Netz Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 (edited) Out of the box the Harbor Freight airbrushes are just a bit I'll say "dirty" from the machining process, so they seen gritty due to the unpolished finish of the metal, so just a bit of general cleaning with oil and polishing with fine Emory paper and or polishing compounds will help improve the feel and function of the brush. I'll take steel wool and spin all threaded parts in it to clean out any burrs left behind, then assemble disassemble to seat everything with oil or compound, clean again with oil and wipe down with a paper towel, final assembly is done with a dab of Vaseline on the threads. Spend a bit of time with the needle doing the same thing, run it through the steel wool to polish it up, seat it (the needle) into the tip and spin it around (similar to lapping a valve) resemble everything and see how it feels, if the needle seems too tight you can adjust the screw in the needle packing. My needle had a small burr on the tip so a fine polish with a super fine Emory board removed the burr. If the trigger feel's sluggish when depressing then you can disassemble the air valve and clean/polish the plunger, I reamed out the hole with a toothpick, which seemed to remove the visible burs that I noticed. That's about it. Curt Checking for burrs with a Q-Tip after the steel wool was used. Edited September 9, 2014 by Netz Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Netz Posted September 9, 2014 Author Share Posted September 9, 2014 Polishing the trigger, all edges are addressed inside and out Air valve plunger De-burr plunger hole, top and bottom Needle packing, it's in there somewhere, very hard to capture, but it is adjustable with a small screwdriver, it will tighten or loosen the tension on the needle, but if too loose paint will flow back into the body of the brush, not good. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
longmc Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Good tips! Those are pretty nice airbrushes for the price. I picked one up for about $15 and use it solely to spray red paint. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
compressorman Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Thanks Netz, I have always wondered about HF airbrushes. How does it spray for you, and is it capable of precision work or is it mostly for large coverage? Also, does it seem to be a clone of a well-known manufacturer's brush? Sorry for so many questions!! Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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