@mreynolds Hello. I was talking with Stephenie Webb earlier today and she brought up the idea of Airbrushing Classes. It peaked my interest and sounded like it would be useful in decorative woodcutting/3D Printing. I was wondering if you were available for a one-on-one class for it in the near future.
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Iāve been trying to get more familiar with the airbrushes to teach a class, but keep running into clogging issues. I canāt tell if itās the paint Iām using or the brushes, but last night I found the wrong nozzle on a couple of them and switched them back.
It would be a 6 person class that only goes over how to field strip and clean an airbrush, cuz Iām no good at actually using one.
Unfortunately 2 of the airbrushes are massively clogged from people not cleaning them so it would have to be a 4 person class.
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This would be a great prerequisite class to using airbrushes. The care of airbrushes has always been a problem.
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I heard from multiple sources that the brushes here are often clogged so I would assume itās the brushes. 
Any amount of people in a class is fine. Iām just looking for a class that teaches the basics and some skills and tips in an in depth manner. Thank you for the help
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It hasnāt been on the calendar since I joined more than a year ago so thatās why I was going to teach a class, but I might need some guidance.
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I personally havenāt seen or used any of the airbrushes but I agree with the idea that members who use tools and machines at the space are also responsible for the well being of those tools and machines. Itās a shame to see that some of the equipment isnāt maintained correctly. The laser cutting team has maintenance days once every month and the result of the meetings is definitely paying off in terms of quality of the equipment. People could learn a thing or two from that.
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I believe @tombakerftw was talking about an airbrush class? Or maybe im remembering wrong lol
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I thought I was ready to put it on the calendar when we were talking about it last night, but I ran into some issues and Iām not sure what went wrong, so back to the drawing board.
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Yes and yes.
So the paint always needs to be thinned to go through any airbrush. We bought cheap airbrushes and paints for classes because we knew they would be, heavily loved. They work if you know the tricks (taught in the class)
I checked up on the airbrushes this weekend and over half of them are dirty and unusable. I know we talked about getting a sonic cleaner in the past for this issue, it would really help (along with training on airbrushes)
How were they wrong, and how did you match needle, nozzle, and nozzle cap?
I will get some classes on the calendar for July
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Hi everybody, im just a noob here but i was an airbrush artist for 13 years. anything I can do to help out? Re:Clogging issues, if you are using acrylic paint, you will spend a fair amount of time clearing clogs, or at least picking boogers off the needle. with other paints, using a paint strainer when pouring your paint helps alot. unfortunately you can only reduce the problem not eliminate it. I would be happy to share my modest knowledge with anyone interested, but so far im only a member here on the forum. I will be coming by the āspaceā asap to see whats up. Hope to meet you all soon!
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Ack did I screw it up?
The airflow was super restricted and almost nothing was coming out, so it seemed to me the only explanation was that there were 0.2mm nozzles on 0.5 needles. Visually it looked like they were swapped as well.
Maybe I should have asked for some help instead of assuming I remembered enough.
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I do appreciate the help mate.
Just added 2 classes for July on the calendar for sundays, 15th and 29th.
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In my experience, airbrush clogs typically come down to improper thinning and too much pressure. Iām not familiar with the brushes CA has, or the paints that have been run through them, but itās probably a good idea at this point to tear them all down and give them a proper cleaning. Ultrasonic baths are nice, but a good brush set and some solvent will take care of things.
What type of brushes are CA using? What kinds of paints are typically used?
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We have brushes, nozzle picks, and plenty of stuff for cleaning them.
Currently we have 6 gravity fed double action airbrush kits from Master, only because they would be well loved.
Typically they work well enough to get a taste for airbrushing so that folks can then be encouraged to purchase their own, better quality airbrushes.
Edit: currently we are only using acrylic āairbrushā paints, though the ones we have are not high quality. Just for learning really.
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Iād love to learn what you know Michael, maybe we can get you teaching soon?
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I got my start on a Master G23 many moons ago. Itās a decent brush, the only real problem is the seal quality.
What brand of acrylic paint are you using? Iāve had nothing but good experience with Tamiyaās line of acrylic paints in both my Master, and my Iwata brush.
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We got a pack of āUS Art Supplyā with the airbrushes.
I personally use Vallejo, but have also just started trying the paints from Reaper.
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Vallejoās airbrush paints are also top-notch. I use their grey primer on almost everything I point the brush at. But I do think the clogging issues are largely down to poor quality paint and insufficient cleaning. Perhaps some classes are in order to better convey these concerns to new painters?
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Yeah, for sure the cheap paints and insufficient (if any) cleaning.
I just added 2 classes for July (15th and 29th) on the calendar. They should appear in a couple days.
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As a stopgap measure, I believe that there is at least one and possibly two sonic cleaners elsewhere at the space (JSM? and Science?).
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