I own an Iwata HP-CS which I love dearly (just wanted to through that in). [:p]
For a while now I have been thinking about buying the optional pre-set cut-away handle. Under the assumption that I can use it be used to restrict the amount of movement in the needle to whatever I want, so that I can achieve a consistent finish during long spraying sessions.
Can someone who has this piece of kit tell me:
Is it worth it?
I am right about how it works and if not then how does it work?
hi darson…IMHO, the preset handle is not that great an advantage. i made one for my HP-C, and never used it but once. i’m not saying that you may not like it, but i didn’t. not worth the money to me, and yes, it does work as advertised. my advice, save your money and with a little practice, you can have a “mental” preset. good luck, later.
In my opinion a preset is a waste of time unless you are using paints that spray so consistantly that one would be worthwhile.
I have yet to see that happen with enamels and acrylics as tip dry and other factors always affect the way the paint comes out.
I don’t really use a preset handle to control line thickness for the reasons Mike mentioned but what I have found useful with them is I can adjust the stop so I don’t accidently shoot a full trigger pull of spray when doing finer work.
John
I too have the pre-set handle I purchased several years ago for one of my Iwatas. However, it never gets used. Over the years, and plenty of practice airbrushing my models, my trigger finger instinctively knows how far to “press & pull back.” Heah, who knows it, maybe I’ll find some use for it some day, then again, maybe not.
I have found a complete fudge preset on my Omni, simply back the needle of a touch, so that when the trigger is depressed, but not pulled back, you get a thin even line.
I know this undermines the whole purpose of a dual action AB, but I have found that this allows me to produce a 1/72 scale mirror wave pattern over an entire sheet of A4, with little or no variation in line width or density.