I finally broke down and bought a cheap [really cheap, 8 bucks] air brush. I am now looking into getting a very quiet compressor if one exists.
It only needs to be between 15 and 35 PSI.
I know nothing about this so all help is appreciated.
Thanks for all your help ahead of time. 
Go to Home Depot and get yourself a compressor with a two-gallon tank (mine’s a Delta but there are a few makes). Make sure the output pressure is adjustable and that the system doesn’t need oil. It’ll cost you 80 bucks, plus or minus and you’ll find a host of other uses for it as well. They’re a little noisy while the tank is filling, but completely silent after that.
Happy spraying.
Chris
The compressor I use is a 2 gallon Campbell-Hausfeld that I bought at Wal-mart some years ago. It wasn’t cheap, about $100. It’s quiet as compressors go, little louder than my 10,000 btu window AC unit. It has a built-in moisture trap and a regulator. I have it set for 28 pounds for my Aztec airbrush. I have no complaints about it.
If you want the ultimate in quiet, get a CO2 cylinder. I bought a 15lb. cylinder with a pressure regulator for $180 a few years ago, and it’s been great. Obviously this depends on how much you airbrush, but a fill of the cylinder (costs about $15-17) lasts me generally a year. You can get a larger cylinder (the biggest one I could find locally was 20lb.), or smaller (2-5lb.).
It’s totally silent, inherently dry, lets me airbrush late at night (when I’m most productive) without disrupting family members or neighbors.
I’ve got a 1 gallon Campbell Hausefield and it’s loud as crap. ($50) Get at least 2 gallons and a regulator.(that’s a must) If you’ve ever heard of a store called FREDS, they have a 3 gallon with regulator for $65. Wish I would have got that.
I bought a Sil-Air 15/D a year ago. It costed me around $600. It’s VERY quiet (like a refrigerator) and I love it. I can use it day or night without disturbing anyone.
You could also purchase an empty propane tank and regulator and fill it at the closest gas station. Thatll give you enough air for a few projects and, of course, it will be completely silent.
I personally have a CH compressor with a 2 gallon.
David B
All great comments thus far and your decision hopefully has become easier.
Three additional thoughts from the CCRY Paintshop:
1)) The small compressors, sold for airbrushes are costly for what you get and are useless for anything but running the airbrush. The larger compressors already mentioned are by far, worth the investment and don’t cost that much more.
2)) There may be an additional cost, on and above the refilling, involved with the compressed gas cylinders. At least here in MN, we have to pay a fee to have them inspected and pressure tested, I think every three or five years. The last time I had this done (OK I’ll fess up, it’s for my beer taper…Not my airbrushes) it was an extra $25.
3)) If you do decide to use an air tank (one of those “travel tanks” from the Farm & Fleet) recycle a tank, be it propane, refrigerant or what ever, and fill it at the local garage, two things come to mind:
Install a gauge on it to be sure to NEVER fill it beyond it’s working capacity and because of the un-known quality of the air (moisture, oil, ?) that you’re putting into the tank, also install a trap and filter. The trap and filter is a smart way to go with any source, but a real must in this case.
It’s the same here in Louisiana with propane cylinders. They’re inspected at set intervals and it can be costly if it’s a big tank. The problem I have with using an air tank by itself is that as the pressure in the tank drops, the performance of the airbrush drops off. That’s really not much better than using a propellant can. I’ll use a compressor any day. I don’t have to worry about dropping pressure from cans or stand alone tanks and I don’t need to worry about propellant fumes. And since I use acrylic paints with water as thinner, there’s no fumes there.
Wow guys, thanks a lot. A lot of ideas to consider.
I have been hearing a number of good things about the Co2 thing and will look into the price.
However, if the bottle [tank] is the same cost as a compressor then after adding the cost of refills it might be better to get a compressor.
I will NOT be paying 600 dollars for a compressor. But thanks a lot just the same for the link and info on that one.
As I am just starting out in this airbrushing, if it becomes too much more expensive i will just scrap it.
All the same, thanks a ton for your ideas guys. It has helped out a lot.
A Campbell-Hausfeld 2 gallon Quiet Air compressor with built-in regulator is currently priced at $40 here at a Sutherland’s Home Improvement Warehouse.
Yeah, I don’t think people choose CO2 cylinders for cost savings over compressors. The key factor for most people seems to be the totally silent operation (it was, for me). The place that refills the cylinder is 3 minutes away from my work, which is a bonus, too.
Others have run long hose from their compressor with larger capacity reservoir tank in the garage, to their hobby room, so that even when the compressor goes on in the garage when the air pressure in the reservoir tank falls below certain PSI, they still don’t hear it. This obviously wouldn’t work for those without garages or living in apartments/condos.
The regulator I bought for my CO2 cylinder (which was the bulk of the cost of the whole setup) doesn’t really tell me how much CO2 is left in the cylinder. Like I said before, the first fill of the cylinder lasted me about a year of fairly active model building of 1/35 armor and 1/72 aircraft kits. I suppose you can weigh the empty cylinder, then weigh the filled one periodically, to see when you’re approaching the empty point. Or perhaps there are better (translation: more expensive) regulators out there that will tell you how much CO2 is left in the cylinder–I just don’t know.
I have the Cambell-Housefeld 2-gallon, (75$ at wahlmart 2 years ago), I put it in the garage, attached a hose and extention cord to and ran them to the basement shop, I bought an extra regulator w/guage (mounted at the paint booth) and plugged the extention cord into a switchable power strip so I never have to leave the workshop.
The coleman brand air compressors (including the with a 2 gallon tank) were on clearance at Hobby Lobby. Check them out where they keep air brush supplies. I bought one for about $40 (list was $150 or so). It is not real quiet, but it is much more quiet than my other two compressors. It has both input and output pressure regulating valves. It shuts off automatically when the set pressure in the tank is reached.
Also if you get one that is too noisy, just get a longer hose and put the compressor in a closet, another room, or in the garage.
I also put mine on a 1" thick rubber mat on the floor , prevents vibration noise through the floor.
Those gas cylinders need to be SECURE. If you ever have one tip over and it’s valve brakes off… it is going to become a rocket and anything or anyone in the way (Including cement block walls) will be destructed and it will take minutes for it to exhaust. I cannot emphasize the destructive potential of these cylinders enough.
Im looking at a compressor with a 6 gallon tank. It will run for a while, fill and I should spray all day on it. As a bonus I can run air tools with it for heavy work.
Thanks a lot guys. I did not know they came so cheap. In the other forums they are talking about 385 and up compressors.
But 40 bucks I could swing if they have those here in Canada as well.
Thanks for all your help and advice. Hopefully this will also help someone else thinking of starting this as well.
Thanks guys
Eee gags! I would never pay that much for one. I’ve got 4 compressors. I got two of them used for $20. I don’t remember what I paid for the other one, but it was definitely under $100.
If Hobby Lobby doesn’t have them anymore search the internet for Coleman VP201.
wow way cool, I will look into it thanks 
