I have one of those airbrush packages that didn’t cost to much. I think I paid $102.00 for the gun and compressor (air delivery 2cfm @ 30lbs). It came with (2) Double Action air brushes. My question is how do you clean your air brushes. I used it twice to lightly weather a few cars and when I was done I just filled the bottle with Thinner and ran it till it came out clear. I know this isn’t the best brush around, but do I need to disasemble the gun to really clean it after each use? It came with no disassemble instructions for the gun so I really have no idea how it comes apart. Below is a link to the kit I have
Pick up a set of Micro Brushes. Take the airbrush apart as Bob explains in the post below.
I wash out my air brush as soon as possible after using it so I won’t have to take it apart as often. After each use, I take the paint cup off and rinse it out. I keep two waste cans, one for lacquer paints and one for arcylic paints. Put some clear thinner in the cup and run the thinner through the gun.
Clean it with a paint solvent that you used to thin your paint. I use Lacquer thinner for Floquil and denatured alcohol for acrylic paint. If paint solvent won’t remove the paint, I soak the metal parts in paint brush cleaner in a small glass jar. It softens and removes any paint. It’s toxic, so heed the warnings. By the way, you do have a respirator and chemical proof gloves, right? Do you have a spray booth? I found one on eBay for under $100.
In the add for your gun, they say "You’ll always receive full assembly instructions, operating instructions,Tech help, a phone # is in every auction, and more when you purchase from Airbrush City
Ask them about spare parts.
Bob knows his spray gun when he sees it. Looks like the one you have. Here’s the parts list for the Badger 150.
I have a few more suggestions:
Do not use pipe cleaners to clean your gun. The little fibers will fall off and will wind up cloging the tip.
Lay your gun out on a clean, lint free cloth on a work bench or table. Be very careful not to loose the little nylon washer and needle bearing behind the spray heads. It’s a good idea to have extra Head Washers (Badger #50-055) and [url=“http://www.badger-airbrush.com/150parts.htm”]Needle Bearing
The double action aribrush looks like a clone of the Badger 150 which I’ve used for many years. If the set came with a small wrench, use it to remove the tips - there should be a flat spot on the end where the wrench will fit.
Unscrew the black handle at the back, there should be an adjusting screw that you can loosen to remove the needle that passes through the airbrush and into the tip. Be careful here, as the button that you press down on to use the airbrush is held in by the needle. Clean off the needle with thinner (I used lacquer thinner as it will dissolve most anything). Clean out the tip with a cotton swab (Q-tip) in thinner. Clean out where the bottle or color cup attaches to the airbrush.
Before I reassemble my airbrush I put a little drop of oil (3 in 1 oil) on the needle so that it won’t stick inside when not in use.
8500
I know disassembling the brush and cleaning it seems like a pain, and yes, it does sometimes take more time to clean the thing than you spent using it. In return, however, you get a tool that will last for years with little to no problem. Another benefit is that when it comes time to paint, it’s ready to go. Nothing more frustrating than being ready to start painting a project and finding out that the brush is clogged up - and it takes longer to clean after everything is all dried up (don’t ask how I know this!).
Because of the time needed to clean the brush, I often try to paint several projects at the same time, thus increasing the painting time/cleaning time ratio.
I clean my Paashe double-action after every use. I picked up a spare unit a while back so I could do two projects before enjoying the rite of disassembling them both and cleaning them. It actually isn’t that bad, but if you’ve had a halfway successful painting session, ending by taking the airbrush apart, cleaning it and reassembling it is a little anti-climatic.
But it beats spooling the thing up the next time and having it fire blanks. I’d rather end the day cleaning it than begin the next one doing so.
hey all,
it really depends on how often and how much you use your guns. The more you use them, the
less you have to clean them.
If you leave the gun hooked up to the bottle, you hardly ever have to clean them.
The paint will vacuum seal to the tip. and without anyway for air to get in there, the paint can’t
dry.
I have 18 of them, 6 of which I leave hooked up on bottles all the time, heh I probably only clean those 6 guns only 1 or 2 times a year.
I use pipe cleaners also.
There is a product out called “airbrush restorer” that you can get. (dixie art carries it, good place!) . You can soak your guns in it for an hour or two and it will disolve the paint.
Other than that. there are ultrasound cleaners available (never used one, so I can’t recomend).
Dixie art also has some of the best prices around on guns and equipment, heh if you order over
45 bucks woth of stuff, shipping is free. I’ve used them for quite a few years, never had any
problem.
There are many things that can be done to an airbru***o make it more user friendly…
ie. paint-picker aircaps. polishing the needles. removing those “wheels” (paasche), getting
a cut-away handle ( or cutting your own)…
I find that backwashing is OK during a painting session, as long as the colors aren’t too dissimilar (don’t paint white after red, etc.) but when I’m done for the day, I always disassemble it and give it a good cleaning. I’ve had a Badger 200 for about 15 years, and it’s given me dependable service with just a little TLC.
I’ve never had a problem with using pipe cleaners, FWIW - just my experience.
Question for Bob: So it’s OK to use 3-in-1 oil on the needle then? I’ll start doing that - I was always worried about the oil damaging the nylon needle bearing.
If lacquer thinner won’t harm the airbruhen some oil shouldn’t! The idea isn’t mine - it was on one of the early Kalmbach videos on airbrushing. I put the oil on the end of the needle then puhe needle in all the way and twist it around so the oil is in the tip. Then I back the needle off so it is not snug against the tip before I put it away. At first the lead to problems when I would start painting again, as I would forget that the needle wasn’t seated. So now I leave the handle loose on the airbru***o remind me to seat the needle before using it.
I’ve been using my Badger 150 since 1986 - I won it at the NMRA Boston convention that year. That’s 19 years!
Oiling the needle is a good idea, but I use one of the lubricants made for airbrushes rather than 3 in 1, which could cause cratering or adhesion problems if it gets onto the model.
This is sort of off-topic, but I do polihe needles and tips of my brushes, and I prefer a “crown” cap rather than a cylindrical one because a crown cap reduces the blowback, so you can get really close to the model if you need to. It also reduces the likelihood that some paint will stick to the cap, then blow onto the model.
If you get some dried acrylic in the airbrush, you can spray one of the specialty acrylic cleaners through the bruo remove it. You can even use a little ELO paint remover (that’s too heavy to spray, but you can apply it with a microbrush). I don’t remember who taught me this, but it works pretty well.
Good luck,
Terry Thompson
FundeyNorthern. Wouldent twisting the needel in its needel seat score the taper on the needel. Twisting a needel in its seat in automotive carbs and also in hydralics/pnumatics is not a good practice. But you say you have been doing this for years and Im thinking when you do it, its with very very light pressure. I do as you do with the oil, except after touching the needel in its seat, I withdraw the needel an 1/16 or so and lock it for storage. …John
By “twisting” I mean a light swivel to spread the oil around. I don’t think an aribrush needle as any relation to automotive items. I don’t apply force to the needle when spreding the oil. There is only a slight film of oil on the end of the needle, I spread the drop of oil placed there with my fingers. Some would come off as the needle is inerted into the airbrush.