The Airbrush Dictionary
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Every industry has it's own slang. Airbrushing is no exception. Knowing the slang or jargon allows you to talk to other people in the industry.
I always try to include a short answer on this page and a long answer with an explanation behind the link.
This list is by no means complete, it will grow over time, and suggestions for new entries are always welcome.
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| 0-9
| A | B
| C | D
| E | F
| G | H
| I | J
| K | L
| M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
.:: 0-9 ::.
1/4 inch NPT
The standard screw thread size most compressor manufacturers have settled on for air hose fittings.
.:: A ::.
Aerosol SprayA mixture of liquid droplets in a gas. Usually referred to simply as Spray.
Airbrush
A small pen-like device used for
atomizing various kinds of liquids into a directed, usually conical
aerosol spray. They're primarily used to spray some kind of
coating, like paint, onto something else.
Airbrushes have many uses from cosmetics, movie special effects, various art forms, scientific experiments, to industrial applications.
Airbrushes have many uses from cosmetics, movie special effects, various art forms, scientific experiments, to industrial applications.
Airbrush Body
The airbrush body is the chassis. Every other part attaches itself to this piece.
Airhead
Slang for someone who uses airbrushes. You'll normally call yourself an airhead before someone else does.
Air Filter
They clean the air from your compressor before arriving at your airbrush, or worse on your work.
Air Hose
The hose supplying air to your spray equipment.
Air Piston
The piece between the trigger and the
air valve. The trigger presses the air piston into the air valve.
On many newer airbrushes the air piston is the little dangly
piece underneath the trigger itself.
Air Valve
The piece physically turning the air on and off.
Can also refer to the entire air valve assembly.
Can also refer to the entire air valve assembly.
Atomize
In airbrushing: Breaking up a liquid into tiny droplets to be sprayed.
Auxiliary Lever
The funny shaped S-tab thing in the
trigger housing. It reduces your back-and-forth finger movement into smaller
back-and-forth needle motion. It lets you spray less paint with less
fine-motor control.
Automatic Spray Gun
A type of pressure-fed spray gun that
doesn't require a user. They're usually found in factories on
industrial and robotic assembly lines. Or, my favorite
application, on the back of trucks spraying road lines.
.:: B ::.
BinderOne of the three parts of paint. Binder is the glue that holds the pigment to whatever surface you spray it onto.
Pigmentless binder is also a means to thin your paint without losing adhesion power.
Binder also gums up your airbrush, just like any good glue.
Pigmentless binder is also a means to thin your paint without losing adhesion power.
Binder also gums up your airbrush, just like any good glue.
.:: C ::.
CFM
Cubic Feet per Minute, or ft3/min, measures air flow rate. The international measurement is m3/min.
1 ft3/min = 0.0283 m3/min
Color Cup
The cup on a gravity or side feed airbrush that holds the paint.
Color Stem
The place to fit a siphon feed bottle into the airbrush.
Crown Cap
Iwata's version of a needle cap that somewhat negates the spray pattern's tendency to spread out.
.:: D ::.
Double Action Airbrush
Double action refers to
how you
work the airbrush. It combines two separate motions into a
single control, the trigger.
Dual Action Airbrush, see Double Action Airbrush
Dual action, another word
for double action,
refers to how you work the airbrush. It combines two separate
motions into a single control, the trigger.
.:: E ::.
External Mix
Refers
to the way paint is introduced into the air stream produced by the
airbrush. In an external mix airbrush the paint enters one side
of the air stream.
.:: F ::.
ft3/min, see CFM
Cubic Feet per Minute measures
air flow rate. The international measurement is m3/min.
The industry collectively refers to this as CFM.
1 ft3/min = 0.0283 m3/min
1 ft3/min = 0.0283 m3/min
Frisket
Frisket is basically
a sheet of film with low tac glue on one side used for masking a work
to be painted. Artists will generally cut out the shapes they
want to paint with a sharp razor blade being careful not to cut the
surface (or substrate).
Some friskets are solvent-proof, others aren't, do check the package to make sure it works with your intended use.
Some friskets are solvent-proof, others aren't, do check the package to make sure it works with your intended use.
Glycerin
An
inexpensive airbrush lubricant suitable for most water-based paints.
Since it dries out, you will need to lubricate your airbrush more
often.
Gravity Feed Airbrush
Gravity
pulls the paint down to the airbrush's tip. The built up
pressure makes the paint 'want' to get out and be
sprayed.
.:: H ::.
Head CapThis piece holds the nozzle tightly in place on an Iwata Eclipse series airbrush.
Head System, see Matched Head System
A shortened, more common name for the Custom Micron's Matched Head System
HVLP
High Volume Low Pressure refers to how the air atomizes the liquid. HVLP uses large amounts of slow moving air.
.:: I ::.
Internal MixRefers
to the way paint is introduced into the air stream to be atomized.
An internal mix airbrush introduces the paint into the middle of
the air stream.
.:: J ::.
KY-Jelly
This lubricant belongs in places other than your airbrush.
.:: M ::.
m3/min, see CFMCubic Meters per Minute measures airflow rate. The American measurement is CFM or ft3/min.
1 m3/min = 31.315 ft3/min
Masking
Covering an area you don't want painted with something to shield or catch the overspray. Masking materials include frisket, masking tape, masking paper, and many others.
Masking Tape
Low
tac tape used as a masking material or to hold larger masking materials
(like masking paper) in place. The smaller the width of the tape
the easier it is to trace curves and lines.
Matched Head System
The head of a Custom Micron series airbrush.
It's named after the fact that three of the four parts are
matched together for the best spray pattern those parts are capable of.
Needle
The needle serves two functions on an airbrush and only one function on a spray gun.
The needle always acts as a liquid flow limiter at the end of the paint system. Think of it like the stop light at many freeway entrances. It's there to only allow certain amounts of liquid through.
It's second function on an airbrush is to direct the aerosol spray down it's long taper. Your detail ability comes from the pointy part of the needle.
The needle always acts as a liquid flow limiter at the end of the paint system. Think of it like the stop light at many freeway entrances. It's there to only allow certain amounts of liquid through.
It's second function on an airbrush is to direct the aerosol spray down it's long taper. Your detail ability comes from the pointy part of the needle.
Needle Cap
The needle cap protects the needle's tip from contacting any surface. Most hard surfaces will bend and damage the needle.
In beauty applications the needle cap protects the client from contact with the needle. That's a Bad Thing if you were wondering...
In beauty applications the needle cap protects the client from contact with the needle. That's a Bad Thing if you were wondering...
Nozzle
The nozzle is the most important piece
on any airbrush. It's also the most fragile. It separates
the fast moving air from the liquid until the moment it's atomized into an aerosol spray.
Nozzle Cap
The nozzle cap makes the airbrush go.
It funnels the air through a venturi nozzle and focuses the
resulting low pressure zone of fast moving air in front of the
nozzle.
.:: O ::.
Overspray
Overspray is simply aerosol spray from spray equipment somewhere you don't want it to be.
.:: P ::.
PigmentOne of the three parts of paint. Pigment is basically colored dirt.
Large clumps of pigment are what generally clog your airbrush, unless you left paint inside your airbrush, then it's a combination of binder and pigment.
Large clumps of pigment are what generally clog your airbrush, unless you left paint inside your airbrush, then it's a combination of binder and pigment.
Pressure Drop
For airbrushing, pressure drop refers
to the difference between the
pressure gauge's reading before starting air flow (static
pressure) and the pressure gauge's reading once you start airflow (dynamic
pressure).
.:: Q ::.
Quick DisconnectA device that allows two sections of a
pressurized air system to be joined without substantial pressure loss.
They're "quick" because there's no screwing involved.
Quick Fit, see Quick Disconnect
An uncommon name for a Quick Disconnect.
.:: R ::.
ReducerUsually the paint's solvent. Reducer thins the paint's viscosity and reduces the amount of solid content being sprayed.
Reducer came come in a few different types.
Slow reducer slows down the paint's drying time. This is good in hotter weather to keep the paint from drying too quickly and for spraying because it reduces the amount of tip-dry you experience.
Fast reducer speeds up the paint's drying time. You usually use fast reducer in colder weather, though it does increase the amount of tip-dry you experience as well.
Reducer came come in a few different types.
Slow reducer slows down the paint's drying time. This is good in hotter weather to keep the paint from drying too quickly and for spraying because it reduces the amount of tip-dry you experience.
Fast reducer speeds up the paint's drying time. You usually use fast reducer in colder weather, though it does increase the amount of tip-dry you experience as well.
Respirator
A mask covering the
nose and mouth that filters and detoxifies the air you breathe.
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR MASK OR RESPIRATOR WHENEVER YOU SPRAY!
Side Feed Airbrush
Paint is fed through the airbrush's side but how it functions is based on the paint level in relation to the nozzle tip.
Single Action Airbrush
Single action refers to how you work the airbrush. Each control operates a single spray variable.
Siphon Feed Airbrush
A siphon feed airbrush sucks paint up through a tube, then sprays it.
Solvent
Is one of the three parts of paint.
The solvent is the paint's carrier liquid. It keeps the
glue from sticking until it's gone.
Though water is a solvent, most people don't usually include water-based paints when they say solvent-based. They mean much, much nastier stuff.
Though water is a solvent, most people don't usually include water-based paints when they say solvent-based. They mean much, much nastier stuff.
Spray
Jargon for Aerosol Spray. It's the mixture of paint and air being atomized and thrown toward the surface.
Stencil
A stencil is anything you use to shield a piece from overspray. Stencils are generally reusable, unlike masking tape or frisket. Many manufacturers have extensive lines of shields and stencils to help people make the kind of art their looking for.
Tip
Usually refers to an
airbrush's nozzle. But sometimes it means everything on the
airbrush's front end. Needle tip, needle cap, nozzle cap,nozzle, and the head cap.
Tip Size
The size of the needle, nozzle, and nozzle cap.
Badger and Paasche have numbered sizes for each airbrush. The smaller the number the finer the tip size.
Iwata uses a metric measurement in millimeters, but again the smaller the number the finer the tip.
Badger and Paasche have numbered sizes for each airbrush. The smaller the number the finer the tip size.
Iwata uses a metric measurement in millimeters, but again the smaller the number the finer the tip.
Trigger
The mechanism you use to start and stop air and spray.
See, single action, double action, trigger guns
See, single action, double action, trigger guns
Trigger Guns
Airbrushes with spray gun-style triggers.
Viscosity
How much the liquid
wants to stick to itself or how runny it is. Thicker paint is
more viscous. Thinner paint is less viscous.
WD-40
A product of the WD-40 company that you
should NOT use to lubricate your airbrush. At all. Ever.
Period. End of discussion.
WD-40 and paint generally don't like each other but it's also not the right kind of lubricant for a sealed o-ring.
WD-40 and paint generally don't like each other but it's also not the right kind of lubricant for a sealed o-ring.
