Thoughts/experiences on restoring damaged needles?

Wingman offers good advice. There are several ways to salvage a bent needle; all of them involve delicately restoring the taper and point with very flat surfaces and fine abrasives. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can't.

It's always a good idea to have replacement parts on hand for your AB. The needles, tips and seals will fail and the shipping is almost always more than the cost of the parts, plus the time lost in waiting when you could be shooting paint. It's better to have spares on hand so you can do your project at hand and sort out the needle bends later.

Happy New Year!

Mike   

One thing to keep in mind about airbrushes is that they are precision-designed instruments. The needle doesn’t simply come down to a point always (compound tapers), and the angle of the taper can be important. So be careful when you repair them, and just know they may not perform quite as well as before the repair. It may work fine for general spraying but if you need top detail it may be best to replace, as you’re working on doing now. 

Good luck!

Phil1947

 

 

GMorrison

I don't know about that device but it looks geared towards the industrial user.

 

 

Sorry, but I have no idea what you mean by 'industrial user'?

From the related videos and reviews I've seen on this it is simply used for normal airbrushes as used in airbrushing models, e.g. Iwata, H&S, Badger, Paasche, etc.

 

 

 

Kind of interesting actually to see those pictures of airbrush trade shows.

I've done something along the lines of what Don talks about on his page. As long as the needle isn't cracked or bent terribly I've been able to salvage them. A needle can become hooked just by picking paint off from tip dry with your finger nails. At first I used two coins held between thumb and forefinger and applied light pressure but I also rolled the needle between the coins while doing that. Then, I started using two small pieces of steel since coins aren't flat. I've also used a flat piece of steel and a piece of tempered glass. Take your time, don't apply too much pressure and roll the needle as you do this. Then you can clean up any burr with a sharpening stone or very fine sandpaper on a hard flat surface. If the needle has a double taper it's a little more touchy. I do keep spare needles but bent needles can be saved.

Don is a member of the forum, and he has a great site about airbrushes.  Here's his page on repairing bent needles.

https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/bentneedle

GMorrison

I don't know about that device but it looks geared towards the industrial user.

Sorry, but I have no idea what you mean by 'industrial user'?

From the related videos and reviews I've seen on this it is simply used for normal airbrushes as used in airbrushing models, e.g. Iwata, H&S, Badger, Paasche, etc.

I don't know about that device but it looks geared towards the industrial user.

I just draw mine over an Arkansas stone every now and then. Probably not the right thing to do.