Airbrush Compressors

Hello Don!  I'm new to the board myself, but can probably shed a little light for you (I've been researching compressors myself for several weeks).  The biggest question is what sort of brush you will be using, and what you will be painting.  T-shirts require higher pressure than most other purposes (40-70 PSI), although the one exception to this rule is if you are using a gravity feed brush, which requires lower pressure (10-30 PSI) because the paint is being pulled into the brush by gravity and does not need as much 'help' from a compressor to be propelled outwards. (Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here!)

You can buy a compressor at your local stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, sometimes Sears, etc...) for $50-90 but the major disadvantage is that they can be extremely noisy.  Compressors made specifically for airbrushing (commonly called mini airbrush compressors) are generally smaller, much quieter, and more expensive.  They also tend to have lower maximum pressure.

I'm currently considering purchasing a fairly inexpensive model from the Airbrush Depot company, but through eBay (better price; auction can be found here.) It has a maximum pressure of 60 PSI. I recently began a thread about it, and several people have similar compressors that work well for them. Perhaps it would benefit you as well; if not, there are many knowledgeable members here who can give you a recommendation.

Good luck!

http://www.airbrushcity.com/121tk.htm

Check that one out as well. The whole thing about air tools and compressors is matching air useage to the compressor output. If your airtool requires 2 CFM at 60 psi, and your compressor can only deliever 1 cfm at 60 psi, its going to run all the time and wear itself out. Airbrushes have a really low air useage, since most spraying (for models) is done at 10-20, you really don't use much air.

T-shirts require higher pressure than most other purposes (40-70 PSI), although the one exception to this rule is if you are using a gravity feed brush, which requires lower pressure (10-30 PSI) because the paint is being pulled into the brush by gravity and does not need as much 'help' from a compressor to be propelled outwards. (Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here!)

T-shirts require more pressure, I think, simly to insure that the paint thoroughly penetrates the fabric.  If it just sits on top it will wash out much easier.

Gravity feed brushes require SLIGHTLY less pressure than siphon feed brushes.  I have a gravity feed Omni 4000 and a siphon feed Omni 3000.  Other than the feed the two brushes are identical.  The 4000 will feed reliably at around 8 psi.  The 3000 will feed reliably at about 12 psi with the same paint and thinning ratio. If I thin the paint a bit more I can get it down a little bit more.

I also have a siphon feed Badger 200 and a gravity feed Badger 100 and they behave similarly.  The 100 will reliably feed at a slightly lower pressure than the 200 but it is not a huge amount.

I guess I don't understand why you need compressed air for a spray booth, but to answer the latter part of your question an airbrush does not have to be matched to a compressor.  All an airbrush wants is a supply of pressurized, dry propellant.  It doesn't even have to be "Air", a tank of carbon dioxide will work very well.  The only thing you have to do is insure that the hose to the airbrush will fit the outlet on the compressor.  Most compressors have 1/4" NPT (National Pipe Thread) fittings and many, but not all, hoses have the same fitting on them.

You can buy these fittings though. Most any hardware store carries airline fittings, and I know Lowes and Home Depot have a good selection. Just make sure and use some teflon tape.

I think maybe the best place to start would be the airbrush and what you will be spray with it and then the compressor.

If you are going to paint only models and you pick a gravity-feed airbrush with a fine or medium needle/nozzle your air consumption would be less than what I would need. I need a compressor that will also spray textile paints through my bottom-feed since my wife does a T-Shirt now and then. The textile paint is made with thinker.heavier pigments in the paint so it takes more air pressure to get it through and out of the airbrush and into the fabric. Acrylics and enamels can be thinned so you can use a slightly lower air pressure than you would for them to begin with.

Like mentioned before, different airbrushes have different air requirements (CFM's & PSI's) to operate efficently.

Take for example my Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS, for normal spraying it needs .5 CFM @ 25 PSI  and for spraying T-Shirts, my wife cranks the regulator to 50 PSI (she found it works at 50 and doesn't need to crank it to 60 PSI).