Cooliris GalleriesAirbrush Items on the Cheap!
Always on the lookout for cheaper alternatives to expensive hobby items, here is a list of some items available at Harbor Freight related to airbrushing.
While Harbor Freight does carry airbrushes, their dual action airbrush is not the finest instrument made. I do have one in my collection and it is an OK utility brush, and has served me well teaching others.
They also have a few mini detail guns, and such that are work looking into. I use their mini non-hvlp gun for small job clear coating @ 60psi and it gives mirror smooth finishes with no orange peel.
I've found these useful and use them all myself. Click the Images to link to the Harbor Freight website for detailed information about each product as well. Keep your eyes open when shopping there, they are adding new airbrush items all the time.
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Airbrush Holder - Holds 4 Airbrushes, wide base so it doesn't tip over. Great holder for the price. The base and tree is all metal, the yellow holders are plastic and hold the head of the airbrush. They are convenient for gravity feed brushes, easy to grab and put back. They run about $10 |
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Airbrush Hose - Great braided airbrush hose, 10ft in length. Standard 1/8th female ends on both sides. Comes with a badger adapter to 1/8th. These are a screaming deal at $6! |
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Water Trap - These little mini water traps are very similiar to the Iwata traps at 8x the price. I have one on every line I use. Standard 1/8th inlet and outlet to fit any normal 1/8 hoses. They are not glass, so dropping them when disconnecting your host from the airbrush wont shatter them. These work great, and act like a nice grip as well when your painting. They run $4.
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Cleaning Brushes - I buy a set of these every time I visit the store. They are great for cleaning out all kinds of dried paint from inside your brush. The smallest size gets into the nozzle, and air inlets on bottles perfectly. They come on a keyring so you're not loosing them all over the place. When they start to wear out, toss em, they are only $2!
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8oz Squeeze Bottles - These soft squeeze bottles are great for reducer, cleaners, etc. They are solvent proof, but do "gas" a little when full of urethanes, so be careful what you store the bottles in. They come in a pack of 6 and like I said they are super soft. They sell for $4.
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Razor Blades - You can never have enough fresh blades. We use razors to cut masking etc. The key to nice lines and not pushing through the tape into the artwork when masking is a fresh sharp blade. I treat these like single use blades.Use them for a while till I feel they are getting a little dull and pill out a new one. Pack of 100 for $3
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Nitrile Gloves - Get in the habit of wearing gloves while you paint. The solvents are not good for your skin, and wearing gloves keeps all your skin oils etc from getting on your artwork and causing problems. These gloves fit nicely and are solvent proof. They run about $10 on sale for 100pk.
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Tack Cloth - For the longest time I thought these were just snakeoil, then I tried one! These leave no dust behind, you may think your soft rag you've been using to wipe down jobs is doing good, guess again, use a tack rag for perfect finishes. Keep them in a ziplock after use and they will last a long time. These are only a buck!
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Wet/Dry Sandpapers
