whats good for airbrush lube?

I recommend you buy some Badger Needle Juice or Medea Supe Lube.
One bottle will last you many years so it is not expensive.

Mike

I agree with the above... for about $5 or $6 the bottle lasts FOREVER, I've had mine about a year now and it is almost full still... Some people use different things, but I know at least in my Iwata manual it warns about not using things like light machine oil and I forget what else as it may damage the needle bearing... better safe than sorry!

plus it gives you the excuse to order a kit or two to offset shipping costs! (www.greatmodels.com carries it, I think you just search for needle lube or regdab or medea lube to find it...) Hobby Island doesn't carry it often unfortunately...

good luck to ya!

I use glycerin from the pharmacy. Learned that trick from an old school t-shirt airbrusher.

Glycerin? *forehead slap* That's what the stuff is! I paid a horrendous price for a small bottle of Medea Super Lube. (I won't say how much, so you guys can't make fun of me! ).

Ah. Well. Based on how much gets used, the darn bottle will last me years, so the cost per use is negligiable.

Hey guys, I've got a badger... i wanna say 150 single action siphon feed airbrush. I don't have any lube on it, nor have i ever put any on. Can ya give me some suggestions as to how to do this?

The Badger 150 is a double action, not single.

The lube is smeared onto the first third of the needle. Just remove it, smear it on and gently replace it. It doesn't take very much. To steal the line from Brylcreem "A Little Dab'll Do Ya!".

I do think that glycerin is a major component of the commercial needle lubricants. It's an ingrediant of many different kinds of paints so it won't react badly with any of them (there are probably exceptions to this). I know it's in gouche, a good amount of the acrylics availble, and doesn't react with enamels, laquer based paints or even 2 part urethain based paint.

The consistency of the stuff and the resulting glide is perfect. I just dip the tip of the needle in the stuff and then insert it. The stuff is fairly viscous and will get where it needs to go. Neither glycerin or commercial lubricants are expensive, so the cost per use of either is really really low. I say use whichever is easier to get or stick with the commercial stuff as it is designed for this kind of work.

thanks for the replies everyone. i would go for the commercial stuff but i need something i can run down to the store and buy, walmart is closer than a hobby shop for me . again thank you for the replies and i'll pick up some glycerin asap. the info this board provides is gold!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bgrigg The Badger 150 is a double action, not single. The lube is smeared onto the first third of the needle. Just remove it, smear it on and gently replace it. It doesn't take very much. To steal the line from Brylcreem "A Little Dab'll Do Ya!".

D'OH!!! See I got the brush from a friend who didnt even know what it was, so I didnt buy it. It's a badger 100.... just a little wishful thinking on my part

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bgrigg The Badger 150 is a double action, not single. The lube is smeared onto the first third of the needle. Just remove it, smear it on and gently replace it. It doesn't take very much. To steal the line from Brylcreem "A Little Dab'll Do Ya!".

Put the lube on the front half of the needle.

Mike

I've been using some Remmington Gun oil when I airbrush with acrylics.. seems to work ok for me. (its what I just had laying around...

QUOTE: D'OH!!! See I got the brush from a friend who didnt even know what it was, so I didnt buy it. It's a badger 100.... just a little wishful thinking on my part

The 100 is basically the same as the 150 except that the 150 is siphon feed and the 100 is gravity feed. Both are double-action brushes (a good thing!).

LOL I give up!!!! which one is the single action siphon fed brush????

QUOTE: Originally posted by RadMax8 LOL I give up!!!! which one is the single action siphon fed brush????

The 200?

Yep, the 200 is the single action siphon feed.

QUOTE: Originally posted by looper thanks for the replies everyone. i would go for the commercial stuff but i need something i can run down to the store and buy, walmart is closer than a hobby shop for me . again thank you for the replies and i'll pick up some glycerin asap. the info this board provides is gold!

Another cheap and accessable lube is sewing machine oil. It comes in a 1-3 oz.
plastic bottle with a nice long pointed nozzle. I think Singer makes it.

I do use sewing machine oil (singer oil) for my iwata and no problem so far.

QUOTE: Yep, the 200 is the single action siphon feed.

Correct. I have one of them as well.

QUOTE: I do use sewing machine oil (singer oil) for my iwata and no problem so far.

There are several people here who have mentioned using oil-based lubricants such as WD-40 on needles without any problems. As long as it works for them, that's fine. Personally I don't want to use something that might get blown off into the paint. Laquers and possibly enamels may dissolve them, but acrylics will not. If they spit out with the paint they will make a mess. A tube of airbrush lube will last forever and only costs a few dollars. I'm going to use something that I'm pretty confident isn't going to ruin a paint job I've put a lot of time into.

Good point Scott, especially with the water based paints, however, I rarely placed oil
on the needle of my Iwata HP-C. I usually placed a drop on the "botton" and let it
run down to the spring mechanism.