tatocorvette
Mac-Valve Maestro!
Hello,
As I mentioned in my introduction post, for 30 years my one and only airbrush has been a "cheap" $20 Central Pneumatics 1500 from Harbor Freight tools. To say I'm happy with it is the understatement of the century. Shortly after I got mine, a friend asked me to order one for him as he liked what I was doing with mine. So he got an identical one to mine. Years ago, he gave it to me as it was no longer been used, had some issues with it and he had "moved to more expensive and better airbrushes". Since there are no replacement parts available and since it was the exact same model as mine, I just put it away for spare parts if ever needed. I basically forgot about it and re-discovered it a few weeks ago.
Hmm, How about a quick restoration project?
And here we are:
Despite been low mileage, it has seen far better days. I have other hoses and jars so I won't concentrate on those for now.
This is borderline criminal abandonment.
Evidence suggests this airbrush was dropped to the floor, probably more than once. The back of the main body is no longer round making unscrewing the needle spring assembly really hard. Front nozzle tip is also slightly damaged plus the body shows scrapes on one side as if been dragged on the ground.
Un-necessary abuse!
Trigger is bent, needle slightly bent at the back reinforcing the floor drop theory, minor corrosion in the needle suggesting storage while dirty and the air valve was last cleaned at the factory in Korea back in the late 80's - early 90's
Dry paint inside. It is like never changing the oil in your car and then complaining it runs rough.
This was supposed to be a quick job, but it was already 2AM and I couldn't stop.
After every part was serviced, cleaned and restored, everything started to go back together the next day. Getting the polished brass needle spring assembly back in the body was a royal pain.
The plastic handle was covered in masking tape. I was expecting a broken handle but to my surprise it was in great shape. Sticky residue was nasty and put up quite a fight.
And this is how it looks now:
Here is a quick test video. Only sprayed thinner for demonstration purposes.
There you have it! Cheap airbrushes also need love!
Hope you like it.
My very own airbrush asked me: "Hey, how come that one now looks better than me?" I replied "You have history and patina. He only had abuse..." And it said "Ohh OK"
It is not bad when you talk to your tools. It is bad when they answer back
Thanks,
Ismael
As I mentioned in my introduction post, for 30 years my one and only airbrush has been a "cheap" $20 Central Pneumatics 1500 from Harbor Freight tools. To say I'm happy with it is the understatement of the century. Shortly after I got mine, a friend asked me to order one for him as he liked what I was doing with mine. So he got an identical one to mine. Years ago, he gave it to me as it was no longer been used, had some issues with it and he had "moved to more expensive and better airbrushes". Since there are no replacement parts available and since it was the exact same model as mine, I just put it away for spare parts if ever needed. I basically forgot about it and re-discovered it a few weeks ago.
Hmm, How about a quick restoration project?
And here we are:
Despite been low mileage, it has seen far better days. I have other hoses and jars so I won't concentrate on those for now.
This is borderline criminal abandonment.
Evidence suggests this airbrush was dropped to the floor, probably more than once. The back of the main body is no longer round making unscrewing the needle spring assembly really hard. Front nozzle tip is also slightly damaged plus the body shows scrapes on one side as if been dragged on the ground.
Un-necessary abuse!
Trigger is bent, needle slightly bent at the back reinforcing the floor drop theory, minor corrosion in the needle suggesting storage while dirty and the air valve was last cleaned at the factory in Korea back in the late 80's - early 90's
Dry paint inside. It is like never changing the oil in your car and then complaining it runs rough.
This was supposed to be a quick job, but it was already 2AM and I couldn't stop.
After every part was serviced, cleaned and restored, everything started to go back together the next day. Getting the polished brass needle spring assembly back in the body was a royal pain.
The plastic handle was covered in masking tape. I was expecting a broken handle but to my surprise it was in great shape. Sticky residue was nasty and put up quite a fight.
And this is how it looks now:
Here is a quick test video. Only sprayed thinner for demonstration purposes.
There you have it! Cheap airbrushes also need love!
Hope you like it.
My very own airbrush asked me: "Hey, how come that one now looks better than me?" I replied "You have history and patina. He only had abuse..." And it said "Ohh OK"
It is not bad when you talk to your tools. It is bad when they answer back
Thanks,
Ismael
