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Airbrush question

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 1:05 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
This may sound off the wall, but do all single action, external mix, airbrushes, spray higher than where the nozzle is aimed?

I tried to practice bursting with a single action, external mix, airbrush, and the dye landed well above where I aimed. It was a cheap Harbor freight airbrush. I bought a double action airbrush from Amazon, but I'm looking to buy a name brand AB. I'm looking at the Paasch or Badger single action airbrushes.

It would be nice not to have to take an airbrush apart to clean it every time I change dye colors. So, I'm looking at the external mix brushes. However, if all of them spray high, I'll buy a double action.

Re: Airbrush question

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 4:54 pm
by phavriluk
I think the HF single-action external-mix airbrush is a knockoff of the Badger 350. I found the HF parts to interchange with the Badger. Never noticed whether I needed to aim low/high/to one side to get the material to the right place. Just put the spray onto the surface after I figured out where I needed to aim to hit the target. I found the airbrush to work decently well, especially given its modest price. Not much different from the Badger. But heaven only knows whether the airbrush sold today at HF is the same as the ones I got in the past.

I found that getting good results from the airbrush depended more on how the tool was handled than any characteristic of the tool itself. Air volume/pressure, viscosity, distance from surface, how fast the tool is traversed across the surface, all mattered mightily when I was spraying. The one thing that helped me the most was using an air source from a compressor, not the cans of pressurized air that Badger sells. They change pressure quite a lot depending on the duty cycle, and that drives any consistency of application into a mess. I bought a HF airbrush compressor, it's nice and quiet and doesn't take up much room. Cheap enough.

Re: Airbrush question

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 8:05 pm
by Diane Kauffmds
phavriluk wrote:I think the HF single-action external-mix airbrush is a knockoff of the Badger 350. I found the HF parts to interchange with the Badger. Never noticed whether I needed to aim low/high/to one side to get the material to the right place. Just put the spray onto the surface after I figured out where I needed to aim to hit the target. I found the airbrush to work decently well, especially given its modest price. Not much different from the Badger. But heaven only knows whether the airbrush sold today at HF is the same as the ones I got in the past.

Thank you for the information. I have a 20 gallon porter cable compressor. I use a pressure regulator for both, the airbrush and air gun.
I found that getting good results from the airbrush depended more on how the tool was handled than any characteristic of the tool itself. Air volume/pressure, viscosity, distance from surface, how fast the tool is traversed across the surface, all mattered mightily when I was spraying. The one thing that helped me the most was using an air source from a compressor, not the cans of pressurized air that Badger sells. They change pressure quite a lot depending on the duty cycle, and that drives any consistency of application into a mess. I bought a HF airbrush compressor, it's nice and quiet and doesn't take up much room. Cheap enough.
Thank you for the information. I use a 20 gallon porter cable compressor, with the appropriate pressure regulator for both, the airbrush and my air gun. I'm currently using a double action airbrush, which is doing the job. I decided to upgrade to a better unit.

Granted, the single action sprayer was a cheap HF sprayer. I was curious whether all external mix airbrushes spray off target, or if it was just the problem specific to a cheap unit. I prefer to have dye appear where I aim.

Re: Airbrush question

Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 10:05 pm
by phavriluk
I'm going to take a guess, a real damfino-but-maybe-this-means-something guess:

Those external-mix airbrushes that mimic the Badger 350 - - - if the orfice needle isn't centered in the tip, maybe the spray pattern is corrupted. An off-center needle will still pass liquid, just not evenly around its circumference.

But, again, it's a guess.

Re: Airbrush question

Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:50 am
by Diane Kauffmds
phavriluk wrote:I'm going to take a guess, a real damfino-but-maybe-this-means-something guess:

Those external-mix airbrushes that mimic the Badger 350 - - - if the orfice needle isn't centered in the tip, maybe the spray pattern is corrupted. An off-center needle will still pass liquid, just not evenly around its circumference.

But, again, it's a guess.
I think you're right. St any rate, I've decided on a double action, siphon feed, internal mix brush. I've found a Paasche and a Badger that I like. I'm making a decision now.

Thanks for you're help.