A funky-fine airbrush that you power by blowing into it By Marek Soliński
Figure A: What the finished blow brush looks like
Figure B: Diagram showing the parts of the brush, how it goes together, and how it works
Figure C: What you’ll need: (Left) Three lengths of rubber tubing, (top to bottom) Barrel from a large marker, bonding putty or epoxy, a narrow metal or plastic tube (such as from an ink pen), a 35mm plastic film canister, an adjustable spray bottle nozzle
Figure D: Remove the nozzle from the bottle. You may have to take the head apart to get the nozzle off in one piece (retain the throat part behind the nozzle head).
Figure E: The adjustable nozzle
Figure F: Create a nozzle connector tube. The tube shown is attached to a different nozzle, but it’s the same idea. Drill a hole to accept the short metal or plastic tube (which the rubber tubing needs to fit over) in the throat of the spray nozzle. Use epoxy or other bonding material to glue it in place.
Figure G: Preparing the color cup. Drill two holes in the bottom of the film canister large enough to accept the rigid tubing. One tube length should come about 3/4 of the way up into the canister (the air tube), and one should be near-flush with the bottom (the paint tube). Use the diagram in Figure B for reference. Glue the connector tubes in place.
Figure H: The bottom view of the color cup, air and paint tubes in place
Figure I: Prepare the body of the brush. Drill three elongated holes along the length of the marker barrel to accept the hoses. Again, use Figure B for reference.
Figure J: Attach all three hoses (consult Figure B) and thread them through the body of your brush through the holes you made.
Figure K: The air and paint tubes attached to the paint cup. One attaches to the nozzle, the other is threaded through the body to the mouthpiece.
Figure L: The fully assembled blow brush, filled with paint and ready to fire.
Note: A video showing the assembly process for this project is available on its Instructable page.
Marek Soliński is a tinsmith living in Poland with his wife and son. He works as a car paint shop assistant and loves fishing, PC games, and tinkering.