Help! Quick recommendation - Paasche airbrush

[putnamm]

My birthday is Sunday. Wife and I rarely buy each other gifts, so I was just ignoring it. This morning she brought up my recent struggles with sunbursting (I think I've been having nightmares and talking in my sleep...) and that I had mentioned airbrushes. She wants to buy me one, to which I say... "Sure!"

I did read previous posts quickly this morning and found the model in the attached photo. Would you all recommend this?

Also, I have a Campbell Hausfeld 2 HP, 3.8 CFM Twin Stack Portable Air Compressor. Is that sufficient for use with this airbrush??

Thanks all!

[Marty Jacobson]

That is a perfectly fine airbrush. For sunbursting, though, I think a single-action airbrush is much preferable. In a single action airbrush, it's much less likely to clog and you set the width of the spray pattern once and it's predictable. An airbrush like the one you show lets you make pencil-thin lines if you want, but that's actually a problem for sunbursting until you get there hang of it.

Your compressor is overkill for this, just have a filter on there before the reducer going to the airbrush.

[putnamm]

Ah... Okay. So single-action...

And what about siphon vs. gravity fed? I see both. Is one preferable or better over the other?

[i8dpeach]

When it comes to airbrushes and which one to get I suggest the Badger Patriot 105. This is a dual action gravity fed airbrush. It is a workhorse, priced well and the parts are very easy to order online and receive quickly. I teach a lot of airbrushing and this is the brush I see as the best overall. For a mandolin and spraying sunbursts this will suit you very well.

Airbrushing takes time to master. You will need to get another needle because you will bend the first one by accident. You will want a cleaning kit, cleaning pot and a decent airbrush compressor. Have fun and test it on scrap, a lot!

My .02

[HoGo]

I've never had problem with my dual action airbrushes. I've got old Schneider with very fine nozzle and needle but mostly use sturdier Revell (very similar to the paasche in OP) with medium nozzle (I think 0.5mm) and that works well enough for mandolins and smaller but for anything larger I would order larger nozzle and needle (I believe 0.75mm or so).

[sunburst]

I greatly prefer dual action. Much more control, IMO.
I believe the one shown in the OP is the model that I currently own and use (looks like it, I'm not where I can know my model number right now). It works fine when it is working, but it has a real tendency to sputter. It must be kept meticulously clean, and that means I have to thoroughly disassemble and clean it after each use, and sometimes it will still sputter.
I've recently used an Iwata airbrush that was a real joy to use. It, too, must be kept meticulously clean but seems a little less likely to sputter.

As for siphon vs gravity, gravity feed is more efficient and in some ways better, but I like to keep lots of air brush bottles round with different material in them so that I can quickly change from one material to another (eg. amber dye to brown dye to shellac, with an alcohol rinse in between. That takes 4 bottles.) so I like siphon feed for that reason.

[amowry]

I have an Iwata Eclipse siphon feed that I like, and I would definitely choose siphon feed for the reason John mentioned above.

[i8dpeach]

The siphon feed brush I believe is the culprit of the sputtering hence why I use the gravity fed brush. I keep the colors and shellacs in easy to use glass dropper bottles and just fill the cup as needed as I go. For some reason siphon feed has always given me issues.

One of the important things to note: Start your air (pushing down of the trigger on the dual action) off the object and then bring the brush over to where you want to apply the color and then gradually pull back the trigger (pulls the needle back). This will become second nature. The splatter and sputters usually occur when you start the air. Keeping the airbrush clean is absolutely important and stated above. Also make sure your airbrush system has a water trap or two. I find the airbrush to be an extremely powerful tool once you dive in. It's a little scary at first.

[Dale Ludewig]

I have a Paasche and an Iwata, both dual action. Like them both a lot.
On a slightly different thought, for doing sunbursts, I much prefer using a detail gun. It's kind of a cross between an airbrush and a regular gun. Larger pattern than an airbrush and I think it's much easier to get smooth transitions from one area to another.

[j. condino]

I've owned about seven different airbrushes; the Iwata Eclipse blows the doors of the Paasche or Badger models for quality and sputter free atomization!

[amowry]

I have a Paasche and an Iwata, both dual action. Like them both a lot.
On a slightly different thought, for doing sunbursts, I much prefer using a detail gun. It's kind of a cross between an airbrush and a regular gun. Larger pattern than an airbrush and I think it's much easier to get smooth transitions from one area to another.

Good point, I use a detail gun a lot for sunbursts too, and any time I want uniform color on a whole instrument. The only thing I use an airbrush for is small touchups, like darkening the edges of a sunburst on a mandolin after staining by hand. On any instrument larger than a mando I use the detail gun for that purpose.

[Richard500]

Happy birthday. Gun and compressor ok, with caveats about viscosity and nozzle types. Small airbrushes may demand more thinning than appropriate. They also demand lots of experimentation and cleaning - an entirely new set of frustrations. But don’t look a gift in the nozzle!
If it doesn’t cramp your dexterity, the particle filter and a small regulator or just a valve as close to the gun as possible. No oil filter, but room air is still wet, so a water trap. And route the air line to drain toward the compressor. Plus plenty of scrap boards, preferably prepared the same as the workpiece, and test every time. Splatters and clogs take time to fix.
The $15 gravity ‘detail’ gun is workable for some things, maybe sealers and base coats. My expert automotive restorer friend suggests going with HVLP for fine finishes; something that a few years ago would have been nuts.

[Dale Ludewig]

FWIW, I'm not talking about anything like a $15 gravity 'detail' gun. I have a Sharpe D model. It was probably $150 twenty (at least) years ago. I don't believe it's made anymore, but I'm sure someone is making something similar or even better, and will probably cost $200 or more. As to HVLP, I think the detail gun is the only one I have that isn't HVLP. I switched over many years ago.

[Richard500]

Dale, I mentioned the cheapie (HF, and others) because it was recently mentioned here by a few folks. I picked up one NIB at a tag sale for, I think, $5 or less, but haven’t used it; only made a stand for it and looked it over, and it’s not too crude, small and handy. Of course, no replacement parts, nozzle options. My intended use is automotive interior; dash and trim work, where a big gun can’t go, and an airbrush isn’t enough. For years I used the also very common generic high pressure siphon type that holds maybe half a cup and is only a few bucks more. Unsophisticated, but also workable. In my (non-music instrument shop) the big name brand guns had a hard life with no maintenance, so I have a bushel of carcasses sitting around. For big panels I do use a quart gun, pressure/siphon modes, depending. I wouldn’t call my work very good, but I do like it.

[HoGo]

I've owned about seven different airbrushes; the Iwata Eclipse blows the doors of the Paasche or Badger models for quality and sputter free atomization!

I had to look up the Iwata Eclipse and it looks just like my Revell Master class Airbrush (perhaps they even have interchangeable parts). Never had a complaint about quality and the only time I got some sputter was when the stain was not filtered and had some tiny fibers in it. It's relatively easy to disassemble and clean thoroughly and quite sturdy considering size of parts.

[Dale Ludewig]

Richard500, I wasn't directing my comment to you, just to be clear. It was confirming what you were warning about. We should talk spray guns sometime (privately). My main gun is an Accuspray on a 1 gal pressure pot. You can spray a lot of material.

[putnamm]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I ended up going with the Paasche H. It appeared to be a quality-enough piece of equipment with a history behind it and used by a variety of people for a variety of things. Maybe not the fanciest, but sounded like it's a workhorse. It is single-action, which after some thought I decided was safer for a beginner like me who hasn't used an airbrush before. I got a kit, which included a braided hose, an extra needle, a couple of plastic bottles and a 'color cup.' I also ordered cleaning solution, cleaning brushes and a set of six glass 1 oz. bottles. I thought the glass bottles would hold up better and be easier to clean.

The documentation suggestions pressures between 20 and 30 psi. My CH 3hp compressor is certainly capable of doing much more, but I should be able to dial in those low pressures pretty well.

If this airbrush turns out to work for me and once I get more experience it sounds like there are fancier ones out there that I can aspire to upgrade to one day.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and input. Once I test this out on a sample plate I will share my results.

-Mark