mark poulson Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 I have a detail airbrush with a needle cap that's cut into four V shaped sides, as opposed to the plain truncated cone that's on my Iwata HP-C+ brush. What does the cut needle cap do that's different from the plain cone cap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gone2long Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 (edited) I have a detail airbrush with a needle cap that's cut into four V shaped sides, as opposed to the plain truncated cone that's on my Iwata HP-C+ brush. What does the cut needle cap do that's different from the plain cone cap? Mark from what I've read on the airbrush forum 2 schools of thought are talked about 1 it allows some line of sight to your work but for me that just doesn't work I should also mention that it helps when the brush is right up close to the work giving a place for the air to escape and 2 it helps prevent paint buildup for which I don't think any of us would have to deal with as we don't shoot large amounts of paint in any one session. I did replace my crown caps with the regular cap so I could back flush my brush which is all but impossible with the crown cap. Edited January 3, 2015 by Gon2long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybait Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 It's easier to back flush the regular cone type tip but I started out with a Badger 150 that had a vee cut to the tip cover and I just used a hard sponge (actually a soft sanding block in the bucket of water so I could press the cone into it under water and backflush the brush. I can't tell a difference between the two tip shapes in performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Thanks. I'm going to switch to a regular cone tip. I hate how hard it is to backflush and clean that brush. That's a large reason why I don't use it more, I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayburnGuy Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I've read pretty much the same thing as G2L. It's supposed to give the air a place to escape while doing detail work when the tip of the airbrush is held within a few sixteenths of an inch from the work. That's one reason you see more accomplished airbrush artists take the cap off when dong detail work. Taking the cap off leaves the needle exposed and susceptible to damage though so the "V" cap was a way to allow air to escape while still protecting the needle. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hazmail Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) I have recently lost the cap off one of my Iwata's, so I just attached one of these caps (same thread) Mark is speaking of, works pretty good-- I think there would be a low or high pressure area in there, where the high speed air passes from the tip into the lower outside pressure in the cap, causing turbulence (and allow paint to cling to the inner side of the cap and cause 'spatter'), these slots may allow the pressure to equalise more, before the paint leaves the cap ?????????????? Just a thought. Pete Edited January 4, 2015 by hazmail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaw Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 The grex airbrush I have comes with both a standard and a vee cap with a magnet on the end of the brush to store whichever cap your not using,never did know what the vee one was for. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 4, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 V is for Victory! Man, I must be old if I can remember the WW2 posters and slogans that were still around when I grew up in the 50's! Hahaha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverotter Posted January 8, 2015 Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 with the 2 prong v cap you can take a paper towel and wipe the needle off when you get tip dry without taking the cap off. best thing ever if your trying to do a bunch of fine line detail work but normally you don't do much of that on crank baits. its still a handy option as opposed removing the cap completely and risking damaging the needle. i don't have the v cap so i just take the cap off and risk it lol. been lucky so far and not ruined a needle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark poulson Posted January 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2015 with the 2 prong v cap you can take a paper towel and wipe the needle off when you get tip dry without taking the cap off. best thing ever if your trying to do a bunch of fine line detail work but normally you don't do much of that on crank baits. its still a handy option as opposed removing the cap completely and risking damaging the needle. i don't have the v cap so i just take the cap off and risk it lol. been lucky so far and not ruined a needle. I've never just removed the cap to wipe off the needle. I'm too clumsy to take a chance on dropping my unprotected brush, and bending the needle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltshaker Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 I shoot without the cap until I get ready to clean the gun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riverotter Posted January 11, 2015 Report Share Posted January 11, 2015 you can use a sponge or paper towel to backflush if you dont want to put the cap back on each time. if your talking about cleaning between colors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
