How do you adjust a compressors psi?

Wow Chris over 80 on T-shirts!!! you shootin cement then??? I barely hit 55-60, unles its white I am shooting. plus I also use sometimes when the effect is called for ...my Arts paint (Comair) which I can put on shirts all the way down in single digits for psi

I hear you Chris.
I guess I was thinking that it would be nice to have a reference for telling people what pressure I had the best results with, but as John said in his post, different gauges can show different readings with the same pressure applied.
That makes the gauge reading almost useless to someone asking for what pressure you spray at. I basically just use it as a reference point and then adjust up or down from there depending on the results I get.

Mike

mike, you've been airbrushing so long and doing so many different types of work with an airbrush, you could probably adjust it without looking!!LOL i know i can "listen" and spray on some scrap til i get it like it want it, and the needle on the gauge is well below 10 psi when i look over there to get a reference for the next session. but thats dealing with free hand camo and stuff, normally i'm spraying around 12 to 18 psi for general stuff. for T-shirts, i used to spray at about 80 psi!!LOL that would blow the kit apart!! thats been a long, long time ago though. later.

I agree with kind of feeling the air also, so another gauge is probably not necesssary.

Mike

john, i too bought my reg, and moisture traps from Grainger. i've had no problems with them, and my reg. gauge is 0-60, but adjusting the pressure below 10 psi is sketchy to say the least. i'm like Jeff, just kinda "feel" the air. later.

Good points, I bought my gauges from Grainger they have nice little gauges that are ideal for airbrushing. The only problem is I think they don't sell to the general public. One thing I noticed is that I have never been able to get the same readings from different gauges that I have tried they are plus or minus 2-5psi of each other. I only know this because I used an expensive calibrated gauge from work to check them out after the pressure in the one just didn't seem right. I made a mark at 25psi on the gauge I use now to get a better idea but like woodbeck3 I usually go by feel with the air pressure.
John

Mike: the gauges that are on my supposed-to-be-a-Badger regulator have only 3 notches between the 10's, so you'll have to shop around to find all nine notches. I don't know of one that has that. I didn't shop around as you can probably guess since I paid $55 for whatever this is.

But, to the original poster: don't let this make ya feel like you need some $55 piece of equipment to do what you want to do. It's a lot cheaper than that.

My Regulator for my CO2 only reads in 10 lbs slots heh. But I am soo accustomed to feeling the air anyways that I usually nail it.

Whats that old saying... "use the force luke... use the force"

David,

Good point.
I have been meaning to get a different gauge for my Badger Million-Air as I prefer the gauges that read down to single pounds instead of 5 lbs at a time.

Mike

I like using the kind of regulator that's targeted to airbrushers because it has a more applicable range of 0 to 50 or 60 psi. It makes it more clear of exactly what pressure you're airbrushing at. My compressor has the larger range gauge on it, 0 to 200, and its under 30 psi readings are quite off when compared to the airbrush regulator which is right after it.

Ahhh I see and get it now. Thanks alot

Ace, there should be a knob located on the compressor with a gauge thats tied into it, turn the knob counter clockwise to decrease the pressure, and the opposite direction to increase the psi. the guage that is attached to the knob should indicate the regulated psi. you should see 2 guages, one for tank pressure, and one for regulated psi. if you don't see a device as discribed, then you may have to purchase one. they can be found at most hardware stores, Walmart, or Home Depot/Lowes. what type of compressor is it, a hobby compressor or industrial? What brand? later.