WarmGlass.com

Hi all,
My name is Robin, and I just officially delurked. I have been finding loads of useful information here and I want to thank everyone.

Although I did tons of serches yesterday ands got sidetracked everytime I really never found the answer to my question. So I will ask..........

I am going to order an airbrush, mainly to apply kilnwash to ss molds, I would also like to use it for applying some lusters or paints, question is I do not know what kind of paints to buy for glass fusing. I would like something non-toxic, food safe. It would be sandwiched under clear. I would like to try Pearl-ex powders but am not sure what medium I would use to mix them. I guess in general I just need some opinions.......

What powder?
What medium?
Where to order it from?

Also does anyone know the coe of chicago art glass?

Thanks in advance,
Robin

Hi! I will let someone else answer the question about food safe paints but, for the pearl-ex powders you can use almost any airbrush. I believe Avery Anderson recommends the Aztek. I use a Pasche. You can get one that is for general airbrushing. I am not sure of models right now but they make some that are for fine detail, medium detail etc.... For the Peral-Ex medium I use a little Isopropyl Alcohol. I think some people use gum arabic. There really are a lot of posts in regards to this in the archives. Search for Pearl-ex or Mica or Avery and Airbursh. Hope this helps.

Robin-Make sure you keep a strict separation between applicator and bottle that you use for kiln wash from those you use for painting. I have a paint sprayer I use for kilnwashing, and that's all I use it for. Airbrush is kept far away.

Tony-
Are you saying that I SHOULD NOT use the same airbrush for both kiln wash and paint? Why is that? Will the gun not clean up properly with the wash in it?

Thanks,
Robin

fun5oh wrote:Tony-
Are you saying that I SHOULD NOT use the same airbrush for both kiln wash and paint? Why is that?

Thanks,
Robin

of course you can. you have to clean them extremely well between uses of different materials. for production, it's lots easier to have 2.

What would be used to clean the kiln wash up best? Maybe I should just get a cheap sprayer for the kiln wash and keep the airbrush just for paints?

Also I was thinking of getting some Thompson carefree lusters, would that be a good choice, I can only find them for sale through Thompson, does anyone know who else would carry them, I like more of the one stop shopping, saves on shipping

Thanks,
Robin

i use a brush for applying wash and my airbrush for paint and lusters.

carefree lusters and pearl-ex are pretty much the same thing. lots in the archives on both, along with places to get them.

Kiln wash contamination will cause problems, and it's insidious, as is grit from a sandblaster. Like Charlie said, it is possible to clean it up well, it's just too much trouble for me to deal with, and I apply kiln wash so much that it made perfect sense to have a tool dedicated to it. You can pick up a paint sprayer for $40 or so for the kiln wash, and with 30lbs. or so of compressed air you're in business.

Thank you everyone for your answers. I think I am going to just buy a cheap sprayer for the wash, I really don't like brushing it on at all. I have checked the archives for info on paints and where to buy them, unfortunately whenever I do a search, it only lets me read 1 page of information, even if it says there are more, I can only read one then it tells me there are no more results. Believe me I was in there for hours yesterday before I finally decided to ask. So if anybody could answer my questions about paint, I would very much appreciate it

Thanks again,
Robin

Just a bit more advice. I tried a few different kinds of sprayers for wash, and the best was one I got from Sears. I tried some high end contractor styles, and they didn't work as well. Have had two Sears for many years now, and they are used about every day.