New airbrush, need compressor

fsm1000

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Jun 4, 2006
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I finally broke down and bought a cheap [really cheap, 8 bucks] air brush. I am now looking into getting a very quiet compressor if one exists.
It only needs to be between 15 and 35 PSI.
I know nothing about this so all help is appreciated.

Thanks for all your help ahead of time. :)
 

Russ Bellinis

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Feb 13, 2003
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The quietest "compressor" you can get would be a bottle of dry nitrogen. It is sold at any welding supply place. The bottle comes with a pressure of @2500 psi. As you use the nitrogen, the pressure drops, when you get down below 10 psi, you take it back for a refill. The initial cost is a bit pricey because you will need the bottle, and a cart to tie it down as well as a pressure regulator to drop the pressure from the 2500# bottle pressure to your 15-30# working pressure, but the gas itself is cheap, so refills are not bad at all. If you use dry nitrogen for spraying, you won't need a water separator in line to keep moisture out of your paint. Nitrogen is an inert gas (72% of our atmosphere is nitrogen) so it only has one safety drawback. Nitrogen in an enclosed space will displace oxygen so that you can't breathe in such spaces, but the amount of nitrogen in a small bottle will probably not be an issue in any space you are spray painting in.

If you want to get a compressor, check out your local Home Depot, Lowes, etc. They sell small compressors for contractors to use on job sites. You want to get a compressor with a storage tank that will give you a steady flow of air. The little hobby compressors have no storage tank so you get a pulsing air delivery instead of steady pressure. You will also need a pressure regulator with a water separator. I think any compressor you get will be noisy, but you can reduce the noise if you build an enclosure box big enough to fit over the compressor. I would suggest cutting a hole big enough for an air intake and filling it with foam or some furnace filter material to preclean the air going to the comppressor. If you line the box with some foam or cork to muffle the sound that should help as well.
 

ocalicreek

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Russ speaks wise words and I'd heed them first. But if you want something small and cheap, try Harbor Freight. (I'm guessing that's where you got the cheap airbrush? I've heard the HF airbrush called the 'disposable airbrush'...)

Only drawback with mine was I needed a fitting adapter for my badger airbrush but it was cheap at Home Depot. I haven't tried it with actual HF airbrushes yet. It has a water trap built in, but no tank or pressure valve/regulator. SO I may upgrade in the future if the need arises. For now it does what I need it to do and purrs like a kitten. It's really only that loud, like a really happy kitten in a quiet room.