Switching Needles from Medium to Fine - Badger 100SG

Sorry, but no you can't. The 175 and 100/150 series use completely different parts. You'll need to order these parts:

50-0161 F Head Assembly Complete
50-0401 F Needle

I would also suggest getting 50-050 Prepared Beeswax, which is used for resealing the head assembly to the body.

Then just swap out the head assembly using the wrench that should have been in the kit, and replace the needle. If you use pliers you run the risk of crushing the parts or knocking them out of round. Even the slightest deviation from true round will cause havoc!

If you put 99 in front of the part numbers above you have Dixie Art's part's numbers! They will likely be less expensive than buying from Badger direct!

Bill,

in that case, I also have a 150-4 that comes with all three needles/nozzles. I can use those, right?

Do I just unscrew the head assembly, pull out the needle, and install the fine ones? Do each of the three grades have to use its own head assembly and needle? How and where do you apply the wax?

Thanks for the help,

Yang

The 100 & 150 are really the same airbrush, the only difference is the actual body itself. Trigger, valve, head etc. are identical.

Pull the needle first and put someplace where you won't damage the tip (or damage yourself WITH the tip!) and unscrew the head assembly from the SG, you should be able to remove the entire assembly without breaking down the individual parts. There is a teflon washer (50-055) that you must be careful not to damage or lose! The beeswax goes on the threads that attach the head assembly to the body (50-0381). It's not strictly required, but it goes a long way to avoid leaking. You don't want to overtighten the head as it crushes the washer.

DO NOT remove, damage or lose the Teflon Needle Bearing (50-046)! That is a part that Badger suggests the user does not replace, as improper installation can cause the needle to be out of tune. If you lose that part, or damage it, they suggest returning the entired airbrush to them for installation. Which isn't a bad thing as they tend to tune up the brush when it's there. You do have to pay shipping both ways, I believe. I've never had to do that (knocks wood). Yet!

I've included a partial of the "exploded" view of the AB.



The rest of the parts can be found HERE.

Good luck!

Thanks again for your Help Bill! I will do the switch tonight.

Iron Eagle wrote:

Bill, in that case, I also have a 150-4 that comes with all three needles/nozzles. I can use those, right? Do I just unscrew the head assembly, pull out the needle, and install the fine ones? Do each of the three grades have to use its own head assembly and needle? How and where do you apply the wax? Thanks for the help, Yang

did you get it done?  You really don't have to worry about the teflon needle bushing that much unless you are cleaning the airbrush with a pipecleaner or something.  but yea otherwise your steps are just fine.  M needle out first, M head out second, then F head in and F needle in.  A nice 2 minute job.  You have to replace the head assembly together (cheaper to order as an assembled set anyways) since the nozzle and the nozzle cap are matched.

Thanks archangel, I got it done last night, in the exact order as you described, without any problems. The only thing that kinda bugs me is that there is no way to tell the sizes of the needles/nozzles unless you have all three to make a comparison. The fine needle/nozzle though... wow it is eh... fine. I haven't gotten around to trying it yet, but will probably give it a shot (quite literally) tonight.

If you look closely at the dull end you will see grooves cut close to the end. I'm too lazy to go and look, but I think the fine has one groove and the coarse has three. Those may be reversed. It's a mathematical surety that the medium has two grooves.

Bgrigg wrote:

If you look closely at the dull end you will see grooves cut close to the end. I'm too lazy to go and look, but I think the fine has one groove and the coarse has three. Those may be reversed. It's a mathematical surety that the medium has two grooves.

Your 50/50 guess was alrite Bill.  Just confirmed that by looking at my SG.  For the head assembly, they stamp F and M on the side of the crowncap/nozzlecap piece.

Cool! BTW archangel, how fine a line can you get with your 100SG setup? I tried to do the curve on the forward fuselage of an 1/72 F-16 just to see if it can be done, but got lots of overspray. However I was using the medium needle. I still gotta try the fine one.

Did something right! Must go and tell wife!

Iron Eagle wrote:

Cool! BTW archangel, how fine a line can you get with your 100SG setup? I tried to do the curve on the forward fuselage of an 1/72 F-16 just to see if it can be done, but got lots of overspray. However I was using the medium needle. I still gotta try the fine one.

I don't think my line went finer than 1/10th of an inch with my lousy control while the pressure is dialed at under 10psi.  I only used tamiya acrylic with the F needle and tip set and had to thin it down to like a 1:4 paint to thinner ratio and layed down multiple layers.  I think there was still overspray but probably dismissed it since I was only doing preshading with black acrylic paint, so your mileage may vary.  I had since then used the medium set for most of the preshading and fillin the rest of the colors with an iwata eclipse SBS.