Aerograph sprite major needle diameter

RK Ink and Focus

Detail Decepticon!
Hi, Iam looking for some info on the diameter wire of a sprite major needle.

The bent thing resembling a needle I have removed seems to be 1.3mm or .051"

Aerograph needles seem hard to come by at the moment so i will make my own as I have access to precision grinding machines.

I recall someone mentioning aerograph needle size but it was not for a sprite major and I cannot find the thread! Any help is appreciated!

Regards
Richard
 
Thankyou @DaveG

Are they unique at being that size or is that a standard size for any other brand? Getting another brand needle would give me a headstart
Rather than starting from a plain stainless or hardened stainless wire.
 
Some pictures of my parts
IMG_20230825_175129609.jpgIMG_20230825_175218602.jpg
I the needle looks "better" than it really is because it is bent in more than one plain.

Parts list I think I need..

Needle
Diaphragm
Clutch piece
Needle bearing
Paint cup

I also bought a fine matched nozzle set, apparently good condition. Looking at it compared to the high flow nozzle in the airbrush at the moment, the high flow nozzle has probably had the end filed shorter at some point.

Anyway,

Thats my sprite major project!
 
Does anyone own a colani who could measure the needle diameter? I have been looking at the end profile and it does look remarkably similar to that of my sprite major. i am tempted, if the diameter is right, to get one.
 
Generally speaking, there are two wire diameter sizes that cover most modern brushes. 1.2mm and 1.4mm wire (American brushes tend to be in the 1.27mm range). Going smaller is usually not an issue, as the needle packing seal can be adjusted on most. I don't have a Colani, but think they use the same needles as all the other H&S brushes (except maybe length), so 1.2mm would be my guess.
 
Thanks very much again DaveG, the colani needle is listed on everything airbrush as only compatible with the colani but as you say it could be that it is only in length, why change the diameter for just that brush when your tooling is for another side for all other brushes?!
 
Thanks very much again DaveG, the colani needle is listed on everything airbrush as only compatible with the colani but as you say it could be that it is only in length, why change the diameter for just that brush when your tooling is for another side for all other brushes?!
Nozzles for the Colani are all the same as the other brushes - so, I would think needles (at least taper/contour) would also correspond... I'll check a .4 H&S needle in a high flow Aerogragh nozzle - maybe this afternoon, so hang on a bit. I'll post back.
 
The available .4 H&S needle is the wrong contour for the high flow nozzle. It sticks out a country mile. The closest I found while casually sorting through one of my spare needle drawers are actually Badger needles. Both the Sotar Clear Bead (Large) and the Gold bead general purpose needles fit OK. The drawback is that they do not seal the nozzle real well. Paint flow initiated easily, but would carry on for some time after letting off.
 
Thanks, thats a great help, it may be that i can adjust the profile on the badger to get a better seal. did you happen to try the hs .4 for how the initiation and shut off were? If they were better I could potentially try and optimise the protruding needle length to get the spray right.
 
Thanks, thats a great help, it may be that i can adjust the profile on the badger to get a better seal. did you happen to try the hs .4 for how the initiation and shut off were? If they were better I could potentially try and optimise the protruding needle length to get the spray right.
It protruded beyond where the air would have wanted to strip paint from the tip, so would not have produced desirable results. It is just the wrong profile for that particular setup. I don't have a .6 H&S needle here, but that may be closer to the stock profile...
 
Ok. Thankyou. It has given me food for thought. I think high flow is a .65mm nozzle on the aerograph, I will look what is the closest badger needle and potentially work from there.

And keep my eyes open for aerograph needles popping up!

Thanks again DaveG. I dont think I could have found that info out on the net in a year of looking! Its a great help.
 
At risk of being a pain in the butt, would anyone be able to post a picture of the business end of a fine or a high flow ( or both if you have them) aerograph needle that i would be able to scale from the correct angles that I would need to grind on a home made needle.

Thankyou in advance to anyone willing!
 
At risk of being a pain in the butt, would anyone be able to post a picture of the business end of a fine or a high flow ( or both if you have them) aerograph needle that i would be able to scale from the correct angles that I would need to grind on a home made needle.

Thankyou in advance to anyone willing!
brand new, still in the original package -

needles-1.jpg
 
I made a bit of progress with this, No pictures of my practice needles, I have ordered a badger needle but I have been practicing my needle grinding on piano wire. I have made up a guide with a few angles on, from the pictures (DaveG) posted it looks to be a 10⁰ point, the heavy looks to have a 45⁰ secondary but I have a few angles ground up on a guide to try.

I also snapped up a good pair of sprite majors! I have had no luck finding them before. One dirty with a fine set up, missing a needle and a complete but dirty heavy set up. I have given them a bit of time cleaning but they still need more.

Interesting the brass internals are slightly different. One has the circlip, the other it is part of the brass.

IMG_20230910_101323662~2.jpg

IMG_20230910_101514551.jpg
 
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