de-canting paint?

[lespaul]

What is the advantage of de-canting spray paint to an airbrush and how is it done?

Thanks

[Duncan B]

The advantages are that you have more control by spraying through your airbrush than with the aerosol and with a pre-mixed colour that might not be available in any other form.

I did post on here some time back how I went about it but I'm happy to go over it again.

When I first tried decanting I used a drinks straw held onto the nozzle of the spray can with blu-tac and decanted into a Tamiya style glass jar with cling-film over the top, I made a small hole in the cling-film and stuck the end of the hose through before spraying into the jar. You'll see that the paint is bubbling in the jar, it's the CO2 propellant gassing off and will take a few hours before this process stops. Just place the lid of the jar over the top to stop dust getting in but don't tightening it down or you'll build up pressure in the jar. I usually leave the jar overnight to degas.

I have now made a nozzle just for decanting by taking the spray nozzle from an empty paint aerosol and epoxy gluing a large diameter straw (like the straws you get from a fast food place) onto it, this has the benefit of being less likely to come flying off or leak during decanting and also because I use a larger diameter straw I don't need to use the clingfilm over the jar as the paint runs out of the straw rather than spraying out of the smaller straw.

Give it a go, it's very simple to do and gives you a whole new range of paints, primers and varnishes to try.

Duncan B

[lespaul]

The advantages are that you have more control by spraying through your airbrush than with the aerosol and with a pre-mixed colour that might not be available in any other form.

I did post on here some time back how I went about it but I'm happy to go over it again.

When I first tried decanting I used a drinks straw held onto the nozzle of the spray can with blu-tac and decanted into a Tamiya style glass jar with cling-film over the top, I made a small hole in the cling-film and stuck the end of the hose through before spraying into the jar. You'll see that the paint is bubbling in the jar, it's the CO2 propellant gassing off and will take a few hours before this process stops. Just place the lid of the jar over the top to stop dust getting in but don't tightening it down or you'll build up pressure in the jar. I usually leave the jar overnight to degas.

I have now made a nozzle just for decanting by taking the spray nozzle from an empty paint aerosol and epoxy gluing a large diameter straw (like the straws you get from a fast food place) onto it, this has the benefit of being less likely to come flying off or leak during decanting and also because I use a larger diameter straw I don't need to use the clingfilm over the jar as the paint runs out of the straw rather than spraying out of the smaller straw.

Give it a go, it's very simple to do and gives you a whole new range of paints, primers and varnishes to try.

Duncan B

thanks for taking the trouble Duncan. Ill give it a try.

Thanks

Terry

[Stuck]

I use exactly the same method as Duncan describes, the only difference is that I tack the straw onto the nozzle with some cheap super glue holding it upright in a vice if possible, as soon as that is set go around the straw with another ring of superglue and sprinkle baking powder on it, this will have the effect of causing the super glue to dry immediately,repeat this 2 or 3 times and you will have a rock hard mound surrounding the nozzle and straw.

[Rob G]

I've never bothered with gluing the straw onto the nozzle. I use the bendy straws ($3.50 for 100), bend them to 90° and spray into the paint cup on my airbrush. Wait until it stops bubbling, then spray. If I let it sit for a few hours here, I'd have solid paint...

The reason I replace the straws is to keep dried paint flakes out of my airbrush, I've found that the paint doesn't stick to the straw, but flakes off as it gets handled, leading to blockages and uglier-than-I'd-otherwise-manage finishes.

As always, experiment to find what works for you and your situation.

[Duncan B]

Now that I use the bigger diameter straws I can get a pipe cleaner up them to clean out the flakes of paint, as Rob says they come away very easily.

Duncan B