which are using Etac's and microns how much you reduce :)
 
I was wondering about you guys, which are using Etac's and microns how much you reduce :)
I dont reduce my Etac paints and I have set my compressor to a standard PSI that I need for all my airbrushes and that is 30 PSI and I use a mac valve to lower the PSI for my micron to about I would say 15 to max 20 PSI
If I want my paint to be more transparent I will use the transparent base "reduce base" but dont let this name fool you it is not to reduce the paint but to reduce the pigment load in the paint
 
PSI 28 but adjust on G-Mac to suit no reduction to paint Paint is etac any soft substrate HP-b+ or Micron SB mostly
PSI 28 but adjust on G-Mac to suit 1 paint 3 reducer Paint is Mick Neill's any substrate HP-b+ or Micron SB mostly
PSI 28 but adjust on G-Mac to suit 1 paint 2 reducer Paint is CI any substrate HP-b+ or Micron SB mostly
PSI 28 but adjust on G-Mac to suit reduce as needed Paint is Spectra-Tex any soft substrate HP-b+ or Micron SB mostly

With etac I don't reduce, only add some trans base occasionally if I want a more transparent colour or more control.
I keep my PSI the same all the time, what I mean by soft substrate is anything but a hard surface and I use mostly my HP or Micron but I also use other AB's on occasion, nothing changes much only the Mac pressure and paint reduction to suit. I have other paint brands but those are the main ones I use.

Lee
 
for my current painting (Paint pal size) 15psi/2 reducer/4 paint/4 transbase/ yupo/CI Paint/CM-SB

As you can see Husky, everyone has different ratios. where you live and your current weather can affect what ratios you need on any particular day.
We've just entered spring here so its still damp and cold. In the middle of summer I'd probably use more reducer.

When I use Etac I don't reduce with anything except water. even then its only one or two drops. I don't use it on yupo I find it to fragile.
 
for my current painting (Paint pal size) 15psi/2 reducer/4 paint/4 transbase/ yupo/CI Paint/CM-SB

As you can see Husky, everyone has different ratios. where you live and your current weather can affect what ratios you need on any particular day.
We've just entered spring here so its still damp and cold. In the middle of summer I'd probably use more reducer.

When I use Etac I don't reduce with anything except water. even then its only one or two drops. I don't use it on yupo I find it to fragile.
I was trying to play with 10 PSI on Micron, looks like it is a little low, considering PSi from you guys. :sus:
 
I know I want paint to flow at a certain point of trigger pull. I increase pressure untill paint flows. If the pressure goes to high, normally around the 20-25psi mark, I thin the paint a bit a start again. For very fine detail I like very little air and thus thin the paint a lot more.
 
I’m still experimenting. No matter what I try I can’t seem to work with thick paint. Even Createx Illustration I tend to reduce 1:1 and paint around the 30 psi mark. That’s approximately across the board between Eclipse CS, HP-C, HP-CH and CM-C+. Painting on Aluminium panels. I will change the mix depending on what I’m doing. If I want to block in colour then I’ll maybe work around 20% per volume, so 8 drops of paint to 2 drops reducer. For AutoAir this will be much more reduced. No set amount there, just until it flows but still covers.
@wickedartstudio just did a great video on paint reduction on his YouTube channel. I’ll fin dit and post it here as it’s really good.
 
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