Good airbrush for only edge painting (letterpress)

[jgny1]

Yep, I'm going to stick with your suggestion of the tanked compressor because you suggest it for more even color so all the posts feature the one you showed. Now I suppose, I'm trying to figure out the gun. I read a review on that kit with the colors and apparently it only comes with a .3 needle which means the paint needs to be thinned, but the kit doesn't come with the thinner (I assume it isn't acrylic which can be thinned with water... but maybe the reviewer didn't know what they were talking about). I'm assuming I need a .5 needle for the wider pattern and coverage? So even if I bought that one, I need to buy extra stuff - another needle/nozzle assembly, and a certain thinner so I posted the others below which have multiple needle/nozzles and no paint so I can just buy the acrylic. I'm so crazy detail oriented I always overcomplicate these purchases - just imagine how much time I've spent doing this to outfit the entire printshop so far! I spend hours on every purchase - whether its the inks I print with, the new paper cutter, the substrate, the ink additives. I'm just crazy I guess haha!

View attachment 28116

Is that a Kluge?

 

[pantherapress]

Thanks, I love that thing - it was made in 1890. It's a 7x11 Chandler and Price Platen Press. I print often on cotton and cotton blend card stocks since that's what the clients like. The key is thickness because it makes the edge painting visible. It's also nice if the pieces don't get stuck together, as sometimes happens when you hand paint on a thicker ink (it sort of seals up like a skin). Fore-edge painting is amazing, so is the marbling - I've done a bit of marbling myself, but nothing as exceptional as the pros. Still it's a similar concept - keeping the block of pages tight to prevent the ink seeping or bleeding between the pages, and getting a light, even coat.

 

[jgny1]

You just brought me back to the late 80's early 90's I used to use hand-fed and automatic feed Kluge Presses.

 

[pantherapress]

Hey all, I am following up on the previous posts, I bought all the equipment and tried it. I am pretty happy with how the process went and have had good success with the edging. Check out my post to see how it turned out. Thank yo all for your kind help!

I still need to get good photos of the final product but this was my experience so far - http://pantherapress.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/edge-painting-letterpress-part-1/

 

[Rebecca O'Donnell]

Hello All,

I want to buy an airbrush for only a single application - edging cards for letterpress. I'm a letterpress printer and I want to add a new service for my business. Essentially, my needs are very simple.

Occasional Use - maybe once a week, sometimes only once a month or less

Wide, even spray pattern - I won't be doing fine detail, just broad even strokes to cover the sides of the card stacks when they're clamped together. I likely won't need a variety of tips or tons of settings, just even single color coverage.

Easy Cleaning - The easier to clean the better. I take good care of my things, but when I have to wash up the printing press and a bunch of stuff, I don't want to have to spend ages cleaning out the airbrush too.

Good Coverage - I probably will only spray one color in a use, I might do two color gradients, so I think a gravity cup unit would be good (yes?). I will likely be doing about 200-500 square inches at a time (imagine a stack 10 inches tall of 5x7" cards clamped together). I don't mind re-filling, but if it's going to be every two seconds I'm willing to spend more on something more appropriate.

I've seen some cheap units on ebay for about 40 - 60 dollars that come with a gun, compressor, and paints (just go to ebay and search airbrush, you'll see.. it won't let me post links here)


Would these work? I'm really not planning on doing anything complicated with it and don't want to over invest in something really fancy. Any advice would be really helpful, I'm a designer and have used all manner of tools, inks, and processes (from welding to glass), but I've never used a airbrush before!

P.S. Regarding ink... what is a good ink for paper? Would Golden Acrylics thinned with a little water be fine? (I know they have a high flow airbrush line).

Hello, I work at a letterpress shop and do some of the edge painting. we use dye ink that drys quickly with a air compressor in a paint booth and as long as you have clean cuts and don't put too heavy of a coat on, it works very well. (Too much ink will flake off) My question is... how do I edge paint in about an 1/8th of an inch into the paper and maybe emboss it for a raised edge, especially on maybe wedding invitations and not do them one at a time.? 500 would take forever doing them by hand. Just looking for suggestions. Thanks

 

[JackEb]

Hello, I work at a letterpress shop and do some of the edge painting. we use dye ink that drys quickly with a air compressor in a paint booth and as long as you have clean cuts and don't put too heavy of a coat on, it works very well. (Too much ink will flake off) My question is... how do I edge paint in about an 1/8th of an inch into the paper and maybe emboss it for a raised edge, especially on maybe wedding invitations and not do them one at a time.? 500 would take forever doing them by hand. Just looking for suggestions. Thanks

Hi Rebecca,
This is a really old thread so it may be worth starting a new thread with the question, there may be some updated info available.

While you are at it why not post up an introduction