help.lol my airbrush keeps sticking. after every session i strip and clean it but a couple of hours later the needle will go back and not move froward unles “helped”. anyone got any ideas of what i can use to lube the needle? with a bit of working forward and back it will eventually move on its own accord but very slowly.
cheers in advance, jeff
It would be helpful to know what brand/model of airbrush you have.
its one from machine mart. think its an iwata copy. usually it’s great, but since i shot future through it its been sticking. stripped it loads of times, cleaned it, polished the needle and even had the needle and all the metal stuff in cleaner over night.
what are you cleaning it with? i recommend cleaning your parts in lacquer thinner. from your description of the problem there is still residue either in the tip or on the needle itself or even in the body of the airbrush when it dries it gets stuck. future really gunks up airbrushes if not cleaned after using. soak the whole thing in lacquer thinner (make sure you remove any o rings etc.)and thoroughly clean the inside with a pipe cleaner. then cover the holes of the trigger and paint jar inlet with your fingers and blow air through it to make sure all the gunk is out.
I will second what JTR has said. The first time I used Future I had the same problem, but it was easily resolved by a wash through with Meth’s & an overnight soaking of the nozzle set - “proper” celly / lacquer thinner will do the same job.
I found the issue was with hardened future towards the rear end of the needle, which was dragging through the needle bearing / seal. Only thing to watch is that your needle bearing / seal may, dependent on what it’s made of be degraded by any lengthy contact with certain strong solvents - so don’t be tempted to soak the body of the brush in any of the stronger solvents mentioned.
That’s a good reason to remove the head/nozzle assembly and withdraw the needle trough the front of the airbrush rather than pulling it out through the back, which often seems more natural.
Jeff,
If you removed the barrel assembly while cleaning, it is possible you may not have screwed it in far enough when reassembling and you don’t have sufficient spring tension to return the trigger to the rest position.
Good point, but I aways remove the needle from the front - for the simple reason that it’s pretty much impossible to damage the needle tip when re-fitting, the same cannot be said for putting it it via the back.
Removing the needle from the front is pretty hard to do if you happen to own a 155 Badger!
I rarely remove the tip from my 100 series Badgers, and pull the needle from the back every time I clean the airbrush. I’ve never damaged the needle doing it yet.
Glycerin is what you use to lube the moving parts of any airbrush.
Reason why I’m never gonna run Future through my beautiful new Patriot! Good grief that thing is wonderful. I was going to keep my Aztek as a second brush to speed up multi colored jobs, but I haven’t used it yet. Anyhow none of you have mentioned yet, but you all know, good solvent for Future is Windex (ammonia)
Personally I hate the stuff except for canopies.
It’s good mixed with Club Soda and a twist of lime.
Oh wait, that’s Gin! NEVERMIND!!
So does Future n’ tonic have ice?
& the companion drink to a recent & very busy thread would be;
Future on the Rocks!
cheers guys, it’s not sticking half as bad now, gets better with every clean. only problem now is that the paint flow is sputtery, but i think i may still have a bit of hard paint in there. more cleaning needed.
This one? If pulling the needle from the front is hard to do, you can try backflush into the jar to see if it helps.
aye, thats the one. not a bad little brush, does me any way.lol going to try stripping it right back as i said its a bit sputtery now. nothing major but i cant get a nice fine line.
I am not familar with your airbrush. Most made-in-fareast imitation works well when new, but they cut corners to keep price low. (Some American made does the same too.) One of the thing that they usually skip is good plating for the inside of the airbrush. A smooth plating for the inside is not for look, but it makes paint not to stick where it should not. If the Future dried at somewhere before you clean it out, soaking it alone may not dislodge the dried acrylic. Backflush is one thing you can try. If it still does not clean it well, you may need to soak the parts in ultrasound cleaning bath. Good luck.
p.s. Some airbrush manufacturer discourages use of ultrasound cleaner and it may void the warranty.
thanks keilou, how do i back flush thebrush? that is one i havent tried.
Back flushing means holding something like a paper towel over the nozzle of the airbrush while pressing down and pulling back slightly on the trigger. This forces air back through the tip and into the paint cup, causing bubbles. It breaks paint free and helps to wash it out. You should spray clean through the airbrush before backflushing.
I learned this technique from a cosmetician lady, Sheila McKenna. The Kett Cosmetic video is very professional and practical. It got down to the essence of backflushing and left nothing to imagination.
Another bonus, she does not have those funny colored nail to distract you. This video has been around for awhile and I have not seen any better. You can also find a higher resolution version at their web site.