Hell all - anyone using scuba equipment with airbrush?

[Dorian]

Hello all, complete noob here from the UK - but I have spent many hours reading the site so far and finding it all very interesting and inspiring! Along with the couple of AB books I have...

I am patiently waiting for my first AB - I have ordered an HP-C Plus. Postal strikes in the UK are a pain at the moment, I haven't even had a letter (bill!)in nearly two weeks ...can't wait to get working with it. Just planning on doing some illustration work, probably on canvas - after weeks of practicing on paper no doubt, I am going to use calligraphy ink initially as it was available and cheap, until I get the hang of things at least. I may want to get into spraying automotive paints at some point, but not yet (I have an old Honda CB750 Custom and an old car that I may do some work on next year).

I have read all the advice on not scrimping when it comes to equipment, but cannot run a full size compressor where I am - I tried out a 1.5HP compressor with attached 6 Litre tank, but just couldn't work with it - it was too noisy. Building my own is not really an option - refrigerators here are tiny in comparison to US, so I don't think I would find a large enough unit for a good price......

But, I used to work as a diving instrtuctor and I do have a 10 Litre scuba tank and an old regulator (first stage) with two high pressure ports and three low pressure ports and wondered if I could use that?

I was thinking of leaving an old diving gauge on the HP hose to monitor pressure in the tank and using one of the low pressure hoses which is quite short to a pressure control valve / moisture trap...from there I will run a coiled 25ft air hose to a second control valve / moisture trap - then to my airbrush. Will this work - how many hours use would I get?

Since I can get my tank filled up to 200 bar - 3000 psi at a dive centre (moisture filtered) - I figured this would last a long while since this would be just a hobby....The first stage reduces pressure down to about 130psi and I don't think flow rate would be a problem - most delivered around 1500 litres per min.

Anyone else doing this and if so, any problems???

I'm not too worried about pressure drop since it is a decent first stage regulator, I guess there is a risk of it blowing and exploding my airbrush, but in my experience (over 2000 dives) first stages very very very rarely fail (if looked after)....

Whew! Sorry for the long post all
Thanks, Dorian.

[Dorian]

Didn't mean to say "Hell all" in the subject of course...lol

fixed hello

welcome to abt hope you find it helpful

[Snuff]

Hello Dorian,
Welcome to the Jungle.LOL
Dont count on that scuba tank lasting more than 1 hour MAX.
I used to dive and teach an most tanks are 80 cu. ft. and the average breath is about 1.5 to 2 liters. Your ab can eat up more air than that.
Refills will get expensive. if you can get even a small frige compressor use it to get the tank pressure up to around 60psi or better. You may have to wait for the pressure to recover under heavy use, but its better than having to wait to have the scuba refilled.
Just my 2cents.

[Dorian]

Thanks Don!

Thanks for the advice and quick response Snuff - agreed that is not sensible, so back to the drawing board for me then!

Actually went back and tried to calculate things as well - funny how often after posting you go on to figure out how to work out the answer yourself! Conversion works out to be 10l = 0.353146 cubic feet, so even filled to 200bar, that gives me around 70 cubic feet, so a flow rate of 1cfm gives me only 70mins (assuming I empty the tank completely)...agreed not too practical!

Even if the brush does use the actual .5 cfm at 30psi quoted on Iwata website...still not too practical (but over time, I've come not to rely on manufacturers quoted figures too much - for any product!).

Just looking into alternatives at the moment - spoke to my local council "recycling" centre this afternoon......asked whether they dismantle the fridges they collect for recycling, but they said that they just ship them out. He did say however, that they sell complete fridges all at £5 and said "what you do with it once it leaves here is up to you". Will do some more reading about building it first and the risks with dismantling, but it looks like that's the way to go.

Short term, I am borrowing a cheap little mini compressor with a 2L tank that I bought for my sister-in-law to do nails with.....but this isn't a long term option.

Thanks again for the advice!

[Kaiilla]

Welcome to the board.
You'll find the calligraphy ink will dry real fast.
I've tried Dr Phil Martins and had difficulty with it. But I live in dry desert Arizona.

[AirTodd]

Welcome to the board.

[Diaz Dezine]

Welcome to the forum dorian, you just got some great info from some very talented people.
Hope to see some of your work soon!
DIAZ

[Zackary]

Hello and welcome aboard!

[Joyce]

Hi Dorian, Welcome from Illinois. The idea may not have worked because of only getting an hours worth of use, but it was an ingenious idea.

[Bahamut]

oops I didn't read completly before posting sry

[Dorian]

Well thank you all for the welcome and the advice - all much appreciated.

I've not been online for a while but some good news - my AB finally arrived this morning

So I'm off to practice doing lots of dots, lines, etc for the next few weeks no doubt. Will hope to post a pic in a month or two!

Thanks again for the advice.

Dorian.

[Kaiilla]

Don't need to wait,
Heck post them little dots! and maybe a couple of lines.

[Satch]

Hi Dorian... Nice to meet you.... Welcome to the forum.

Satch
from Maryland, USA near the Chesapeake Bay