I've heard the arguments for air compressors vs CO2 tanks, and have decided to go for a CO2 propellant for airbrushing. A friend who is into paintball games gave me a 3.5 oz CO2 tank to convert for the airbrush supply. My question is, does anyone know how long this should last? I think they load them up to 300 PSI, so I would imagine I'd get a fair amount of painting done before it ran out. I saw in the paintball ads that I can get a 20 ounce tank for under $30 bucks. I'd appreciate any comments about the tank size. I already know about the dangers of an odorless, heavier-than-air gas, but the idea of noiseless, condensation-less propellant is attractive to me. Most of my painting would be done in my screen-porch-train-room so I'm not too worried about the dangers.
Ed I seem to remember that your tank has to pass an inspection and be certified before you can get it re-charged with co2 because of the pressure in their supply tanks. If all you are going to put in your tank is 300psi, then just fill it up with air. You will still need the regulator and filter. Another tank, is an out of date fire extinguisher tank made for co2. They wont re-charge it at a fire extinguisher place with co2, but you can fill it with a greater volumn of air than the little paint gun cartridges. I went through all this, then finally just tapped into my big Warner-Haulsfield Compressor, and used a longer hose.
Thanks Watash. I live about a block from a paintball battle ground, so there are three paintball supply stores within walking distance. They don't seem to hold the high standards that welding shops and scuba shops have for filling tanks. Most of the paintball warriors just show up with a bottle and slap five bucks on the table. The store has a home made looking device that connects to a large welding supply tank and recharges the smaller tanks. The 3.5 ounce tanks look like they shoot about 50 of the paintballs on a charge, so I'm thinking they'll paint at least half as many locomotives!
In doing some searching on Google Groups, I've learned that the CO2 tanks are 1200 PSI and a 3.5 ounce tank should shoot 150 balls. Some have suggested using a SCUBA rescue tank, but you have to be a certified diver to get it refilled. For safety, the tanks should be stored horizontal or chained to a post. You can rent a 20 pound bottle of CO2 from a welding shop for about $30 a year. It's 20 pounds of CO2. The bottle weighs about sixty pounds.
Nope not a good idea in my book. At 300 psi those little tanks are a small BOMB! Why do you think they have those small cylinders and scuba tanks tested? I tried inner tubes, small air tanks, air in a can, etc. etc. I am like watash and run the air brush off of a regular air compressor. I use a adjustable pressure regulator, water trap, and inline filter. All the air I need, whenever I need it, and I know I won't run out of air in the middle of a paint job, Sunday evening when everything is closed. I got my compressor in the local BARGAIN MART(sales ad newspaper) for about $200. It might seem to be a little money, but I use it for alot of other things on the layout, not just for the air brush. I have also gotten some regular air tools also. You might be surprised at what you could do with a good air comressor.
I play paintball and those CO2 tanks are very safe. My marker has a 20oz CO2 tank that's about 800psi. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use it for airbrushing. My tank cost $40CDN and it's $8CDN to fill it. If you want to spend more money, look into HPA systems for paintball... they run at either 3000 or 4500 psi in either steel or kevlar tanks. It's just compressed air. Fillable from SCUBA tanks. Although, for that kind of set-up, you might as well buy an airbrush compressor and holding tank. I suggest looking into the CO2. Watash: our tanks must be hydrostatically tested every 2 years and visually inspected before every fill... they're very safe. D6
Just came from WalMart and they have a 9 ounce CO2 can for $29, about $10 les than the local paint ball store!
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by ten87: Just came from WalMart and they have a 9 ounce CO2 can for $29, about $10 les than the local paint ball store!<hr></blockquote> That seems a little high for a 9 oz tank. You might wanna look online. Try Extreme Paintball or County Paintball. I've never order from them cause they're American, but I've heard good things. Extreme has a 20 oz tank for $29! Just remember, they can't ship them filled, so you'll have to get them purged and filled at a local place (just like a new propane tank). Hope this helps. D6
Back before most of you were a gleam in your daddy's eye, there was an article about using an automobile tire to pressure up an "Air-Pencil". It was a new type of extremely tiny spray paint gun, and worked off of any 6.00x16 auto tire. You probably don't remember when tires were that big, but They fit Model "A" Fords, and up til my 140 Jaguar. You were to air up the tire on the rim to the usual 45 psi, then set the little regulator to allow 25 psi for painting. The artical warned that as the pressure in the tire became lowered, the regulator would not be accurate. You could paint one bicycle, or about four flying model airplanes per tire charge. You may pay more for tanks and refills than it is worth, when you can air up a go-kart or garden tractor, truck tire, or even your spare tire, at any filling station for free.
I don't think it was that long ago, Watash. I remember 30 years ago buying a $10 Badger airbrush with an adapter for using an innertube. I would ride my bike down to the gas station to fill up a truck tire innertube to near busting size. It must've looked pretty funny with me riding my Schwin Stingray with a huge innertube hangin off the sissy-bar....
Everyone needs a spare tire Ed, I even had one on the back of my 1933 Chevy hung like that! HA! What we did when we bought a Pasche air brush, was to put 65 pounds in a spare tire,(on the rim), so we would have more volume. I have never gotten it to work, it is still brand new in the box, and we tried it on plain water to see how to set it, no luck. I have tried it in later years even with pure thinner, and it wont spray, wont even drip. It is the one that has the button on top you have to push down and wiggle it back and forth at the same time to get paint to spray, but it doesn't. So that is $24.95 shot. I did pretty good with camel hair brushes though when you could get the good 410M paints. I have a new DeVilbis "touch-up" gun I tried when I was about 16. It did a beautiful job, really glossy coat, but I couldn't find the little engine afterwards! HA! Kidding
