Airbrush Infrared dryer, grinder, and tools
Let’s begin in order. Before airbrushing the car, we need a small set of tools and a screwdriver for disassembling the body. There are a lot of kits available for sale from different manufacturers. If you have ever looked under the door panel of the “foreign car,” you must have at least some idea what set of tools you will need.
Tools for Airbrush
If you are not familiar with the dismantling of foreign cars, it is not a problem. The minimum set that we will need is
One that should include: a “ratchet,” heads, stars/hexagons, and screwdrivers. Probably not all of the kit will be in constant use, but it will never be superfluous in the household.
Blowing Gun
After the airbrushed surface is ground for better paint or varnish adhesion, it is suggested to air blow it.
The compressed air blows small dust particles from the surface. We may need a blowing gun for this. An airbrush can also be used on small surfaces.
Grinder
If the surface area is large (such as a car body), then the process of matting the surface can be accelerated by using a grinder.
This can be a special grinder and “grinder” with an adjustable number of revolutions per minute. If the surface area is small, we may need a sander/polisher to polish the paint coat protecting the airbrush. In power tool stores, you can find different models of polishers, from budget ones to expensive professional ones.
After coating with lacquer, the surface is covered with dust particles that can be removed with wonderful sandpaper (P1500, P2000). Having treated the defects of the paint coating with such “sandpaper,” its traces can be easily removed by polishing. To do this, we will need polishing wheels and polishing paste. Polishing wheels are divided into hard and soft. Each wheel is designed for a specific type of polishing paste and differs in color. Generally, hard polishes are orange and have a smooth surface finish, while soft polishes are black and have a knurled surface finish.
Hard wheels are for abrasive polishing pastes, and soft wheels are for non-abrasive polishing pastes. Using the same wheel for abrasive and non-abrasive pastes is not recommended, as large abrasive particles of polishing paste are poorly washed out of the polishing wheel and when polishing with non-abrasive pastes can scratch the surface. Polishing wheels have “velcro” on the backside, which is convenient when you change them.
The most common polishing wheels are 3M, a well-proven company. As well as on sale are more economical variants that do a good job with polishing and serve long enough.
Infrared Drying
Infrared drying is used at large body repair stations for local car bodywork repairs. Using infrared drying speeds up the work of the entire station, as there is no need to dry each item in the drying chamber. The handyman can place the IR dryer in the preparatory area and dry small areas covered with putty, primer, paint, or varnish by himself.
For airbrushing, especially in garage conditions, the infrared dryer will be indispensable! First, it speeds up the drying process, so less dust and lint are deposited on the varnish. Second, the varnishing quality will be much better than if it had been dried at room temperature for a day or more.
How to choose and how to buy an infrared dryer will be described later in a separate article.