Airbrush Compressor
It’s important for a beginning airbrush artist to understand that it isn’t necessary to buy the most expensive, most powerful airbrush compressor to be a successful artist. In some cases, the simple, inexpensive compressor available at one of your local stores will work just fine.
There may be a time when you have to upgrade to airbrush equipment that is top-of-the-line. When you do you will need to take plenty of time to match your airbrush compressor with the remaining pieces of equipment. In addition, you should make sure that the airbrush compressor you choose is correct for the type of work you will be producing.
An airbrush compressor is designed to produce a constant, reliable flow of air for your airbrush gun. This supply must be at the right pressure (in pounds per square inch or psi). The other guideline you might use would be cubic feet per minute or cfm. *Tip: Buy a airbrush compressor that is just slightly larger than what you will need on a regular basis. That way you won’t be running this crucial piece of equipment at full speed all the time.
So, you should choose your airbrush compressor based on the kind of work you will be producing. A smaller compressor might be fine for makeup artists, photo retouching and other detail work but the cheaper, small compressors tend to be noisy. Try to find a happy medium between size and quality without going beyond your budget.
Take a little time to find out if you can afford the oil-less airbrush compressor. Some artist’s settings don’t do well with dripping or spraying oil to contend with. An oil-less airbrush compressor will cost more so you might go with one that uses oil but has sufficient filtering to prevent problems.
Two other elements to be concerned with when buying an airbrush compressor are: water vapor and regulators. Learn the details about how water vapor can be a problem with compressors. Know all you can about regulating air pressure on your compressor.
There are a number of airbrush compressor manufacturers, a few of which specialize in equipment for airbrush artists. Of course you can always go with a suitable compressor from one of the well-known suppliers in the hardware and mechanic industry. Some of these companies produce heavy-duty compressors that will last a long time, however they can be large and expensive.
