Got my eye on some air brushing tools.....

[GouletPens]

I was thinking the other day that an air brush used for models cars might be small enough to paint cool effects onto a pen....I have seen a few here that use Badger brand airbrushes, but they're not the cheapest things. I want to try out the airbrushing techniques, but money is a little tight and I want to see what the capabilities are with air brushing on pens and also what equipment is the best to buy. I want to make sure before I spend any cash that firstly this kind of equipment works on something as small as a pen, and also that the equipment I would buy would do all I need and last a long time. I've made so many purchases before where I find out down the road that others on the IAP have found something better or a better price, or what have you. Any advice for me out there for air brushing?

 

[TomS]

I only have limited experience with an airbrush, but I don't think you will be happy with the results. You didn't state what you were trying to accomplish, but if you want to paint small figures, or designs, most all brushes are capable of that. But being so small, a pen doesn't offer the ideal canvas (so to speak). Most brushes can be adjusted to make very fine lines, but a perfectly clean line is almost impossible to do. Again, since a pen is so small, any overspray, or fuzziness on the edge of a painted line will be very noticible. Air brushes open up a whole new world of design possibilities, but getting acceptable results on a pen would be a challenge.
Tom

 

[foamcapt40]

Typically, I would not even try to answer this because an expert I'm not... however, I have had some airbrushes for working on model trains and some other hobbies, (we all have a few) The same applies here as with buying and using woodworking tools. Buy the very best that you can afford because cheap will disapoint you. There are single and double action brushes as well as internal and external mix styles. The single action and external mix are the least expensive but you will not getan extremely fine line. usually no smaller than 1/4" in my experience. These work for items where you need lots of coverage. As you push down on the trigger, air flows across an orfice that can be adjusted for paint flow. The paint and air are mixed outside the gun. An internal mix brush can be single or doubl;e action and the air and paint are mixed inside the brush. The amount of paint is adjusted by a needle valve in a single action. (This kind is my favorite due to coordination :biggrin A double action is a little more complicated in that in order to cause paint to flow you push down on the trigger to start the air and pull back at the same time to regulat the flow of paint. This style can be difficult to master (I've been trying). Internal mix brushes will allow you to get much finer lines, sometimes down to a 1/16". Bottom line is, there are as many different kinds of brushes as there are turning tools and everyone has an opinion. You're best bet is to stop at alocal hobby shop and tell them what you want to do with the brush and they can point you in the right direction. Also check you local library and many time they will have books on airbrushing to give you some insight. Be prepared to spend some time with practice and you can make some beautiful effects with stains and inks as well as paint. Oh did I also mention the brushes need to be kept very clean after each use or the finely machined passages where the paint flows gets clogged and the thing is worthless? (Don't ask me how I know this!) Good Luck I hoped this ramble helped a little.

 

[spitfire]

I only have limited experience with an airbrush, but I don't think you will be happy with the results. You didn't state what you were trying to accomplish, but if you want to paint small figures, or designs, most all brushes are capable of that. But being so small, a pen doesn't offer the ideal canvas (so to speak). Most brushes can be adjusted to make very fine lines, but a perfectly clean line is almost impossible to do. Again, since a pen is so small, any overspray, or fuzziness on the edge of a painted line will be very noticible. Air brushes open up a whole new world of design possibilities, but getting acceptable results on a pen would be a challenge.
Tom

To add to this. To get good results with a cheap airbrush from Walmart is not likely. If you can't get a decent airbush now, save until you can. No point in buying something for 30 bucks only to find it doesn't work then have to spend 100.00 to get something that actually works well for what you are trying to do.

 

[gketell]

Send a PM to cozee and get his input. He is an amazing airbrush artist.

GK

 

[aggromere]

I used to build remote control cars and race them. I had a badger airbrush and air compressor. I never could do anything very fine with them, so i bet it would be close to impossible to paint a pen anything but a solid color.

 

[holmqer]

You may wish to check out

http://www.howtoairbrush.com/

You should be able to get great results with the right gravity fed double action airbrush, but probably will have to go with the right model of a decent brand like Iwata or Badger.

Since you will only be using a few drops of paint per pen, the top-loading, gravity fed models are probably your best bet.

Nail artists can put all sorts of detailed designs on fingernails with the right model of airbrush, so there is no reason that you could not achieve the same level of detail on a pen.

Some airbrushes are great at detail, but lay down too fine of a pattern to cover a wide area for things like automotive or t-shirt art.

The typical cheap airbrushes you can get a places like Wally World or HF have apertures and needles for automotive or t-shirt art as opposed to the sort of fine detail you are talking about. You might be able to get something for face painting at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, but that may still have too big of a pattern.

 

[GouletPens]

This is a great start for me everyone. I guess I really don't know what I'm trying to achieve with it right now, I'm really trying to explore the possibilities. What inspired me was actually watching an episode of "Overhaulin'", where they had this guy that painted the most incredible flames on a Dodge Magnum I've ever seen in my life. I'm not necessarily interested in flames, but I was thinking if you can make effects that awesome on a car, why not a pen? And the nail artists might be a good benchmark for pen art.....they work on a smaller canvas than we even do! Maybe I'll look into that technique.

My whole purpose is to find out what the limitations are with air brushing and if I can use different paint/stain/finishing techniques using the airbrush equipment. I don't have a specific goal I'm trying to achieve, I'm really just being led by my inspiration from watching a world-class artist do air brushing on a car.

 

[GouletPens]

Thanks for that link, Eric, I've been checking it out all morning. There's about 15 million different air brushes out there, and I have found a couple that I think would work nicely. From everything I've read, it's kind of a "get what you pay for" situation. I'm all about buying the best tools you can afford, but the brush I really have my eye on would be pushing $200 I'm just not sure if a "proof of concept" is worth that price. At the same time, I don't want to spend $75 or $100 and get something that doesn't work at all. The brush I'm really looking at is the Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH. It's a real nice brush with good reviews, made for fine detail and is solvent resistant. It has a regulator on the brush, which is a really nice feature. I've found it on ebay as cheap as $200 plus shipping. I wish I could see what this thing is capable of doing before I drop the cash on it, y'know?

 

[chriselle]

Hey Brian,

I have a quiver of Iwata and Harder & Steenbeck brushes left over from my days of helmet, auto and just about anything else..graphics. I used to be right into it...lol.
Anyway, everyone has given good points and I would just like to add that results and sanity are very dependant on the type of medium you are shooting. If you are planning on fine detail forget about using anything but lacquers (urethanes).
Be careful.....my friend.....Once you shoot some HOK Kandy Koncentrates you might find yourself traveling deep....down into the depths of another very addictive and expensive hobby...:biggrin:

Some true flames on a pen would be very, very cool.

My urushi pens were finished with an airbrush if that accounts for anything.

 

[alphageek]

This is a great start for me everyone. I guess I really don't know what I'm trying to achieve with it right now, I'm really trying to explore the possibilities. What inspired me was actually watching an episode of "Overhaulin'", where they had this guy that painted the most incredible flames on a Dodge Magnum I've ever seen in my life. I'm not necessarily interested in flames, but I was thinking if you can make effects that awesome on a car, why not a pen? And the nail artists might be a good benchmark for pen art.....they work on a smaller canvas than we even do! Maybe I'll look into that technique.

ROFL... Why do I picture you trying to explain to your wife that you paid to get your nails airbrushed so you could lean the technique.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[GouletPens]

ROFL... Why do I picture you trying to explain to your wife that you paid to get your nails airbrushed so you could lean the technique.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

OOOOooooo...that's a nice angle!!! 'Cept my wife is pretty low maintenance and never gets her nails done. She couldn't afford to anyway b/c I spend all the $$$ on wood!!! :tongue:

Chris, I would be looking to use lacquers, that's why the solvent resistant brushes would be a must for me. I'm getting the sense that it would be a slippery slope getting into air brushing, much like every new 'technique' I try to incorporate into my pens! I'm going to have to do a lot of research on the air brushing, and I can already tell it's going to be a long time investment to do it. I'm sure it's like turning....you can get the tools and make 'a pen', but to get really good at it is going to take tons of time and practice, and most likely money on tools!! Man, if only money were no object:angel:

 

[wb7whi]

I was like you and got all my stuff from Harbor Freight. Not looking for detail drawing or anything like that just blending color on otherwise boring wood. Have a ton of the stuff and got to do something with it. Got the colors from Woodcraft, red, blue and yellow and mixed them with oil instead of water.
Going to be working on bud vases next.

 

[Woodlvr]

Micro Mark has a set on sale. Testors paints sells a setup that uses a can of propellant, expensive I would think unless it is refillable.
http://www.micromark.com/TESTORS-EX...37.html?ns_md=Email&ns_sc=Marketing&ns_cn=W61

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

I've been playing around with an air brush, I'm not an expert, but did find this site to be useful.

http://www.howtoairbrush.com/index.php/site/lessons/

 

[sptfr43]

I had the same idea and spent a hundred + on an airbrush only to find that it doesn't work out like I told myself it would. Still trying but the results aren't there. I even asked a couple airbrush people if they could do it for me and none seemed interested in trying. Oh well, at least I have a cool airbrush