Air Tank, Will It Work?!

There's an interesting article on the Hyperscale website titled "The Quest for an Air Compressor" by Glenn Irving. He describes how to make an airbrushing compressor from an old refridgerator unit. Quite interesting. You'll find it at www.clubhyper.com/reference/compressorgi_1.htm


Tom

I have a 7 gallon Wal Mart air tank rigged with a regulator and a moisture trap. I fill the thing to 100 psi and get about 20-25 minutes of actual spraying time at 15-20 psi. During an ambitious painting session I'll run out two tankfulls, thats usually enough painting for me at one session. I pressurize my tank using an old "power pal" compressor I got from my father-in-law twenty years ago. I've seen "roadside emergency" compressors for sale at Wal Mart for less than $20. Keep your eyes open, you'll come across a cheap compressor when you least expect it.

Tom

I tried a 5 gal air tank and a small, tire inflator compressor. The tank would only last 15 +/- minutes. But, that's not the worst part. It always ran out at the worst possible time. The little tire inflators are noisy, really noisy.... And, you still need a regulator and moisture trap.

If you are on a budget, try it. If you can spare the $$$'s, here's what I recommend.

Buy a compressor that has a reservoir tank. That way the compressor doesn’t run all the time --- much more family friendly….. I got a 2 hp model with a 6 gal. tank. The compressor will run once or twice during a 2-3 hour painting session. I installed a brass shut-off valve between the regulator and the compressor too. Air was bleeding through the air brush when it wasn’t being used. This caused the compression to run more than it should. Home Depot, Loews, Sears have several models in the $200 range. They come with a regulator and moisture trap. They are small enough to at least be luggable (fairly easily moved).

Watch for sales.

Jim

I use an old 20lb propane tank with a regulator and it works great. I have 2 gages...one for tank pressure and one for regulated pressure. I take it with me when I go to work in the morning and stop on the way home and fill it up. I have put as much as 120 psi in the tank and it seems to last quite a while......more than 15-20 min......but not alot more.

It should work fine. Think in terms of actual shooting time. I have used air tanks, dive tanks, I have seen one guy use an inner tube. So long as you can get the air pressure you need to shoot the paint you want you should be able to use anything. A guy I used to work with years ago used to use an old mouth diffuser airbrush to great success. He also used a foot pump to pressurize a holding tank for a larger air supply if he needed.

For a little over $50 you can go to the home depot and pick up a small wall mount or stand alone compressor that will work fine, plus run some small airtools and inflate a car tire. Its quiet, electric and has a small 2 gallon holding resevoir. Works great.

Mike

The problem I forsee with that setup is that those little compressors were never meant to fill a volume that large to such a high pressure. It will certainly overheat doing it, unless you cycle it on/off a few times while doing it..?

There is a post here from a few months ago on the same subject. I replied to that post with my set up. I have a small electric inflator ( from Sears or Wal-Mart) that is hooked into my air tank. It cost about $20.00. I have a guage on the tank to monitor the pressure so I don't over fill. This gives me a supply of air that lasts and lasts, with no breaks to the service station to refill.

The only concern would be the size of the tank. There have been a couple other posts about this subject and we came to the conclusion that a 5-7 gallon tank would last for roughly 15 minutes of airbrushing. As long as you can do your painting in 15 minute windows there isn't really any reason why you couldn't go this route. I am actually thinking about doing the same thing. I just don't have everything set up yet.

Mind you, compared to me, 4-5 hours a week sounds like a professional airbrusher.

Ray

I know a fellow that did the exact same thing.
The good news: It worked.
The bad news: When he painted a 1/48 CF-105 Avro Arrow he made over a dozen trips to the gas station to fill the 3 or 4 gallon tank to finish the paint job. While not a "small" kit, its no 1/48 B-1 either. He scraped the cash to buy a small industrial compressor after that. You could probably buy one for around $100 if you shop around.