drawbow Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Hello all, first post here and I have a question! I have a Iwata airbrush and tonight in between cleaning it the gun stop laying paint, if I take the nozzel off and touch the needle to paper it will splatter paint? Did I bend the needle? I have cleaned and can see light through the needle tip. I am real sorry this is my first post but I am so close to finishing my first lure and wanted that to be my first but I hit this road block. I want to thank everyone for their post and information, I have learned a ton just in the few weeks since finding this site. I jumped right in and made a hinged swimbait for my fist which I think came out pretty good for my first but I am afraid to paint it until I get a little experiance under my belt, so I have been working on a spook design and hopefully will finish by the weekend. I hope to return the education I received from you all by posting some designs and ideas and look forward to dipping into the wealth of information. drawbow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 First of all, you should be able to look at the needle and see if it's bent. If it's bent back in the shaft, you may be able to bend it gently to straighten it. If the very tip is bent, get another needle. But....... It's more likely that your brush is clogged with paint, and your paint needs to be thinned. That's a mistake I made when I first started. If the paint is too thick, or if it has particles that are too large, like some hobby paints, it clogs the tiny holes the paint passes through. There are four tiny holes in the nozzle that can get clogged pretty quickly. Also, you may have paint dried in the outer part of the nozzle itself, and you can clear that by using a soft bristle brush to rotate around where the needle comes out. Be sure to rinse the face afterward. If the brush is clogged, here's what I did and still do. I found that, first off, I needed to soak my brush tip in some acetone, and spray some through the brush, and then back flush with the acetone, to get the clogged paint out. I took out the needle, wiped it down, dipped it into the acetone, and put it back in. I put some more clean acetone in the paint cup, and moved the needle back and forth, using it to clear any paint that was in the passage. Then I pulled the needle back a little, and sprayed acetone through the tip to clear any clogs that got knocked loose. Once you get the brush cleaned, thin your paint with whatever thinner the manuf. recommends. If you use Createx, you can use their airbrush cleaner to thin the paint, or just clean water. But don't over thin it, or it will lose it's film strength. I use some Apple Barrel paints, which are thick, and I thin them with Windex. I try to get the paint to be as thin as skim milk. There are folks here who are a lot better at this than me, and they may have additional advice. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 I clear clogs like Mark. Acetone works very well. The only down side is it causes the needle packing to swell slightly and grab the needle as the trigger is worked fore and aft. Run some water through the brush afterward and that disappears pretty quickly. If I bend a needle, I try to straighten it out by gently pressing it against a flat surface. You're probably not going to get it back to perfect but you can get it straight enough to work while you wait for a replacement to arrive. Do it a couple of times and you'll be LOTS more careful with them. Split a nozzle on an Iwata and you'll become REALLY REALLY careful with them! ($40+ for a nozzle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68KingFisher Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Split a nozzle on an Iwata and you'll become REALLY REALLY careful with them! ($40+ for a nozzle) Tell me about it....I just ordered two....one for my micron and one for my hp-sb, and the bill was $86.........but, I figure I got about 10 months of solid daily use outta the last micron nozzle and about 14 months outta the sb nozzle, so maybe that ain't so bad....I dunno.....I think I bent 4 micron needles last year....but i'm bad about removing the protective crown cover so I can get up close for finer details....its a risk but the added detail level is worth it too me. Drawbow, you didn't by chance forget to tighten the needle chuck during your last cleaning did you....somethin simple like that maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drawbow Posted July 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Thanks everyone I will try your suggestions tonight, I have only been cleaning with water and createx cleaner, I will try the acetone. I am pretty sure I had the needle chuck tight because I cleaned the gun 3-4 times in a row to try and work things out and I am sure I was tightening it. I rolled the needle on a flat surface and did not see any bend but I was not sure how sensitive a needle bend could be. Thanks again eveyone, Hopefully I will have a pic up soon of my first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 First of all, as this is my first post, let me tell everyone what a great site I think this is. I'm just getting started with trying to paint some baits and have gathered a lot of info from this forum. Now for the question about a bent needle. Here's a trick I use when trying to tell if the axle in my baitcasters is bent. I simply roll it on a piece of glass. Glass is the flattest thing I can think of that is easily accessible to all. If the needle is bent you should be able to see, as well as feel, it. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
