tatocorvette
Mac-Valve Maestro!
Hello,
As you can see I have been recently in an airbrush kick if you will. My one and only airbrush for 30 years is a humble tool that keeps on trucking. I have posted elsewhere the details about the story so I won't repeat all here. In short, my first experience with an airbrush was in college (1993) with a Badger 150. Fell in love with airbrushing. Could not afford a 150 at the time so I bought a Korean made knockoff sold by Harbor Freight for about $20. To this date, 30 years later, it is still my one and only airbrush performing flawlessly and well beyond my expectations.
Since there are no spare parts, I've always been casually on the lookout for another one just in case. A few years ago, a friend of mine who bought the same one shortly after me, gave it to me. He moved to others and had issues with it. Long story short, it was just dirty and not cared for. I just cleaned/restored it to like new condition a few days ago.
So I have my spares covered. But then, browsing online (always a bad idea) I found a "new" one (New old Stock) and I got it for even a lower price than I did 30 years ago!
I just got it and immediately checked on it. Is it really the same? Let's find out.
Same box I remember, but from the start I noticed something different: this one says Made in Taiwan. Mine was Korea.
Then I noticed both the paperwork and the yellow safety label are dated 2003. A decade after I bought mine. So it seems they moved production from Korea to Taiwan. Not uncommon in manufacturing. Keep in mind Harbor Freight is not a manufacturer. Just a retailer. I wouldn't be surprised if these were sold under other brands as well.
Except for the foam insert color, which I think was black (or maybe dark blue?), this is what I remember mine looked like back 30 years ago.
Immediately noticed something odd: The trigger adjusting screw is not aligned. Not a big deal (already fixed), but speaks about quality control.
New one (2003) on top, the original I just restored (1993) at the bottom.
Noticeable differences:
Plastic handle has a brass insert for the threads vs all plastic. Definitely an improvement.
Needle Stop Screw, spring assembly and air Valve cosmetically different but essentially same design. Stop screw a bit more ergonomic so another little improvement.
Trigger head slightly smaller diameter. May go un-noticed unless comparing side by side.
Nozzle and tip are also different.
I tried and you can swap the whole assembly between bodies, but can not mix them. Each tip only works with its own nozzle.
Overall, same model designation, same design but with some subtle changes.
Next I need to get some time to test it. For 30 years I had my one and only airbrush. All of a sudden, in a week's timeframe I now have 3 of the same. Go figure!
Thanks,
Ismael
As you can see I have been recently in an airbrush kick if you will. My one and only airbrush for 30 years is a humble tool that keeps on trucking. I have posted elsewhere the details about the story so I won't repeat all here. In short, my first experience with an airbrush was in college (1993) with a Badger 150. Fell in love with airbrushing. Could not afford a 150 at the time so I bought a Korean made knockoff sold by Harbor Freight for about $20. To this date, 30 years later, it is still my one and only airbrush performing flawlessly and well beyond my expectations.
Since there are no spare parts, I've always been casually on the lookout for another one just in case. A few years ago, a friend of mine who bought the same one shortly after me, gave it to me. He moved to others and had issues with it. Long story short, it was just dirty and not cared for. I just cleaned/restored it to like new condition a few days ago.
So I have my spares covered. But then, browsing online (always a bad idea) I found a "new" one (New old Stock) and I got it for even a lower price than I did 30 years ago!
I just got it and immediately checked on it. Is it really the same? Let's find out.
Same box I remember, but from the start I noticed something different: this one says Made in Taiwan. Mine was Korea.
Then I noticed both the paperwork and the yellow safety label are dated 2003. A decade after I bought mine. So it seems they moved production from Korea to Taiwan. Not uncommon in manufacturing. Keep in mind Harbor Freight is not a manufacturer. Just a retailer. I wouldn't be surprised if these were sold under other brands as well.
Except for the foam insert color, which I think was black (or maybe dark blue?), this is what I remember mine looked like back 30 years ago.
Immediately noticed something odd: The trigger adjusting screw is not aligned. Not a big deal (already fixed), but speaks about quality control.
New one (2003) on top, the original I just restored (1993) at the bottom.
Noticeable differences:
Plastic handle has a brass insert for the threads vs all plastic. Definitely an improvement.
Needle Stop Screw, spring assembly and air Valve cosmetically different but essentially same design. Stop screw a bit more ergonomic so another little improvement.
Trigger head slightly smaller diameter. May go un-noticed unless comparing side by side.
Nozzle and tip are also different.
I tried and you can swap the whole assembly between bodies, but can not mix them. Each tip only works with its own nozzle.
Overall, same model designation, same design but with some subtle changes.
Next I need to get some time to test it. For 30 years I had my one and only airbrush. All of a sudden, in a week's timeframe I now have 3 of the same. Go figure!
Thanks,
Ismael
