Airbrushing?

scotts

scotts

Active Member
Anyone know anything about this? The deal is I am replacing my stairs and I am in the process of painting the balisters. (The skinny things that go from the stair up to the handrail) They are round and have a flat surface. I am painting them now and they are turning out like
I figured if I used an airbrush it would turn out better, but there are a lot of options. Anyone out there that can help?
 
bionicarm

bionicarm

Active Member
What are the balisters made of - wood or metal? What type of paint are you using? Describe
. Is the paint running, leaving spots you can see through? How did you prep them? I would sand them down, prime them with a primer, sand them again, then paint them. You will get a better surface for the paint to stick to. Unless you do this, airbrushing won't be any better, and they'll still look like
.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
They are made of wood and primed and I did sand them before painting. I am using Behr Semigloss, straight out of the can it is too thick so I cut it a bit. Also using good brushes. The problem is the paint gathers at the corners of the square tops, since the body is round the brush does not spread the paint too well and you can see the brush strokes. Then if you put it on heavy you get the drips. At the grooves in them, that is just asking for a place for the paint to gather and drip while it is drying.
Definitely a different skill set that just slopping some paint on the wall.
 
bionicarm

bionicarm

Active Member
Have you let the paint dry thoroughly on one of the balisters? I've used Behr Paint myself, and I've noticed brush streaks when the paint was wet, but they disappeared once dried. Also, there's a product that Home Depot and Lowe's sells that you can add to the paint to help with reducing the brush strokes. To keep the paint from collecting at the bottom, don't put it on as thick so it'll run. The downside to this is you'll have to do multiple coats. Depending on the number of balisters you have to do, this will be a 'long' process.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by Scotts
http:///forum/post/3233768
They are made of wood and primed and I did sand them before painting. I am using Behr Semigloss, straight out of the can it is too thick so I cut it a bit. Also using good brushes. The problem is the paint gathers at the corners of the square tops, since the body is round the brush does not spread the paint too well and you can see the brush strokes. Then if you put it on heavy you get the drips. At the grooves in them, that is just asking for a place for the paint to gather and drip while it is drying.
Definitely a different skill set that just slopping some paint on the wall.
Are you using a foam brush? I can't remember how long it's been since I've used a bristle brush for a project.
Just basically echoing above, light coats. Maybe using a scrap piece of wood and propping up the end of the balusters, so the bottom is elevated and won't collect excess paint.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
I thought airbrushing would give light coats and maybe correct for the obvious operator error. I mean when they primed it they sprayed it, I don't want to spend the $$ for a good sprayer. Considering I have about 70 of them that I will need I sure would like an easy way to do it.
You know as I was running around this afternoon I was thinking that a foam brush might be a good alternative. I made what you could call a "fixture" for painting them. Them have a knob at one end and I took a 2x4 and drilled out holes in it so that knob fits into it and they will stand up straight for painting and drying. Maybe I will try a foam brush of watered down paint and figure on a couple of coats per ballister. I don't mind doing that, but if I don't have a good system than that really only increases the odds of making mistakes, and I am good enough at that already.
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
I guess I'm from the old school, but I hate foam brushes! It's all about touch ..light, long, even firm brushes is the key.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Big A, I hear ya. I started doing that, then when they did not turn out OK my engineering degree started speaking to me, you know here is this round object and you are using a flat brush to paint it, it does not make sense. So then it spoke to me again and said I should turn them on their side so the flat brush has more surface area to work with, still not so good the paint doesn't flow so good from the brush to the ballister. It might have something to do with the fact that it is round.
Maybe tomorrow I can do a little experimenting, maybe use some different/smaller brushes.
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
See if you can get Camel hair brushes. I'm not kidding, they're the best! Regular brushes are she-at!!
 
D

dragonzim

Active Member
Are the balusters attached or did you take them off?
Home Depot rents paint sprayers if you dont want to buy one...
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Big A, I am not sure what the brushes are made of, but I do use the best Purdy (brand name) ones that they sell.
Dragon, well the better way to say it is that I have not put them on yet. They are sitting in the garage. I should look at what type of sprayers they rent. I have an airless sprayer but that would just blast the paint on to there. They might have something not as powerful.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
It's "balusters"...

If too complicated to spell, use the southern word...."pickets".
Spraying is the preferred method by painters (nobody hand brushes these things), but another alternative is to dip and hang. This is how I paint mass parts everyday in the paint shop.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
I knew I was spelling it wrong, the little red squiggly lines were telling me so. Just too lazy to look it up.
Funny I was thinking about foam brushes and AK posts about foam brushes. I was just thinking about dip and hang and you post about that. Sounds like I have many methods to try tomorrow, if I have time.
I want to spray them, I think it might be best, but what to use? That is why I was asking about the airbrushing. I mean that is just a junior paint sprayer.
 
bionicarm

bionicarm

Active Member
Originally Posted by Scotts
http:///forum/post/3234003
I knew I was spelling it wrong, the little red squiggly lines were telling me so. Just too lazy to look it up.
Funny I was thinking about foam brushes and AK posts about foam brushes. I was just thinking about dip and hang and you post about that. Sounds like I have many methods to try tomorrow, if I have time.
I want to spray them, I think it might be best, but what to use? That is why I was asking about the airbrushing. I mean that is just a junior paint sprayer.
Are you cocerned about overspray? If so, then you could use a gravity-fed detailing spray gun.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92126
The only problem with using these types of guns is you need a decent compressor, and also the tips that come with these guns aren't designed for the thick semi-gloss house paints you're trying to use.
 
trainfever

trainfever

Active Member
The paint would be way too heavy for the airbrush to spray it. Also the volume of paint applied would be so small, it would take you a long time to get them done. The airless sprayer should do the trick if you know how to adjust the sprayer properly. Put screw hooks into the end of the ballusters then hang them from a clothes line and then paint them in a vertical position.
 
scotts

scotts

Active Member
Bionic, no concern about overspray, that is what old bedsheets are for. The main concern about that gun is that I don't have a compressor. Yeah I know the paint is too thick, but I have to thin it anyway.
TF, you are right, but to put it in an analogy people here would understand. Using my sprayer to paint these thing-a-ma-bobbies would be like using a NASCAR car to deliver newspapers. The sprayer I have is for painting houses, it would spray too much paint and then drip really bad.
 
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