Question for the paint pros!!!

I've been messing around with airbrushes lately.
My question is can I put mineral spirits or paint thinner
in the bowl or jar of the air brush and shoot it through.
Or do I have to tear down the air brushes every time
to clean out with brushes. The pratice paint I have been
useing is water based. It's not thick like the heavier
automotive paints are. I have been putting hot water
in the bowls and spaying it through.
Seems to be working alright, no problems yet anyway.
Just wondering if I should use the thinner to evaperate
clean. Thanks Kurt

there tricky.. really should tear them down each time and clean them with thinner

Thanks Matt;
I got 6 of them with a stand, that way I don't have to take alot of time switching from color to color. Been practicing on my old Ranchero hood trying differant things out.
Next is old school flames, though everything has been comming out real good I just like
the old school flames. I'll be putting those on my 70 ford pick up before I sell it.
I figure it will bring in mo money then. Kurt

I can't help much, as I don't use water base, or know how to clean up after it.

For urethanes, I run lacquer thinner through normally.... will sometimes set the spray end in a shallow amount of thinner, if it is building up.... and occasionally pull it apart to see if there is any accumulation inside.

Thanks HOTRODPAINT;
I will be stepping up to that in the future.
It's alot cheaper to pratice with this water base stuff.
Have you ever used inner clear coat so you can tape
off other parts as to not get over spray on it.
And if so were would you buy it?
I hear the guys on airbrushing video's talking about shooting
the inner on stuff before tapping stuff off to shoot another part.
I talked to Finish Masters who is a auto paint supplier down here in Florida
and they didn't know what I was talking about, do you?
Thanks Kurt

I buy my intercoat clear from either House Of Kolor (SG-100), or from X-otic Colours (34-200). They are interchangeable.

It is a nice protective coat, which is simply basecoat resin without any pigment or color.

It will protect metallics from getting disturbed.... or solid colors, which can also be disturbed and have differences in color show up later.

Another use is to shoot a basecoated surface, before topcoating, if you have waited too long. The basecoat will stick and freshen the surface, so the topcoat can get max adhesion.

Thanks HOTRODPAINT.
Kurt

I forgot to ask you something HOTRODPAINT.
I am Planning on using base coat clear coat.
If I use the innercoat and tape it off then when
I pull the tape off if there is anything there from
the tape,what do I use to clean it off.
I other words no degreaser type wipe down chem
Right? Also what type of degreaser wipe down do you
reccomend for wipe down before painting starts?
Basically I need to read a good book that explanes
some stuff to me.
I am gonna be using dura - glass filler for dings
then a good primmer scratchfiller/sealer.
Now this I don't know what kind of paint is base coat
clear coat, a urethane? And when you buy a base coat
clear coat do they come with a reducer or a hardner
and are those the same thing? Now I hear of guys
sanding the clear coats down should I do this for a
nicer look? Is there a book that can explane these
things to me. and what exactly to use for the best
looking job. I don't want a cheap clear that's going
to peel after a year. Thanks for the help. Kurt

You do NOT want to clean a water based paint with Lacquer thinner it will turn it to jello !!!! ( and have a bigger mess down the road )
If you dont have the proper water cleaning solvent to clean with you can use an aerosol window cleaner in a bind , or use warm water from the tap , plus make sure everything is stainless steel as water borne will pit the crap out of aluminum !
I recommend tearing it down after every use as water based paints seem to cling to the needle & fluid nozzle more then solvent based paints .
I have been spraying Aquabase Plus for a year now and my dedicated Iwata base gun looks like its 5 years old and is only 1 year old and my 4 Iwata solvent clear & sealer guns that are 4-5 years old look new !!

Water borne seems to be a bit more caustic IMO as the Air caps on these guns are aluminum and the inside water borne air cap is very pitted and it gets tore down after every spray and is used 3-6 times a day !!

So for what its worth ;)

SprayTech

(QUOTE) Also what type of degreaser wipe down do you
reccomend for wipe down before painting starts?
Basically I need to read a good book that explanes
some stuff to me.
I am gonna be using dura - glass filler for dings
then a good primmer scratchfiller/sealer.
Now this I don't know what kind of paint is base coat
clear coat, a urethane? And when you buy a base coat
clear coat do they come with a reducer or a hardner
and are those the same thing? Now I hear of guys
sanding the clear coats down should I do this for a
nicer look? Is there a book that can explane these
things to me. and what exactly to use for the best
looking job. I don't want a cheap clear that's going
to peel after a year. Thanks for the help. Kurt[/QUOTE]

I just use a general purpose wax and grease remover before paint, and it can also be used on 2-part primer. Once you start into color coats, as Spraytech said, an alcohol base is the way to go. I use a towel wipe that comes prepackaged, so you just pull one out and go to work.

Basecoat / clearcoat is urethane.

There are two or three theories about when to sand. After the primer is blocked out, I personally only sand if there is a problem. Otherwise I save it all for the final cut and buff stage.

Some guys will sand between colors, or interim clearcoats, then topcoat, sand, recoat, sand, then finally buff and polish.

Reducers and hardeners are not the same, and are usually purchased seperately. Some paint systems will give you different choices of each, to adjust for shop temperatures. The hardeners usually come from the same paint company, but there are also reducers made to work in most paint systems on the market, and don't necessarily have to come from the same company as the paint.

The adhesion of the clear doesn't change with price. Adhesion comes from using the right techniques, adjusting those for your situation, and timing between coats. What will happen with a cheap clear is that in a few months, to a couple years, the gloss will die.

Thanks for all the good advice and tips HOTRODPAINT and SprayTec.
I wash the air brushes out with wot water a couple days ago and they came out spotless. I tried to wash them out with thinner yesterday and not so good.
But now we know,nothing like a little trial and error. Jello explains it very well.
I did spray it thru though and they seem to be working good.
From now on it will be hot water for the water base stuff.
I did 4 shirts for my brother in laws kid and they came out good.
But I can see that I need a better air brush for the real fine work.
There is a big differance from painting on shirt and cars though.
The shirt absorbs any extra paint and on the car body the extra paint tries to run.
But it's all about practice and learning to control the airbrush trigger just right.
Thanks again for all your help. Kurt

dilute ammonia with a little detergent, maybe just a touch of alcohol with very warm water. rinse again with water.

most water base (non latex type) uses a carboxylated resin that is then treated with ammonia to replace the COOH with an NH3 which makes it water soluble. originally it will have ~10% cosolvent like butyl cellosolve (BC) with water but always maintaining the proper pH (basic not acidic)

Thanks tool; I've been filling the paint bottles with hot hot water and spraying it through.
Seems to be working really well, took the airbrushes apart and they were spotless inside.
I am gonna start useing teflon tape to put them back together and prevent any air leaks.
When you have a small air leak it causes the airbrush to spit paint when you first hit the trigger.
Kurt