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Hey guys,

after using my airbrush for quite a bit in the last few weeks, I cleaned it thoroughly a few days back. After manually cleaning it, I disassembled it and ran it through two ultrasonic cleaning cycles, which made it look brand-new and got rid of every last bit of leftover paint. But now I've found, that the trigger gets stuck a bit, when I pull it back. Does anyone know, if I should lubricate the moving parts of the brush, and what I should use for this? Is Vaseline ok, or do I need a special compound?

Cheers,


IK-Painter

Yes, you should lubricate all of the moving parts of your airbrush. Most airbrush suppliers will provide various lubricants that you can use. For example, try here

Firstly I have no experience with an air brush. My experience is with spray guns and touch up guns for car painting and detailing. But if ever I needed to lube up a sticky gun (after ensuring it wasn't gummed up with paint or something else) I used a solid wax (like a candle) to help the needle in the gun. It tends not to mix with any paint that contacts it, isn't at all corrosive to the parts, is cheap and if needed can be heated off very easily.

So I can't directly answer your question but hope it may help.

Vaseline is a nice neutral material but it may be liquid enough to get mixed in to the paint you are using.

I use a blue liquid sillicone lubricant. Don't lube the needle itself, just the trigger mechansim and action limiter.

This should help you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEkgZKcFnlc

Yes definatly need to lubricate your airbrush's moving parts, the needle, the trigger mechanism and needle guide. For the needle, not much, I usually put a drop of the oil on a rag and wipe the needle with it. The oil itself is just a really fine lubricant.. there is airbrush specific lube... its not very expensive maybe £5 for a lifetime supply. I've used skateboard bearing lubricant successfully many times, as its an equally fine, high grade lubricant for moving parts with tiny tolerances.

Thank you guys,

this helped a lot!

Cheers,


IK-Painter

IK-Painter wrote:Thank you guys,

this helped a lot!

Cheers,


IK-Painter

I have an unrelated side-question;

Why do you end your post with; "IK-Painter"?
I mean, we already know it is your post as your name and avatar is right there on the left.

Force of habit I suppose :-)

So I use graphite from a pencil on my trigger action rather than an oil. It's an old trick I learned from someone very informed. It really smooths things out a lot. I also typically tear down a new airbrush and sand down (600-1200 grit wet sand then polish) some of the rougher edges / surfaces that move (same person who recommended graphite taught me this). My Paasche VL has a trigger that you'd swear was a H&S Infinity or something equally sweet.

As for the needle, I use Badger's Needle Juice (or simple glycerin). It will increase the mean time between cleaning your needle / paint buildup. It's especially nice for your finer tips. A bottle will last a lifetime: Link.

Those are the biggies... As for people suggesting oil or vaseline, those might be OK for your trigger but I don't find it needed. I was once cautioned that anything you put on the needle can get into the paint and, since those are both oil based, oil + acrylics = no bueno. I've never oiled my needle though so maybe it works for some.

I ran into this same problem a few weeks ago and picked up a bottle of Badger needle juice. What I do not know is the proper way of lubricating everything. Anyone know of any blog posts, videos or tutorials? Do you lub the entire needle? won't that get into the paint? I mean some of the place to lube are obvious, but my confidence levels that I am doing this correctly are low.

generally you want to lube the parts that rub together or touch. This is were most of your friction will be, but with each airbrush and company they have there own guidelines on how to care for there brushes and nearly all of them show the expanded view of there brushes on there site along with some care tips or how to's on maintance.

I did some research on German airbrushing forums and one of the products mentioned for oiling an airbrush was Ballistol, a spray used for lubricating the trigger mechanism on handguns.

I think I will give this a go, as my favourite airbrush online store has it in stock - and as I'm short on cleaner and varnish, I was going to place an order anyway. Will keep you posted on my experience with the Ballistol.

Can we expect a post on your blog about your experiences? :-P hehehe.

Probably - I was planning on doing a post on airbrush cleaning anyway, so I might as well expand that to include airbrush maintenance :-).

I use iwatas super lube on all the moving parts and in particular the needle. A £5 tube will last me about 30 years and i know its designed for the job.