Airbrushing your dyes and finishes. Yes, it works.
I'm sure there are leather veterans who read this and scoff because they have been doing it for years. But for me it was a new idea and a very attractive one for a couple of reasons.
- 1st: I'm an all around artist who has been interested in getting an airbrush for painting on canvas, models, etc. Up till now I never had the justification to purchase the equipment. (I had a hard enough time convincing the missus that I needed all these new leather supplies and this was after our Etsy store was making us money. I couldn't really justify dropping 200-300 bones on airbrush supplies for my personal enjoyment. Remember: I didn't know airbrushing stains onto leather was a thing until four days ago.)
- 2nd: I was having issues with the way I was putting stain on and was looking for a solution. At first I was using old t-shirts. (Not the worst idea in the world, but you end up wasting a lot of stain as the shirts suck up the excess. I was going through almost 4 ounces of stain a week and only fifteen cuffs to show for it.) After talking to the folks at my local Tandy store I started to use plain old paper towels. This solved the waste problem as cheap paper towels only suck up a small fraction. I still wasn't completely satisfied. (I would still stand by paper towels though if you aren't interested in airbrushing or spending the money to get one.)
- 3rd: Time. It was taking me more time than I would like staining these pieces. Since most of what I sell is sold using the same stain I was looking for a way to cut down the time.
Airbrushing looked like it would solve all of that. I did some research and found that it isn't that difficult and if you are smart about it, it can be a great way to go. So the other day I purchased an airbrush and a compressor. After some testing with water to get used to the gun I tried staining some scrap pieces black. It works wonderfully. Since then I have stained a few cuffs and a belt. I can't say enough on how happy I am.
There are few things you need to be aware of before you dive into this:
- It isn't cheap. You can't get a good set up for less than $150 and that is if you know where to look and you have a coupon when you get there.
- I recommend that you get a "starter" airbrush kit that will give you what you need. (This will NOT include an air compressor) It will include almost everything else you need. If you are pinching pennies you could get one for less than $50 dollars, but you will get what you pay for. You may also need to pick up an adapter so you can hook it up to a compressor. You can probably avoid this if you get a nicer Paasch or Badger airbrush. If you have enough you can get an Iwata but that may be overkill. We got a Paasch airbrush kit that had everything we needed. That put us back a little over $100 dollars. It is a "double action" trigger with allows you to control the spray using the trigger. This isn't a necessity if you are just doing leather.
- You also need a compressor. Sears or Home Depot has them and you can pick up one for less than $100 but you probably will need to get adapters to fit the air brush and it will probably be noisy. If you plan to use your brush constantly you may want to look into larger models. There are plenty of airbrush sites that can guide you in that regard. I got a portable compressor just for airbrushing. It goes up to 50 PSI and works great so far. It put me back $190 and it was one of the cheaper ones specifically for airbrushing. You also can get a CO2 tank that will last you a good while but they are about $100 or so a piece and you would need to replace it when it depleted. Not the cheapest option in the long haul. Not to mention this really is only an option if you are working out of your garage or basement.
- Get a mask or respirator and make sure you have good ventilation in the area you are working. You are aerating chemicals and you don't want to be breathing that crap in. I've noticed that some sites don't seem to stress this very much. They mention it, but almost as an afterthought. Unless you have a hood over your work space I would recommend this. Just saying.
- ALWAYS, always, ALWAYS clean your airbrush out before you walk away. It takes only a minute or two and it will save you a lot of money. Just pull the jar out, rinse it off, fill halfway with water, spray that out until it sprays clear, then call it a day.
So that is my run down on airbrushes. I highly recommend them and I'm really happy with how much stuff is turning out. Let me know what you think about them or how you have yours set up. Until next time, Happy Crafting!
There are few things you need to be aware of before you dive into this:
- It isn't cheap. You can't get a good set up for less than $150 and that is if you know where to look and you have a coupon when you get there.
- I recommend that you get a "starter" airbrush kit that will give you what you need. (This will NOT include an air compressor) It will include almost everything else you need. If you are pinching pennies you could get one for less than $50 dollars, but you will get what you pay for. You may also need to pick up an adapter so you can hook it up to a compressor. You can probably avoid this if you get a nicer Paasch or Badger airbrush. If you have enough you can get an Iwata but that may be overkill. We got a Paasch airbrush kit that had everything we needed. That put us back a little over $100 dollars. It is a "double action" trigger with allows you to control the spray using the trigger. This isn't a necessity if you are just doing leather.
- You also need a compressor. Sears or Home Depot has them and you can pick up one for less than $100 but you probably will need to get adapters to fit the air brush and it will probably be noisy. If you plan to use your brush constantly you may want to look into larger models. There are plenty of airbrush sites that can guide you in that regard. I got a portable compressor just for airbrushing. It goes up to 50 PSI and works great so far. It put me back $190 and it was one of the cheaper ones specifically for airbrushing. You also can get a CO2 tank that will last you a good while but they are about $100 or so a piece and you would need to replace it when it depleted. Not the cheapest option in the long haul. Not to mention this really is only an option if you are working out of your garage or basement.
- Get a mask or respirator and make sure you have good ventilation in the area you are working. You are aerating chemicals and you don't want to be breathing that crap in. I've noticed that some sites don't seem to stress this very much. They mention it, but almost as an afterthought. Unless you have a hood over your work space I would recommend this. Just saying.
- ALWAYS, always, ALWAYS clean your airbrush out before you walk away. It takes only a minute or two and it will save you a lot of money. Just pull the jar out, rinse it off, fill halfway with water, spray that out until it sprays clear, then call it a day.
So that is my run down on airbrushes. I highly recommend them and I'm really happy with how much stuff is turning out. Let me know what you think about them or how you have yours set up. Until next time, Happy Crafting!
Thanks so much for this Nate. Just the pearls of wisdom I was waiting for. I have stumbled across an Aircraft Compressor kit at half-price...which, after reading your article, I'm now going to pursue!
ReplyDeleteThanks again...