Making stencils

D

donec

Guest
I was watching a youtub last night Airbrush for Beginers Tricks & Tips with Melumental...
Melumental - YouTube
(great youtubes) and she used what looks to me like contact paper like you would use for covering your shelves. I was wondering if anyone here used this material, how well it works and are there any problems with using it?
 
Im pretty certain Tami (Biker Granny forum name) uses this and has good luck with it.
 
I use Greenstar application tape from US Cutter and mylar from Hobby Lobby. Im trying a new product now from HeatPressNation (PF1200), comes in a roll 24" x 33ft that has adhesive backing on it like the contact paper. I'll be posting my findings this weekend hopefully. Its higher than the contact paper of course, but I think it will be a good product. I've posted a thread of it here on the forum, check it out. Its $35 a roll there about. Good luck finding what you're looking for.
 
Hi Donec,
It is a Low Tack Masking Film which can be bought at most art or graphic shops and there are many makes, the one I use is AMI Low Tak.

I have actually experimented with "shelf covering plastic film" but I find it too tacky so it damaged the surface, lifted paint and leaves glue residue.

I haven't used it much so I'll leave someone else with more experience with it to answer further.

Glad you like my video's :)
Cheers Mel
 
Hi Donec,
It is a Low Tack Masking Film which can be bought at most art or graphic shops and there are many makes, the one I use is AMI Low Tak.

I have actually experimented with "shelf covering plastic film" but I find it too tacky so it damaged the surface, lifted paint and leaves glue residue.

I haven't used it much so I'll leave someone else with more experience with it to answer further.

Glad you like my video's :)
Cheers Mel
I was thinking contact paper might be too tacky but wasn't sure. Thanks again for the videos.

As a second thought Mel, would it be possible for you to post a picture of the inside of the yellow cap for your cleaning jar. I saw a video about comparing some of them but not that one (which is the one I have been looking at). Also do you have a problem with paint spray coming out of the vent? What kind of filter does it come with?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Hey Mel, just looked at your vids. I really like how you invited everyone to learn along with you.
 
i used frisket and low tack paper and its a lot of trouble,leaves some glue and in the worsts moments it can tear your paper.also you need a very sharp blade to cut it when is place on the surface,this been said with the blade you can ruin the primer coat of the metallic surface you aer working on.so be carefull if you are going in to work with it,you´ll need to parctice with it.

hope this helps!!!
 
Thanks everyone for your help. Looks like contact paper is out.
 
I have used clear contact paper. Works fine, plus, you can re stick it over and over about 5 times, then the stickiness is gone. Have not had an adhesive residue problem at all with this, and have applied it to wood, mailboxes, and plastic.
 
Hi Donec,
Before you give up on the cheap shelf covering stuff just buy some and do some tests. I tested mine on the card I use which I had sprayed with the paint I used and it didn't work well but there is nothing to say it wouldn't work on a different surface with different paint. It's cheap enough to try and if it is no good you can stick 2 pieces together (glue to glue side) and use it to cut out masks and stencils.

Here is a photo of my Cleaning Station lid inside and some Filters, I've show the part number for future ordering reference if needed. A pack of 5 filters was around €2. The vent releases vapour but not paint particles as the filter stops them. I wash my filters after each use with bar soap and swap them around so they stay functional longer.

Inside Cleaning Station with Filters 400dpi.jpg I hope this helps.

Lee, I know!! a girl with too much time on her hands eh? :) I haven't done any for a while because of technical difficulties and wanting to get on with just painting. Vid's take a lot of time to edit and mess about with for YouTube but I'm gonna start again soon cos I've sorted the tech. thing out.

Squishy, thanks, I found it really hard being isolated and having to trawl the internet trying to find answers when I knew absolutely nothing. I thought it would help others like me and maybe not be so scary if newbies could watch someone at their own level :)

Cheers Mel
 
I was too stupid to look on the internet, and just blundered along, in my own, mostly wrong way Lol. I'm sure your vids have helped lots of people, you had lots of views on the couple I saw, and it would have helped me if there was something like that around when I started. Of course I would still have needed the sense to look. I read quite a few books though, and while they had some good stuff in, they didn't tell you what you needed to know on the most basic level. I didn't even know what paint to use, I saw a title called 40psi, and assumed that was the pressure you had to spray at, needless to say I wasted a lot of time working out all that basic stuff. Keep up the good work!
 
Hi Donec,
Before you give up on the cheap shelf covering stuff just buy some and do some tests.
Sometimes I just don't think. In reality I think my wife happens to have some in her crafts stuff that I could experment with. Thanks

Here is a photo of my Cleaning Station lid inside and some Filters, I've show the part number for future ordering reference if needed. A pack of 5 filters was around €2. The vent releases vapour but not paint particles as the filter stops them. I wash my filters after each use with bar soap and swap them around so they stay functional longer.
(picture removed from quote to reduce bandwidth usage) I hope this helps. Cheers Mel
It does help Mel, thanks. I was just thinking instead of buying those little filters why could I just cut some circles from a filter for the air conditioner. They only cost about $0.99 (€0.75) and are about 90x60 cm and I could double stack them for more filteration. I could get hundreds of them from 1 filter.
 
"It does help Mel, thanks. I was just thinking instead of buying those little filters why could I just cut some circles from a filter for the air conditioner. They only cost about $0.99 (€0.75) and are about 90x60 cm and I could double stack them for more filteration. I could get hundreds of them from 1 filter."

Yes you probably could, I've heard someone suggest using "Polyester Wadding Quilting Dacron" material which is very cheap and a 4 meter roll for £6.00 would last a life time :)

I wouldn't double stack them though as you need to vent the vapour or the pressure builds up too much and the jar will leak. I know, cos I double stacked and it leaked :)

The main aim of the cleaning station is to let you spray out your excess paint and clean out you airbrush without making a mess, not to filter particularly. While painting, the air will be full of paint particles from overspray anyway and you have your mask/respirator to deal with keeping your lungs clean. So if you can find an cheap alternative material to make filters out of that works, then fine. Unless someone know better? :)
Cheers Mel
 
While painting, the air will be full of paint particles from overspray anyway and you have your mask/respirator to deal with keeping your lungs clean. So if you can find an cheap alternative material to make filters out of that works, then fine. Unless someone know better? :)
Cheers Mel
When working with acrylics and water for thinner do others in the same room but about 2-3 meters away need to be wearing a resperator also or do the particals settle near the work?
 
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When working with acrylics and water for thinner do others in the same room but about 2-3 meters away need to be wearing a resperator also or do the particals settle near the work?

I want to make it clear that I am not qualified to answer this question and if you are talking about a work environment then you will need specialist advice.

My advice would be yes they need at least to wear masks that protect against paint particles. Acrylic paint will coat the lungs and cause breathing problems over time. If you build a spraying booth where the overspray can be contained and install an extractor fan this would improve the situation. You can buy spraying booths with built in extractors, check them out on the internet.

I would suggest you start a new thread with this question. There are professional airbrushers who are more informed to answer this question.
cheers Mel
 
I was too stupid to look on the internet, and just blundered along, in my own, mostly wrong way Lol. I'm sure your vids have helped lots of people, you had lots of views on the couple I saw, and it would have helped me if there was something like that around when I started. Of course I would still have needed the sense to look. I read quite a few books though, and while they had some good stuff in, they didn't tell you what you needed to know on the most basic level. I didn't even know what paint to use, I saw a title called 40psi, and assumed that was the pressure you had to spray at, needless to say I wasted a lot of time working out all that basic stuff. Keep up the good work!

Squishy, you have done amazingly to preserver on your own and get to the standard you are at. I would have given up if it wasn't for the internet, even then it seemed that every answer I got only generated several more questions which took me hours, days and sometimes weeks to find the answer to. But I learned huge amounts from the brilliant video's, books and forums on the internet. That's why I wanted to give something back by putting as much info from a "knowing nothing level" into one place.

I can totally relate to your 40psi scenario, I was unscrewing my airbrush from the hose to clean it for months before I realised that the adapter I had between the end of the air hose and my airbrush was a "Quick Release" !!!!! I'd been unscrewing the airbrush from the Quick Release Ha Ha Ha !!! What an IDIOT!! But if you don't know, you don't know. So I made a video to show a Quick Release and how it works :)
LOL Mel
 
I want to make it clear that I am not qualified to answer this question and if you are talking about a work environment then you will need specialist advice.

My advice would be yes they need at least to wear masks that protect against paint particles. Acrylic paint will coat the lungs and cause breathing problems over time. If you build a spraying booth where the overspray can be contained and install an extractor fan this would improve the situation. You can buy spraying booths with built in extractors, check them out on the internet.

I would suggest you start a new thread with this question. There are professional airbrushers who are more informed to answer this question.
cheers Mel
No not a work environment but at home with wife in same room type practical experience/opinion is more the situation I am talking about. I probably won't be working more than an hour or so at a given session at the most. If I was talking about a work environment I would start a new thread but really I am just looking for your opinion as a learning airbrusher.
 
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No not a work environment but at home with wife in same room type practical experience/opinion is more the situation I am talking about. I probably won't be working more than an hour or so at a given session at the most. If I was talking about a work environment I would start a new thread but really I am just looking for your opinion as a learning airbrusher.

OK Donec, let me tell you what I do.

I wear a filter mask for detail/light airbrushing and have a respirator for heavy airbrushing (like backgrounds or any work that generates a lot of overspray).

I have 2 fans that blow the air where I paint towards an extractor fan which is running and I leave running for an hour after I finish painting.

I work alone but if there was someone else in the area I airbrush in I would get them to wear a filter mask for light work and probably ask them to leave for heavy work or get them to wear the same respirator as I wear. It doesn't matter how long you airbrush for, the air will get filled with paint particles which you can't see. I never found an answer to how long paint particles stay in the air but I tend to continue to wear my mask for 30 minutes after I stop spraying or leave the area to give the paint particles time to settle.

What ever you do be very careful, just because it's water based paint doesn't mean it can't do serious damage to your lungs and to your wife's if she is in the same area where you paint. It is better to be safe than sorry :) So my advice would be that you both wear a mask.
cheers Mel
 
OK Donec, let me tell you what I do.

I wear a filter mask for detail/light airbrushing and have a respirator for heavy airbrushing (like backgrounds or any work that generates a lot of overspray).

I have 2 fans that blow the air where I paint towards an extractor fan which is running and I leave running for an hour after I finish painting.

I work alone but if there was someone else in the area I airbrush in I would get them to wear a filter mask for light work and probably ask them to leave for heavy work or get them to wear the same respirator as I wear. It doesn't matter how long you airbrush for, the air will get filled with paint particles which you can't see. I never found an answer to how long paint particles stay in the air but I tend to continue to wear my mask for 30 minutes after I stop spraying or leave the area to give the paint particles time to settle.

What ever you do be very careful, just because it's water based paint doesn't mean it can't do serious damage to your lungs and to your wife's if she is in the same area where you paint. It is better to be safe than sorry :) So my advice would be that you both wear a mask.
cheers Mel
Ok thanks. Most of the time I will be spraying she will be in the other room and I have a window right next to my paint desk. My wife sets up her painting stuff in her sewing room but she doesn't use an airbrush she just uses regular brush spong or what ever and works on glass and cloth. I plan on using my dest where I do my acrylic brush work. I will probably put a suction fan in the window so I don't think I will really have a problem but since I have not started yet I am just trying to get a heads up until my stuff arives.
 
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