Description: Paint spray can be a lot of fun to use, but it can also be rather costly. How can you get all the paint you want but at a low price?
This article provides a step by step guide on creating your own spray paint.If you’ve spent a lot on spray paint recently, you may find it satisfying to make your own.
Not only will it be cheaper, but you can customize things to produce some exciting results. Perhaps you’re searching for a particular color that isn’t available anymore?
Maybe you’d like a different sized head? All these things are possible to tweak if you’re making things yourself.
By using the mechanism that you can find in a standard spray can and some other left to be thrown away items, you can create your own spray paint.
Here we are using a bike pump to create pressure in a PET pop bottle. By adjusting the amount of weight you pump into it and the quality of paint, you can produce all sorts of cool effects. Let’s find out more!
Table of Contents
Step 1: Get tools and materials
In order to make your paint gun, get a hold of these materials and tools.
Tools needed
– Hobby knife
– Hacksaw
– Bicycle pump
– Drill
– Drill bits
Materials
– Inner tube
– Empty PET bottle
– Sugru
– Empty spray can
– Paint
Step 2: Spray can
Get an old can and depress its nozzle as to release any remaining air. You won’t want the thing exploding on you later! After the air has come out, place it within a vice, and cut around its neck.
You can then separate the lower housing from the upper nozzle. Keep the nozzle and tip out the marble that you find inside the housing. After this, you can discard the housing altogether.
Step 3: The valve
Get a valve from an old bicycle inner tube and cut the tube on either side of this valve. After this, give the tube a trim, so there is a 10mm piece of rubber going around the valve.
Get yourself a drill bit that is a similar size to the valve and then drill into an empty PET bottle’s shoulder – we’d recommend using something like an 18v cordless drill to get the job done.
Remove any of the burrs from the opening and feed the valve into the hole. Drop a tiny piece of the rubbered adhesive in through the bottle’s neck and onto the rubber skirt found around the valve.
Pull the valve, so the skirt touches the bottle’s inside. Allow the adhesive to dry.
Step 4: nozzles
You’ll need to create an opening on the PET bottle’s cap so that it can accept the nozzle of the old spray can.
Hook the valve up to a bike pump and test it out to ensure you’ve got a seal. This is very important!
Step 5: fill it up
Now it’s about putting whatever you want inside, but don’t mix up oil and latex paint. If you mix paint that is dissimilar, it will create complications in the way your paint sticks.
Before you go filling up your new air spray gun, make sure you drop the marble in first. After this, you can pour paint into the bottle, but don’t go over ¾ full and be careful.
We would recommend using a funnel to help guide you. Regular paint can be quite thick, so feel free to dilute it with a little water to reduce viscosity and help it slide in.
You can use 6:1 radio of paint: water. The thicker the paint, the more pressure will be required – you can experiment a bit to get what you want.
After you’ve filled your spray paint gun up, seal it with a nozzle cap. Give it all a good shake to ensure there is a homogenous mix of water and paint inside.
Step 6: Apply some pressure
Last but not least, it’s time for pressure. You’ve got to make your color match spray paint come to life, right? Hook up your valve to the pump and increase the pressure in the can till it’s around 20 psi.
Be sure to get this right because if you’ve got a pressure that’s too high, the whole thing could burst.We’d recommend starting at low psi and then working your way up gradually to 20 when pumping up.
As you’re doing this, make sure that the connection is sound and that there are no leaks. If you’ve got some dodgy connections, seal them up and try to pump again.
Paint spray can be DIY
Whoever said that you can’t make your own paint guns? It’s straight forward and cheap to do, plus you have full flexibility in the contents and nature of your paint.
Paint spray is a beautiful thing if you can tweak it as much as you want – it allows for complete creative control. Have a blast with it!
Author:
Ronald Pratt knows all about electric paint spray gun techniques. A former street artist and traveling extraordinaire, Ronald toured around the world, bringing graffiti to life by participating in competitions and doing commission pieces. He likes to share his tips and knowledge with everyone online.
