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Home compressor to airbrush fittings ?

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  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 8:15 PM

Grainger and Parker really are your best friends for this kind of project.

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They have EVERYTHING!

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • 1,037 posts
Posted by dragonriversteel on Tuesday, September 4, 2018 11:24 AM

BigDaddy

 

 
dragonriversteel
None of the first three stores carried air regulator/filters . Nor could I find anybody with knowledge of pipe fittings at Lowe's or Home Depot.

 

Not suprised. 

I'm not so sure a filter/water trap is needed.  I started many years ago with a bagder kit with one of those tiny compressors.  I swear it spit water into my paint and the output was not adjustable.

Fast forward 30 years and I bought a pancake compressor.  Yes it is loud when it fills, but I can paint a really long time before the compressor kicks on again.

My badger came with a hose that had the 1/8" fitting on either end.  Whether the female end is NPT or BSP, I have no idea, but I found a fitting at Harbor Freight that fits.

My regulator/water trap died, leaks somewhere internally, after very little use.  I just use the regulator on the compressor and in humid Maryland, I do not have problems with water mixing into the airbrush

 

 

 Yeah, finding people that know their job in big box stores. Unlikely. Ace hardware on the other hand. They knew their stuff. Picked up a bunch of fittings from them.

Anyhow,I managed to get to my local hobby shop and found the Badger fitting needed. Airbrush works great . In the process of weathering my steel mill rolling stock & heavy equipment.

The humidity in FLA is not too bad where I live. Still played it safe with air filter.

Patrick

Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb

Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.

Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Monday, September 3, 2018 11:33 PM

dragonriversteel
None of the first three stores carried air regulator/filters . Nor could I find anybody with knowledge of pipe fittings at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Not suprised. 

I'm not so sure a filter/water trap is needed.  I started many years ago with a bagder kit with one of those tiny compressors.  I swear it spit water into my paint and the output was not adjustable.

Fast forward 30 years and I bought a pancake compressor.  Yes it is loud when it fills, but I can paint a really long time before the compressor kicks on again.

My badger came with a hose that had the 1/8" fitting on either end.  Whether the female end is NPT or BSP, I have no idea, but I found a fitting at Harbor Freight that fits.

My regulator/water trap died, leaks somewhere internally, after very little use.  I just use the regulator on the compressor and in humid Maryland, I do not have problems with water mixing into the airbrush

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • 1,037 posts
Posted by dragonriversteel on Monday, September 3, 2018 9:05 AM

After going to Lowe's,Home Depot,Ace Hardware and Harbour Freight. I found darn near all the parts. Also figured out I could have bought an airbrush compressor & had less hassle.

None of the first three stores carried air regulator/filters . Nor could I find anybody with knowledge of pipe fittings at Lowe's or Home Depot. 

I have one more fitting at my local hobby shop. That's the hardest one to find. The 1/8" down to 0.5 Badger fitting.

Investing in my own Badger airbrush soon. Should have gotten on the airbrush boat years ago... Duh.

Thank you all for your help.

Patrick

 

Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb

Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.

Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, September 1, 2018 12:18 PM

peahrens
I recently went from my vary noisy pancake compressor to a much quieter small compressor. Not as quiet as the typical airbrush compressor but I went this direction as it seemed pretty robustly engineered. Quiet enough.

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I recently bought a very similar compressor and I love it!

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Saturday, September 1, 2018 12:11 PM

I don't worry about how much noise my compressor makes, as my paint shop is in the garage, about 100' behind the house. 
The compressor, a rotary screw-type, runs continuously when I'm painting, as this type of compressor uses no air storage tank.
The only drawback of doing airbrushing in the garage is winter weather, where I have to either pre-heat the paintshop to get the compressor oil warm enough that the 3/4HP motor can run it, or lug the 85lb. compressor from the basement to the garage, then back again when painting is done.

Wayne

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • 2,616 posts
Posted by peahrens on Saturday, September 1, 2018 9:45 AM

Even if you already headed to the store, some comments:

It is usually good to have a quick disconnect as typically you may want to remove the airbrush to clean it without venting the system.  Note there are different TYPES, like "industrial" vs. "automotive".  Mine are industrial.  Note the shape differences.  You can find much of what you need at Harbor Freight.

https://www.portlandcompressor.com/compressor/couplers-and-fittings.aspx

I recently went from my very noisy pancake compressor to a much quieter small compressor.  Not as quiet as the typical airbrush compressor but I went this direction as it seemed pretty robustly engineered.  Quiet enough for me.  I measure (w/phone app) several dB above my airbrush booth fan, but the fan "sounds" noisier as the compressor sound seems to be lower frequency so less distracting.

Pics of my setup:

 Airbrush Setup 1 (2) by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr

 Airbrush Setup 2 (2) by Paul Ahrens, on Flickr

EDIT:  I included a filter / regulator in my setup but have not had to drain water from it.  I'm in central TX, not usually that humid.  

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=airbrush+filter+regulator&_sacat=220

 

Paul

Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent

  • Member since
    May 2005
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Posted by dragonriversteel on Saturday, September 1, 2018 7:17 AM

Thank you all for your help ! 

Going today to hunt down the fittings at my local hardware stores. 

Kinda excited about learning to airbrush.  I've got an old yellow box Atlas/Kato RSD-4/5 on the bench. She's tore down to her birthday suit. Giving her a two tone SIR paint job.

Not to mention a few hundred freight cars in need of weathering . 

Once again thank you all.

Patrick

Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb

Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.

Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, August 31, 2018 10:51 PM

Here is what I did. The hose to the compressor ataches to the nipple in the rear. I have a gauge that shows tank/supply pressure, and another gauge that shows the pressure after the regulator.

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The hose to the airbrush plugs into the quick disconnect in the front.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,367 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Friday, August 31, 2018 10:17 PM

I'm a Paasche man myself. All of my airbrush hoses came with a swivel end which threads on to a standard 1/4" NPT male thread. I use an ARO style quick disconnect with 1/4" MPT.

Badger hoses say that they also use 1/4" NPT fittings or adapters:

 

http://www.badgerairbrush.com/acessories_4.asp

 

  IMG_2521 by Edmund, on Flickr

 Airline_jct2 by Edmund, on Flickr

Hope that helps, Ed

  • Member since
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  • From: 4610 Metre's North of the Fortyninth on the left coast of Canada
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Posted by BATMAN on Friday, August 31, 2018 10:17 PM

I have a great big honkin 200psi compressor in the garage. I just plug my airbrush into the end of the regular hose so I must have an adaptor of some sort. The most important thing is to remember to turn the pressure down so you don't blow your hose to bits. I usually paint at 30 psi.

I remember painting my track I had an air hose running through the house to the trainroom. I usually paint in the garage.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, August 31, 2018 9:46 PM

Any decent hardware store should be able to provide the fittings to get down to the needed size, with less parts.

My compressor already had some of the hardware (the moisture/oil trap and pressure regulator), but my airbrush hose screws right on to that brass fitting at lower right...

Wayne

 

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, August 31, 2018 9:27 PM

If you have a Parker Store in your area, just take what you have there, and they can hook you up better than anyone.

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Brass pipe fittings at Big Bix stores are crazy expensive, and the selection is so poor that you might need to buy more pieces to do what you need.

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-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    May 2005
  • 1,037 posts
Home compressor to airbrush fittings ?
Posted by dragonriversteel on Friday, August 31, 2018 9:15 PM

Hi all,

 

 My Son bought a Badger airbrush for painting his model aircraft. I invited him into my workshop and gave him space to work.

He's been using Badgers can of air as propellent. These are costly & a pain.

Through research. Home Depot seems to be the place for air fittings.

What fittings would one need to convert home compressor to airbrush ? 

My compressor is a Craftsman 3 gallon 3/8" fittings to start. So I figure a piece of threaded 3/8" 4" brass pipe. Then 3/8" Air filter , one 3/8" male double nub, 3/8" female to 1/4" and finally 1/8" .

Does this sound right ?

Patrick

 

Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb

Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.

Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.

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