Old Paasche H rescue

KurtH

Double Actioner
Airbrush collecting and restoration has become a hobby for me. I saw this sad looking H on ebay and figured I could give it a good home, and let it live out the rest of time in an environment where it would be cared for and used occasionally.

I have a few questions. First, can you help me date it, and I also want to understand how the included hose fittings worked.

It only took a few minutes of work to get it in working order. I replaced the needle assembly since the included needle tip was split.

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The needle had lots of galling from the set screw. The set screw was very tight and the head was slightly hogged out. The previous owner must have been very strong.

The threads on the handle were badly stripped. Several wraps of teflon tape solved that issue

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So here is where it stands now. I sprayed some water and it works fine. The button is stiffer than my other H airbrushes.

Any ideas when it was made? The H has not changed much through the years. My other question is how do the hose fittings work? As you can see, I installed a QD to test it, but the little nut to the right was on the airbrush when it arrived. the elbow below it fits in inside. That is pretty straightforward, and it is threaded and looks heavily used. The other two nuts look like what is on the end of older paasche hoses, and what came with the old paasche moisture trap. The threads on the nuts are larger than the threads on the elbow, so I am not sure how it worked. Other old airbrushes have similar parts included, so I guess it was important at some point.

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It came with this case. It is pretty dirty and worn.

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I also recently rescued a trashed badger 150 but the pictures did not come out well.
 
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I have a post here on some older Paasche V's - they were in not much better shape than your H when I received them. I am not really that familiar with all the nuances that help to date the brushes, beyond that I do know there are several very distinct handle shapes that put them in a ball park. The handle looks like it is probably bakelite, which predates plastic, and no silver end cap has it being older. The case is also a fantastic indicator, as many of the mid century and later cases where red-ish in color - so, I would hazard a guess at maybe mid 30's to early 40's - but would not feel confident enough to place a bet on it.

The hose thingy - the larger nut looking piece is slid over a cut end of a rubber hose. The bent, barbed piece is slipped though the smaller nut. The barbed piece is then inserted into the ope end of the hose, the larger collar pulled up the hose to squeeze the end around the barbed piece. The small nut screws to the base of the airbrush...
 
Cool find! I have a similar nut that came with my V - thanks for explaining what it does Dave!
 
I noticed a funky smell on my hands after handling this airbrush. So I figured the handle was not just faded or oxidized, but dirty. First, I tried using novus plastic polish to clean the handle. It helped a little, and the rag I was using came back very dirty. It was barely making a dent in the grime, so I used lacquer thinner, and also cleaned up the body, and removed the button, and the button retainer, and gave them a good scrub. There was green corosion on both of them, much like you might see on copper, but is was also in clumps. If this airbrush really is from the 30s or 40s, that can be as much as 80 years of dirt and grime. Now it looks a little better. I want to preserve some patina and keep it as original as possible, but sticky grime is not patina. lol And who knows, potentially hazardous.

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The brush is made from brass, and plated, so when you see green stuff - it is generally brass oxidation. It will grow through any imperfections in the plating, and is largely harmless. Should be no issue in cleaning it up. with all the edges of the bakelite being worn as they are, I can say without much hesitation that that brush was indeed well used.
 
Do you have access to Facebook? Get ahold of Dennis Cook, he should be able to help you out. He works for the company
 
I emailed paasche and got in touch with Brian Pettersen, he stated they could not date an airbrush by serial number, but I ended up sending a picture of the case, and he stated the airbrush most likely dates from sometime in the 30s. It is pretty neat to have a tool that old.
 
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