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OLD MATERIALS: COMPRESSOR, BRAIDED AIR HOSE
NEW MATERIALS: AIRFLOW REGULATOR, PIPE FITTINGS
TOOLS NEEDED: ADJUSTABLE WRENCH, TEFLON TAPE, HEX KEY
DESCRIPTION: If you've ever tried airbrushing
water-based acrylic paint with an unregulated airbrush, you know how difficult
it can be to work continuously without having the paint clog your tip. The
solution is to either water the paint down so it doesn't dry right away, or
decrease your air pressure to 15-20 psi so the airflow doesn't dry the paint as
it leaves the airbrush. The former often results in runny paint jobs,
while the second, while more precise, requires a pressure regulator.
Unfortunately, dedicated air compressor regulators from the name-brand airbrush
manufacturers are not cheap and retail in the $40 (for a simple pressure
regulator) to $90 (for a complete regulator, pressure gauge, and moisture trap
assembly). But there is an economical solution. Buying my own
pressure regulator (with a pressure gauge) and the fittings necessary to adapt
it to my 14-year old compressor cost me under $25 ($20 for the regulator/gauge,
$2.50 for the fittings) at my local Lowe's. You ought to be able to find
the regulator in the air-tools section of the power tools department and the
pipe fittings in plumbing at Lowe's or a similar home improvement store, like
Home Depot.
1. Here they are, my (14-year) old air brush
compressor with a 1/4" threaded male output connector, and my old braided
air hose with a 1/4" compression fitting on one end and a 1/8"
compression fitting that connects to the airbrush on the other.
2. Basically, I want to install the pressure
regulator between the compressor and the braided air hose. To do this, I
take note of the size of the compressor output connector, the sizes of the new
regulator's ports, and the size of my braided air hose. Here are the new
pieces I will need. From left to right: a pressure gauge, the appropriate
fittings (pictured is a 1/4" male-male tube extender, and a 1/4"
female-female connector), the regulator, and Teflon tape to cover the threads
and seal all the connections. Your fittings might differ, depending on the
size of your ports and connectors. Even if your compressor uses a
different size output connector or you buy a regulator with different sized
ports, you can pretty much find the fittings you need, including step-downs and
step-ups, in a plumbing parts store. Most compressors and all regulators
use standardized size connectors and ports, so just note the sizes of all the
parts and buy the appropriate fittings to connect each to the next in the
assembly. It just so happens that the pieces I need are all
1/4". My particular regulator has 4 female ports, 2 (the airflow
ports), are 1/4", while the other 2 flanking those are 1/8" and will
accept headless screws to close off the unit (included), or in the kit I bought,
1 headless screw and a pressure gauge (included).
3. First, take note of the air flow on the
regulator. Make sure you mount the regulator in the proper
direction. Right away, I need to extend the 1/4" male output
connector on the compressor, because the compressor body will get in the way if
I try to screw the regulator directly in. I wrap the threaded male
connector with Teflon tape before installing the extender fitting (a 1/4"
female-female connector and a 1/4" male-male tube). Remember, as with
all screws, the "righty, tighty, lefty, loosey" rule applies. In
other words, to tighten a screw, turn it clockwise (to the right). I
hand-tightened the extender fitting, then used an adjustable wrench to tighten
another half-turn.
4. Again, as with all the connectors, I wrapped the
threads on the male end with Teflon tape and hand-screwed in the next piece in
the assembly, the regulator. Before I screwed in the regulator, I
installed the headless screw in one of the lateral 1/8" ports (with a hex
key). Then I screwed in the pressure gauge.
5. Finally, after more Teflon tape, I
installed another 1/4" male-male connector in the output port of the
regulator. I also first hand-tightened, then made a half-turn with a
wrench. At the end of this, I simply screwed in the 1/4" compression
fitting of the braided air hose. That's it!
6. The pressure is regulated with the screw
on the top of the regulator. Again, it's "righty, tighty, lefty,
loosey." To maximize the pressure by sealing off the unit entirely,
screw to the right.
7. Here are a couple of pictures of the
regulator in action. I've adjusted the pressure to 20 psi (good for
airbrushing acrylic or enamel). The gauge shows this when the airbrush is
not active (LEFT). But when I depress the trigger for the airbrush, the
pressure dips to 15 psi as the air escapes through the brush tip (RIGHT).
That's still enough pressure to deliver the paint effectively. Hey, it
works!
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