OK Cermark LMM 6000 highly profitable users, what air brush do you use?

[Michael Kowalczyk]

So I have this project that is winding down marking a 1000 pcs of SS. I started with the spray can and found that it would NO WAY do a 1000 sq inches. Each piece is only about 3/4" tall and 1" wide. So 3 cans later and 300 pcs left to do, I finally bought a 250 grams unit. Thought my touch up sprayer was going to be able to do it but I decided it was too big.

So I ran out to harbor freight, only local place with an airbrush I could get in 15 minutes, and found that you get what you pay for.:( I could spray for a short time and then no product would come out.

I mixed it 3 (NDA) to 1 (cermark) and had it at 35 psi. I need to spray 20 pcs, that are in a jig, at a time. The surface is on a horizontal plane so I made sure the hose would be in the part of the bowl that would have the cermark mixture, when held on an angle. Any Ideas or better procedure?

Thanks in advance and ...

[Dee Gallo]

Michael,

First question is what size tip are you using? I hope it's a #3, because it would handle this job best. I use a #5 but have a lot of experience. Most people try to put down too much paint at a time and don't know how to judge airbrush distance.

Your Cermark should be thinned until it is like milk - I don't use "ratio formulas", I just make it flow correctly. Too thin, it will run (called caterpillars) and too thick it will clog or choke. You should be about 6-10 inches away to get a good round pattern and shoot past the substrate, allowing the mist from the bottom of the pattern to do the painting by floating down. This will allow you to hold the brush somewhat horizontally and not at the correct 90 degree angle.

The drop of Cermark should be liquid when it leaves the brush and dry exactly as it hits the substrate. This is controlled by the cone, not by the air. If you try to make it wet looking, you have too much on there. Several light coats will do a better job for you. Even coats are more important with cermark than thick coats, which are actually a detriment. Several coats are needed to get enough of the stuff on there to mark a good mark.

35 pounds is okay, I would prefer about 40 because Cermark is heavy. Do not open the aperture completely, but DO press the button completely. Pressing it partway will cause spitting. To test, hold the button down completely with the brush aimed at a piece of paper which is vertical about 12" away with the aperture shut completely off. After the button is down, then turn the cone to open the aperture until the paint starts to come out in a nice round light pattern. Shut it down a little as you move closer to the paper, and when you get to 6" you're at the right spot. You should be able to maintain a round, "dry" spot of paint.

Once you have that down pat, move to a flat piece and do it again. Start the flow at the 12" distance off the substrate, move evenly onto and past it, staying the same distance away by moving your hand sideways, don't just turn it or you will get uneven coverage. If you tip too much, you'll spill the Cermark unless you have a covered cup..which you won't if it's a cheapie. If you move too fast, you can also splash it out of the cup because you will most likely fill it too much. :)

Best of luck! dee

[Rodne Gold]

We use a paasche but dont use the bottle , we use the gravity feeder pot. We have a bowl of water nearbye to clear the brush if it clogs. Not sure what needle we use , i will find out when i get to work.

[Mike Null]

I use a Paasche which I bought at a hobby shop for about $15. I use dna and as soon as I finish a job I run dna through the air brush and in a minute it's ready for the next use. I had too much clogging with the HF models.

[Dan Hintz]

I started off using the el-cheapo black one from HF... about $10 on sale? It was a little fiddly on the cone (you had to extend it all of the way out to get a halfway decent flow), but it did the job without too many arguments. I thin mine down about 10:1 and hold about 8-10 inches away. I still have the el-cheapo, but on one trip to HF I purchased the next step up (blue and silver?). I'm leaving my good airbrush for fine painting.

[shawn zumbrum]

http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/images/btns/iwata_eBCS_btn2.jpg (http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/ieclipse.aspx#IWA4200)Michael this what I use and the placee I got it from I have had it now for 2 years and love it. Just buy a good name airbrush it makes all that painting so much fun you will use it for other stuff once you get one

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Thanks everyone for your input and especially to Dee for her detailed tutorial. I will break down and probably get a Paasche Talon kit if they have it in stock. So off on another road trip into Houston. Will let you know how it goes.
Thanks again and ...

[Anthony Scira]

Was there a reason not to use a disposable foam brush for such a small area ?

[Dee Gallo]

The cheaper Paasche single action (VL) brush is best for beginners and heavy liquids like Cermark. A double action seems "better" to newbies but is harder to control and clean for beginners. And they spit more easily too because people tend to pull back all the way and not press down all the way. Gravity fed cups allow clogs to reach the needle, whereas a siphon feed cup or bottle will clog before it reaches the cone to throw up on your job. It only takes a speck to create a clog. If you use a gravity feed cup, you might want to screen your paint to remove chunks. I use a $56 Paasche single action with a small siphon cup for this and it is perfect. Save the expensive brushes for real airbrush work! The heavier liquids will wear the soft white metal very quickly and you will not have a good round dot pattern or seal before you know it, especially those delicate needles and cones.

Anthony: a foam brush will do two things that you don't want. It creates tiny bubbles (uneven coverage) and lays down a layer that is too thick. It will work, though, I've tried it, and for very small things it probably makes sense if you try to get a very small amount on there with one slow swipe. I've used very soft watercolor brushes too, which will work for small areas where you want good control over where it goes.

cheers, dee

[Mike Null]

Doing 1000 pieces with a foam brush is very time consuming. An airbrush will cut the time in less than half.

I use a foam brush when overspray would be a problem.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Thanks you everyone for your input and explanations. So here is what I ended up doing.

I bought a Paasche Talon dual action airbrush. Instead of going through the Internet which would have been 20.00 cheaper I decided to go to a former employee of Texas Art Supply that they referred me to. He has his own shop that he does air brushing, sells air brushes and repairs them.

I ended up spending about 45 minutes there because as soon as I walked in I saw a pinball machine and a Ms Pacman video game. No I did not play them but as a teenager I worked for a vending company so I delivered and worked on them for many years. They were there for restoration. He showed me an Asteroid video game that he was also working on and I gave him a quick summary of my days in the business. So we had something in common well sort of. I showed him the Cermark material and we determined that a gravity fed cup with filtered material would accomplish what I wanted.

So he took his time and should me how to disassemble and clean the airbrush. Shared some technics and most of all how to reassemble when done. There's a little trick to make sure the trigger works.

1st time I used it I had too much pressure @ 35PSI. Had a cloud of atomized cermark.
2nd run lowered to 20 PSI and thinned with DNA a little more and it laid down nice. I am currently doing 2 coats so I don't get the orange peel look. I believe I can easily get 4-5 times as much coverage with the 250 grams than I would with the equivalent cost of 3 spray cans.

Here are a few pics showing how the parts look after we sprayed the coating on it. You will notice a large grey spot on the bottom right hand side. That is the spot that I used the LMN 6000 Spray can, as a test, for the 1st 600-700 parts. Notice the massive over spray. If you look at the other pieces, they were sprayed with the airbrush and very minimal over spray.

Needless to say I am VERY PLEASED with the airbrush. He also requested several cards so he can tell his customers about our laser services. Specifically cutting stencils for them out of Mylar. I already have my first referral and am working on pricing for about 20 stencils to be used for airbrushing of the customer's vector files for face painting. So my Airbrush could be paid for with a few referrals. Talk about a WIN WIN situation.:)

Here is a link showing the Airbrush but not who I bought it from.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/paasche-talon-double-action-airbrush/


Thanks to everyone for sharing. I hope this helps some one else and ...