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Air Supply for airbrush

E

ernestsink

Member
:snoopy K, guys (ladies included). I'm wanting to get an air supply for an airbrush. I'm debating between buying a compressor specifically for airbrushes or putting together an air tank with regulator, filters, etc. Suggestions/comments/recomendations?
 
I'd get a compressor unless you already have one that's in good shape. I assume you have some sort of compressor since you're talking about getting an airtank.
 
Yeah, I have a pancake compressor, but it's way too loud to keep in the house. Even firing it up in the garage makes the kids & wife jump. The plan (if I went with the airtank) was to fill it in the garage & take it to the basement (where my workshop will be).
 
If you get an airbrush compressor make sure it's one with a tank, i would recomend a little bigger one, then you can use it for other things to (nailgun, tires etc.)
I had one of these small ones and it broke down after a year, look for quality not the cheapest.
If you can find a compressor from a refridgerator or a/c, they are quiet and give enough air for the a/b, just need a pressure switch and a tank with regulators, built one like that many years ago and it worked fine, had pressure up to 6-7 kilo with a 20 liter tank.
Hope it is to some help for you :)
//Mats
 
I guess that would get loud in the house. Not sure how long a airtank charged up with say...50lbs of air would last, depends on the size of the tank as well. I can see major frustration coming when you're in the middle of airbrushing something and the tank runs out.

I'd get a purpose made compressor. I'm sure Cousin Saul would have a good suggestion. I haven't bought one in decades, I have a salvaged gas station compressor in the shop, talk about loud!
 
Here is the air tank I was considering:
http://www.harborfreight.com/7-gallon-aluminum-air-tank-94801.html
Do you think that would be big enough (hold enough compressed air to do a decent amount of airbrushing)?

What would you consider quality, Mats (I've done some research online, but really haven't done any shopping)? From the online research, I've figured that I can get an airbrush compressor (not sure if it's a quality one or not) for between $150-$200 US, so, if I build an air tank, I'd like to do it for less than $125 US (otherwise I might as well just buy a compressor). I would use my pancake compressor for any other uses, so, if I get a compressor, it'd be specifically for airbrushing.
 
If you can braze copper (silver solder) you could run a half inch line to your work area- if you have clearance under the house to plumb the line- and use that to fill your tank remotely from the garage. You could run the brush directly like that, but you are going to want control at your work station.

Brazed copper will hold the pressure, we run a/c lines, vacuum and compressed air lines in schools and garages like this- if this will hold the pressure fluctuations of an a/c compressor or a garage quality air compressor running a couple of impact tools and a tire machine it will carry the load of your home compressor. and maybe save the trouble of toting the tank. Bit of work to set up, but it could worth the consideration..Tim Allen would agree! lol
 
judging from that picture he will need to replace the hose as the air chuck LOOKS like a factory crimped fitting. But its all air fittings and its all brass, go to a welder's supply and he could probably buy what he needs for less than 10 bucks- you could spend all day at Lowes looking through their customer reorganized brass fitting bins and never find what you are looking for.
 
Yes, I can braze copper (& considered doing that if the air tank was the option I went with).

Well, as far as the airhose conversion, I know I'd have to have a precision regulator & an oil & water filter (I can do most, if not all of the plumbing myself so it'd be just the cost of parts)& some sort of converter for the airbrush that I want (which is probably my next discussion), but as far as the cost of the conversion, I haven't looked that far into it.
 
I have a tank like that for filling automotive tires. I think it runs out of air fast. It is hard to get it to fill a Pick Up tire.
I have never tried to use it for airbrushing.
 
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