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Airbrush decorated poplar

Gary Beasley

Gary Beasley

Joined
Sep 12, 2017
Messages
930
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1,283
Location
Marietta, Georgia
I wanted to try out my airbrush with my new set of colors we got after watching Nick Agars demo, and I had a rather plain looking poplar bowl on the lathe so I could kill two birds with one airbrush. I found out how messy the little Badger can be when changing colors. I finally figured out spraying while unplugging the bottle kept most of the dye from dripping out on my hand. I cut friskets from images of leaves I picked up from the yard, sweetgum, poplar and red oak. The outside I finished with poly, the inside was danish oil, the rim was pyro burned to darken it.
 

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Nicely done piece Gary! Airbrush work can produce amazing affects once the process is understood and mastered.
 
Very Nice Gary. I'm still learning and have a long way to go but it sure is fun. Here is my latest Galaxy mirror. I'm doing a demo in Knoxville on the 20th and I am going to start playing to day to figure out a way to make the demo run more smoothly. I don't have it down to a science like Nick Agar. I have to realize that you can't show them everything that is possible. You have to tease them with what can be done but pick a project that everyone can go. Quite challenging.
 

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I have the set up and two airbrushes, still lacking the confidence to give it a go. Watched a very few you tube videos. I have about 100 turned Christmas ornaments to paint. Hoping to work up to trying it this weekend. On some trial pieces of course
 
Perry Hilbert said:
I have the set up and two airbrushes, still lacking the confidence to give it a go. Watched a very few you tube videos. I have about 100 turned Christmas ornaments to paint. Hoping to work up to trying it this weekend. On some trial pieces of course
Click to expand...
Easiest to do is get some scraps to practice on to get a feel for how the medium acts, dont mess with an actual project until youve made a complete mess of the scraps. It takes a bit of getting used to to properly control the airbrush.
 
Perry Hilbert said:
I have the set up and two airbrushes, still lacking the confidence to give it a go. Watched a very few you tube videos. I have about 100 turned Christmas ornaments to paint. Hoping to work up to trying it this weekend. On some trial pieces of course
Click to expand...

I agree with Gary practice on paper or scraps of wood. A. Big cardboard box can be a practice canvas too.

Draw lines, make dots, make dagers(a wide to narrrow point line about an inch long)
Play a tic tac toe game.
Practice build skills and confidence.
 
Buy good quality paints and dyed. For just general work a lot of the paints work. I was just using water based paints and water as my thinner. When I started trying to do more serious work I just couldn't seem to get a good consistent spray pattern. Then I switched to Golden paints and got a good quality thinner instead of using water. Made a huge difference. Same thing with the cleaner. You can find home brew concoctions on YouTube but a good commercial.brand works better and cleaning your air brush after use is extremely important.
 
FWIW, compressor is made in China (who would have guessed?) and the instructions are hard to decipher. Wife has the same problem with some kind of pictures that use tiny colored dots, sort of like Painting By Numbers.
Looking to fire up the compressor and air brush this weekend. Old dog and new tricks!
Edit: I have a roll of tan paper that is miles long and 48 inches wide. Lots of practice there. Thanks.
 
John I'm doing a demo for the Smokie mountain woodturners on using the Airbrush November 20th. They meet at the Woodcraft store. If you want to drive up we can have dinner somewhere.
 
Not much to know for the air pressure. Instructions on the airbrush recommend about 30 psi. If the pump has a regulator start there and experiment. Most airbrushes have kits to change needles and tips for different viscosity mediums and flow rates. I got a super fine tip for my Badger that seems just right for the wood dye Im using.
 
John, will look at the calendar and let you know ASAP. That's Knoxville? Thanks.
Edit: Found it- Woodcraft, Knoxville.
 
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