RayburnGuy Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Has anyone used one of those sonic jewelry cleaners to clean an airbrush? The kind that has a bowl filled with cleaner and uses sonic vibration to do the cleaning. Could this possibly damage o-rings, the teflon needle packing or the brush itself? Would appreciate your thoughts on this. thanks in advance, RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68KingFisher Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Ben, i've got one that i've used a few times, but i've never submerged the body of the airbrush...just tips and head assemblies.....the one i've got is actually a $20 unit from the Walmart jewelry dept....I use mineral spirits as my solution...it worked fine....I just don't find that I need it alot....Cleaning is over rated....lol:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 It could be that I worry too much about keeping the airbrush clean. Knowing very little about airbrushing I'm not sure what is sufficient and what is overkill. One thing I know for sure is that these 55 year old eyes don't see into all the nooks and crannies of an airbrush. Thanks Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Michael - I'm with you, get yourself a magnifying glass (jewellers) and a bit of sunlight, you will be amazed what you can see.pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Hey Pete, I agree with you 100% about the sunlight. There has never been an artificial light made that could compete with sunlight as far as being able to see something. Guess I might be just a wee bit obsessive when it comes to cleaning the brush. One thing about it though. Haven't had any clogging issues yet. Notice I said YET. Any ideas as to where I might find a jewelers loupe or is that something I'll have to find online? thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted September 29, 2009 Report Share Posted September 29, 2009 Should work. Just be sure to take your teeth out first. Has anyone used one of those sonic jewelry cleaners to clean an airbrush? The kind that has a bowl filled with cleaner and uses sonic vibration to do the cleaning. Could this possibly damage o-rings, the teflon needle packing or the brush itself? Would appreciate your thoughts on this.thanks in advance, RayburnGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68KingFisher Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Most airbrushers don't do much more then a couple of backflushes and wipe down their needles as their daily cleaning ritual....only when they have a problem will they break the airbrush completely down, and even then many times its just to pull the nozzle assembly, and not break the airbrush completely down per se....its just not needed in most cases. Now, if you only airbrush once every blue moon, then I can see making sure everything is spotless cause its going to be sitting for awhile and you don't want anything to harden to stone before you use it again......But if your airbrushing regularly, then i'd just backflush till I don't see any paint..wipe needle and your good to go in most cases. Too much cleaning is known for causing air leaks around threaded areas....especially the head assembly, and that'll cause you spitting,sputtering and skipping problems even with water thin paints....an easy check is to take some soapy water and brush some onto all threaded areas of your airbrush and push the trigger for air.....do you see bubbles forming around those treads??....if so you've got an air leak and you need to fix it by one of two ways.....using teflon tape cut into thin strips you can wrap the threads a couple of times but its easy to apply to much, keeping parts from fitting together correctly.....or use what most professional airbrushers use....bee's wax....take a little peice and roll it between your fingers into a tiny snake, and wrap this around the treads...using nothing more than the heat from your fingers just work it into the treads real good and reassemble and do another leak test to make sure you fixed the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted September 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 Thanks guys. Seems I've been a little obsessive about cleaning my airbrush. You'd think I would have realized that the first time I rubbed a hole in the chrome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clamboni Posted September 30, 2009 Report Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have an ultrasonic cleaner, haven't even thought about using it for the airbrush. Not so much that the thought didn't cross my mind, it's just that it's not necessary. You should be able to get your airbrush spotless with a couple round brushes and paper towels. It's not that hard to get it clean as long as all your seals are good and paint isn't getting where it's not supposed to get. Just get a couple of those round dental brushes, the ones for between your teeth. There's straight ones and tapered ones, get both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted October 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 I've got several of the different size brushes and picks and what not. Getting the nozzle clean is the only thing that really concerned me. You can't see down into it and have to rely more on feel than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clamboni Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 with the nozzle, what I do to clean it is use the needle. The needle on a lot of brushes fits tightly along the whole inside of the nozzle. if it doesn't fit tight the whole length, you can get a brush in where it doesn't. You have to be careful, but if you get whatever liquid you use to clean in there and put the nozzle onto the tip of the needle and spin it, it'll get the paint out. If you hold the nozzle between your fingers with the front pointing toward a light, you should be able to look inside the other end of it and see the reflection of the light against the inside. If there's any dried paint in there it'll be easy to see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
