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jcb19983

air compressor ???

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I bought a compressor from Meijer's here in Michigan. It is LOUD and I went to Home Depot to get adapters to make it fit the hose. I too have a VL. I'm sure you can get fittings to make it work. I am waiting for my NEW compressor arriving tomorrow and will be painting soon after its' arrival. The noisy one will be delegated to airing up tires after this...:yeah:

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I use a 2 gallon from from Home Depot that I got for $55 around the holidays (they put it on special every x-mas). It works great. It has a quick-release coupler that I've connected to the end of my airbrush hose. Quick and easy.

Here's a clip from an article I wrote that might be helpful:

"For airbrushes to work, they need an air source that is capable of providing between 15 and 50 PSI of air pressure, with most applications being right around 30 PSI. Although some people use an inflated tire or canned air as their air source, the most common source for pressurized air is an "air compressor", which forces air into a pressurized state and then regulates the release of that air. To achieve that pressurized air, most compressors have a reciprocating piston that continuously forces air into a holding tank until the maximum pressure is achieved. The larger that tank, the more pressurized air it can provide before it has to cycle on the piston to re-pressurize the air. (and thus the quieter it is). When shopping for compressors, you'll see them described in terms of tank volume (1 gallon, 2 gallon, etc.). The smallest size (1 gallon or less) will be adequate for airbrushing, as the larger sizes are only needed to power air tools like large nail guns. If your compressor doesn't contain an air valve / pressure regulator, you'll need to get that too. The valve will be used to control the flow of air out of the compressor, and you'll need it to make sure you're not sending more PSI to the airbrush than it can handle (see your airbrush's manual for exact specification on PSI).

In addition to the air compressors that use tanks, you can also buy tankless models. These have the pump and the motor, but do not store the compressed air anywhere before pushing it though the hose to the tool. The compressors sold with airbrushes or by airbrush companies usually fall into this category and typically cost about the same as a small "tanked" air compressor. The downside of these types of compressors is that they must always be running to generate the air pressure needed, and you don't typically have much control over the pressure of the air that they're generating. The upside is that they are smaller, more portable, and don't usually require much maintenance.

At the end of the day, our preference is using a small (<2 gallon) air compressor with a tank. It's relatively quiet when it's not cycling, more energy efficient, more versatile, and easier to regulate air pressure than the tankless versions. That said, if you only airbrush about once a month, you're better off saving your money and just buying cans of compressed air at the local craft store and using those to power your airbrush. If you do all of your painting on your dining room table, the smaller, more portable tankless air compressors might be a better choice for you."

Hope that helps!

- Erik

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