How To Polish Your Airbrush Needle For Better Performance - Airbrush Tips

[@joewilson9726]

Love your vids. As a life long modeler,(60 + years), I am still learning new techniques thanks to people like you! I never thought of polishing my air brush needle. Your paint color vids are great also. Thanks, Joe

[@barbatosrex9473]

Thanks Joe, you can teach an old dog new tricks 😀

[@sandrajohnson2489]

I have a tube of Flitz for polishing my silver jewelry. Great stuff. Never thought about cleaning my airbrush needles with it.

[@teddyjones8027]

Absolutely fantastic how to video, this is an easy step by step video that literally anyone can follow from beginner to experts and it's very much appreciated. Thank you for sharing and keep em coming please. Everyone keep yourselves and love ones safe and healthy.

[@fuqua626]

Took your advice on a previous video about getting a larger .5mm needle and it has made a world of difference in my base coats, gonna use this method to polish the needle out along with my other two

[@larrydelaruelle5778]

Great how-to video. This is what makes you the premier channel for paints and airbrushing. Thanks.

[@mbenn8168]

Badgers really benefit from polishing the sides of the trigger, and the edges of the little cut out slot where it rubs. I have the Patriot and Krome, my opinion is that as they aren't cheap, the factory finish is less good than it ought to be. Considering it is only a few minutes work with a Dremel. Also - For daredevils, plain needles such as the Iwatas can be spun in a cordless drill chuck with some Smurf poo, or Jewellers rouge to polish them with a glasses/spectacles cloth. It is an absolutely invaluable tune up. The needle slides better/smoother in the seals too. Good job Rex.

[@ranchobob48]

I sure enjoy your programs . I find them informative and easy to understand and follow and have noticed a significant improvement in my airbrushing skills since I started watching. Just thanks for doing what you seem to do very well!

[@barbatosrex9473]

Thank you for the kind words.

[@theguyonthecouch6109]

New sub. Been a wargamer for decades, finally broke down and bought an airbrush last year. Still learning. This is the first time I've seen someone suggest polishing the needle. Thank you for this.

[@dirty_c5573]

Great vid, just found your channel recently and I'm learning so much as noob lol The most important reason for making sure the you go with the rotation of the drum is so you don't catch the tip and destroy your polishing wheel and/or needle.

[@clivedurrant481]

Best resource videos on KZbin!

[@Usernameanonymous1]

I see you finally bought an iwata. It will be your favorite brush you use.

[@pak5502]

Glad I found your channel! Great info and I finally found three things that I haver been looking for, a good ultrasonic cleaner, paint mixer and a dehydrator! Mainly working on model railroad stuff but similar uses and techniques. I will have to replace the plastic spoons I grabbed from the kitchen to practice on! Keep up the great content.

[@barbatosrex9473]

Thanks buddy 👍 3 great tools to have, it makes everything better

[@tabletopgarage7625]

This is a must have if you build model cars I just purchased one and it is the only rotary tool I found runs slow enough to polish without burning the paint

[@monochrome2363]

The way i polish mine is to chug it on a drill and spin the needle on a microfiber cloth that sits on a flat surface. This way, you can get even coverage and cut.

[@xer0vi]

I got some of your paints and just did a brush test with them. I love them. Will be buying that Anodized Aluminum set soon. Mecha Empire will pretty much take care of my enamel paint needs from here on out.

[@barbatosrex9473]

Thanks, great to hear buddy. They do brush great. Later this week I'll reveal the next batch of colors. Excited to show them off

[@rick74304]

You can use Nevr dull, its a wadding cloth polish that is much cleaner to use and no power tool required.

[@barbatosrex9473]

Great info, thanks I'll pick one up

[@teddyjones8027]

ALSO YOUR NEW PAINT COLORS ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, WELL DONE BROTHER. 👍 👍

[@hippieliciouschick2972]

I have a regular Dreml tool. Would that be OK to use for polishing?

[@barbatosrex9473]

Absolutely

[@hippieliciouschick2972]

@@barbatosrex9473 thank you!

[@butchsbasementbuilds6828]

I picked up some of that flitz after seeing your older video...great stuff

[@KrippledKracka]

Would have been nice to see the before polishing spray patterns, and then an after polishing spray pattern to show how effective this maintenance can be.

[@nearzero1555]

Thanks for this video! I have a Masters compressor and gun combo set up. Hopefully this will let me get the most out of that thing!

[@ranradd]

That was really helpful. Thanks!

[@peckc16]

Thanks! I asked about this last week, you said it was coming up and sure enough there ya go! Very clear.

[@awash-mg8ce]

I just ordered the bag of 50 polishing wheels can't wait to get them

[@haarnoz]

Thanks for this very helpful video. May I ask? Have you heard of anyone using s good ceramic car wax on the polished needle or in the bowl of an airbrush? I think the hydrophobic properties of the ceramic car wax should keep the needle slippery and reduce dry tip/paint build up. Likewise cleaning the paint bowl/receptical should be easier? What do you think?

[@stephenespinola8186]

Love your videos they have helped a lot thanks

[@TheRandomDave]

great video. I'll be sure to polish the needle on my first airbrush when it arrives. cheers

[@darrylcarpenter903]

Great idea polishing the needle. I believe the black on your cloth is fine metal removed from needle and not carbon.

[@treborrrrr]

It is, yeah. It's going to keep getting the wheel/cloth black as long as you keep adding more polishing compound.

[@tonyalvarez486]

I can always count on you to provide GREAT information...keep the informative content coming!

[@yueayase84]

I had a hard time finding a safe container for my needles until recently. "Masters Touch watercolor Round Brush pen set" works amazing after you remove the brush fibers I was able to store my needles safley. And with this tutorial I can keep them clean and stored thank you.

[@Jim-yk9if]

This was so helpful! Thank you for these videos!

[@aaronlangford5352]

This was really needed. Thank you!

[@Rob_Teh_Builder]

Rumor has it, if you say "Needlejuice" 3 times in a row, Rex shows up in a black and white suit and fixes all of your painting gear XD

[@deenjoan9938]

Thanks have to say didn't know about the Sharpen Air but , I have one on order now thanks to you thanks to you

[@ruanecrummett9261]

You have the best most informative videos thank you for spending the time

[@barbatosrex9473]

You're welcome buddy

[@billywillis4194]

I chuck the back end of the needle in my cordless drill and run the cloth with polish up and down the needle to polish it while running the drill .

[@davegiles2344]

Thank you

[@danielkaras90]

Thank your for the video. I bought sharpen air after seeing your review, but I think it somehow damaged my 0.35mm needle. When viewed under a strong light source, there are horizontal "grooves" going around the tip. It looks like something a 200grit sandpaper would leave behind. They are still visible even after polishing. Not sure what I did wrong.

[@erraddict]

Do you have any gunpla painting videos? I wanna see how you do it

[@jimbe01]

Thank you for the video, very helpful.👍😳👍

[@barbatosrex9473]

Thank you my friend

[@bigchef2112]

I need to polish mine. 👍👍 those are great paints. Your gun barrel blue looks amazing. Going to order some this week.

[@411maintainer]

Thank you for this very informative video

[@PENFOLD1962]

Put a small V shaped groove in the polishing pads with a blade, it stops the needle slipping off.

[@psfanboy79]

I recently started to attempt airbrushing. I have a basic set up nothing crazy, just a Iawata Eclipse Hp-Cs and a pancake air compressor that I dual regulated. When I saw the needle was what I think is aluminum I wondered if polishing it with Mothers Aluminum polish would help preformance

[@mobilegamersunite]

Thanks for sharing! I'm just getting into airbrush and your vids are very helpful. Tha ks for all the knowledge 🙂

[@credoimperialis]

Awesome tip, thanks again.

[@mikeweber3315]

hello there, i would like to know two things, one= is where can i find the sharpening tool for the needles? second is = what is the name of the new paint you talked about so i know to look for it?

[@jimmycoffey8506]

Thank you for the tips 😊

[@chuchuchip]

I like Simichrome Polish creme. Used Flitz for a long time. I think think Simichrome Polish is finer, also highly recommended in the knife (collecting) world. Sharpen Air stones are replaceable. I'd use this to reshape the point if needed, not constant use. I oil only moving parts on airbrush, not the needle.

[@ejcheck]

Very nice video. But if I might offer a correction or comment. The black is not carbon build-up on the needle. Flitz is an excellent metal polish and what you are doing in polishing is removing minute amounts of the metal from the needle and that is what is causing the black color. Sure, any residual paint will be removed but the color should be the same as the paint. The Flitz is actually removing small bits of metal smoothing the needle and clearing up any pitting or oxidation. It is the smoothing of the surface that provides the shine to the metal.

[@Bob0sModelFabWorx]

Great tips. And I love the new products.

[@statoilbensin2190]

Mr Barbos its a while since I have seen a video or upload from you, are busy working with youre new paints?

[@barbatosrex9473]

PC has died. Won't have a new o e till mid next week. I'm trying to post one this weekend using my wife's laptop

[@insane18700]

As usual another great video. I find myself patiently waiting for the next. I can always count on you for the tips and tricks. I like this one as I already own a dremel so I am starting out ahead of the game. Huge fan of the 300zx. Could you recommend a good model 300zx to buy? Tamiya seems to have a decent kit? I had a 93 300zx many moons ago. Great 90's car.

[@barbatosrex9473]

Any of the Tamiya Z kits are great. I actually own all of them. And they do make aot of them. I have an Aoshima Z kit and that's a nice one too but probably cost more than the Tamiya kits

[@insane18700]

@@barbatosrex9473 I dont mind paying for quality kits

[@MissingLinkMTB]

If you can't get Flitz, for a 2nd place Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish works great.

[@natalebabbo-gunplaanddioramas]

Great tips! Excellent solutions. Thank you for sharing.

[@Allessio777]

So what are the benefits of a polished needle? (Other than appearance)

[@barbatosrex9473]

smoother paint flow, it atomizes the paint better and it's easier to clean paint off

[@doublenickelbob]

Great video good tips. What do you think of tamiyas newest decal setting solution super strong?

[@barbatosrex9473]

Trying to get my hands on some. No one locally has it so I ordered it and just waiting it's arrival

[@admiralcag]

2 questions - can you use other polishes, like Brasso and do you clean or discard your polishing wheels & microfiber cloths? Great video!

[@treborrrrr]

Yes, you can use any cream that is made for polishing metal. There's nothing magic about that particular brand. And no, you don't have to discard the wheels or cloths, they last a surprisingly long time.

[@joesanchez979]

Good to know 👍

[@jorey4565]

Nice,i used too product called "pierre blanche"+ "the Masters "a soap to clean,restore and lubricate artist brushes.. "Pierre blanche" cleaned,protected and polished gently..

[@CrimsonFlagg]

Great video as always. I was also wondering if you announced the winner of the airbrush giveaway yet.

[@barbatosrex9473]

I do but never heard back from the dude. I'm picking another winner tonight

[@mrdeguzman75]

what's the purpose of polishing them wouldn't the paint still stick to the needle.

[@barbatosrex9473]

Paint has a harder time sticking to a polished needle. Non polished is more porous

[@mrdeguzman75]

@@barbatosrex9473 good to know thanks

[@briansrcadventures1316]

I guess one consideration would be so that the direction of rotation of the polishing wheel doesn't catch on the point of the needle?

[@barbatosrex9473]

Absolutely 👍

[@RockRidX]

Anyone know a uk equivalent of Flitz?

[@barbatosrex9473]

Autosol

[@hannya66]

I'm in the UK ,I got Flitz off Ebay, 150 gram tube , it'll last forever, and it's the best .

[@ramza813]

how to sharpen a needle- step 1- see the sharpender is 44 bucks step 2- buy a new needle for 4.95 step 3- profit!

[@mikes1031]

Making sure you have a nice pointed needle and putting a nice polish on your needle is a great way to improve performance, and slow tip dry. But I think the order you did it, in the video is wrong. You don't sharpen it last so the cutting stone marks are left on the needle tip surface, you sharpen it first and polish the sharpening stone marks out of it. So it is smooth and shiny as glass or chrome, all the way to the nice sharp tip. Still a good info video.

[@x13roger80]

The dark marks are steel particles that the polish has removed. Not carbon.

[@joeynuggetz]

Have you ever encountered a needle that was a bit tight? My H&S needle needed a bit of force to get it seated into the new nozzle. I replaced it as the old nozzle seemed to have enlarged and the needle seems to protrude too much but the new one seems tight and I hope I dont run into the same problem with using too much force to seat it. This tells me that the precision of the needle grind and the inside of the nozzle aren't very precise. Can you advise if Iwata needles and nozzles are better quality in terms of fitment?

[@1804angus]

I never knew. Do you answer emails? Thanks enjoy the tubes

[@barbatosrex9473]

Sure, email address is in the description

[@BloodSteyn]

13:55 ... I see what you did there.

[@johnholmes4960]

I would use crocus cloth wet, and spin the needle. Not very fast but wet and for several minutes. Much, much finer and safer. 🤠

[@koolkatkustomdiecast801]

Hahaha I have those wheels and the flitz have a expensive dremel though.

[@bryansmith5980]

should the needle be mic'd (Micromiter) for thickness over time and polishing?

[@THROTTLEPOWER]

👍👍👍👍

[@kimijonghighball9626]

McLaren - Senna - nice name

[@Woodpile63]

Mr. Blue Sky please tell us why You had to hide away for so long (so long) Where did we go wrong?

[@torowazup1]

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@BennyCFD]

Mr Rex.....I don't get. I've had my patriot 105 for decades original needle, still works great. I can maybe see polishing a .2 or smaller needle for fine art airbrushing like hair. But the 105 is a .5 needle. I would bet in a double blind test nobody could tell the difference.

[@barbatosrex9473]

This is a demo for all models. I just happened to use my Patriots for the video. However when I polish my needles, I just do them all.

[@BennyCFD]

@@barbatosrex9473 I understand Mr Rex. If the needle is clean without a polish Just saying I doubt that anybody in a blind test could ever tell the difference in performance.

[@czaczaja]

How to take the coating off your needle and make it rust tutorial..

[@hannya66]

There is no coating on a stainless steel needle, they are NOT chromed .

[@jayandry3392]

Oxidation not canon.

[@nikolajc7617]

I dont understand that sharpener, not all needles have the same angle and if the sharpener have a different angle you just destroy the needle instead of repair it.

[@garypic4083]

20 mintues on how to buff your needle.

[@ghostrangerp.8819]

Unfortunately this whole process of cleaning isnt thorough i can tell that the needles still arent clean...there is a much better way to do this...by using this product Unfortunately bei g lazy is tge new way...

[@lawrencemccoy]

Thank you

[@barbatosrex9473]

You're welcome