I received an as new Paasche AB Turbo to add to my collection. Was really nice to get my hands on one that has not been previously messed with, so that I can actually see and experience what it is supposed to be like. I got it working well enough that it allowed me to then easily set up an older one that I have (mid 40's vintage). I have read every piece of literature I could find, watched video's, and still could not get my first one sorted out to my satisfaction - till I had a chance to try one that worked the way it was supposed to - then it was like a light bulb turning on
. Looking forward to spending some more time with it. Oh, I titled the post Paasche AB x 2 because this experience allowed me to get my older one working quite nicely.
If there is anyone in this group that uses one, I do have a question that may be better answered by someone that has some experience with one.
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Yes I own a Paasche AB and used to use it for illustrator art. That's great that you acquired one but you're now learning the hard way why that brush is no longer in production, and, to be honest, you would be much better off acquiring an Iwata or Olympos Micron for fine detail work as these guns can do 98% of everything a Paasche AB is capable of.
OK, with that diatribe over, maybe I can help you troubleshoot your AB. I don't know if Airbrush Action is still in publication (they were when I did a lot of airbrush art in high school) but they used to publish a video on using an maintaining the Paasche AB which was really good. You may try surfing around Ebay for this (as well as a used VCR to play it with).
The big things with the Paasche AB.
1) Mediums MUST BE THINNED! This brush will not tolerate heavier paints like thicker Acrylics, lacquers, enamels, etc. The AB was a special use illustrator and photo retouch brush, not a T-shirt or van detailing brush. I remember a few artists used Oils with their ABs (God only knows how that went!) but typically you should restrict yourself to thinned water based paints ie watercolors, gouache, inks, dyes and airbrush acrylics.
2) Verify that you have medium flowing from the color cup into the needle bearing well. The hole in the needle bearing that feeds paint from the color cup into the needle bearing is very small so often paint will not enter the bearing due to surface tension around the hole. Sometimes the AB needs to be primed by placing a single drop of pigment onto the needle bearing. This can induce feeding from the color cup via capillary action during use.
3) Great care must be taken when handling or sharpening the needle as any deformities from a uniform taper dramatically affect the spray quality. If your eyesight is not that great, it's advised that all maintenance on the needle be done under a magnifying glass.
4) The needle travel path must be directly centered in the middle of the air nozzle aperture for best results. Any deviations from this alter spray patterns and cause problems. Again do this adjustment under a magnifying glass for the best precision during maintenance.
5) The trigger adjustment screw should be set such that no pigment sprays when the trigger is pressed and the turbine speeds up, but should begin to spray pigment the instant that the any kind of backwards movement of the trigger is made. This position can be located by moving the needle drive arm, and the turbine in the housing, until the needle is at its maximum extended position in its cyclic motion. Once you have moved the needle drive arm to this position (again do this under a magnifying glass) pull the trigger back until the tip of the needle is just about to extend into the bore line of the air nozzle. Set the trigger screw for this position on the trigger. Additional fine tuning will probably be needed thereafter by operating the brush and making iterative adjustments to the trigger set screw until no pigment sprays when the trigger is only pressed down.
6) The needle bearing will require the use of wax to seal it into the color cup and prevent leakage onto your artwork (you STILL want to use an AB on any commercial art you're doing after all this?). Get yourself some 100% pure beeswax and smear a little along the joint between the needle bearing and the color cup. Its also recommended to insert some kind of a mask into the needle trough on the bearing as well as a toothpick or similar mask in the hole in the needle bearing to prevent intrusion of wax into these parts and block pigment flow. Using a cigarette lighter, heat the ball of the color cup up until the wax melts into the crevices and seals the needle bearing with the color cup. Again, its best to do all this under a magnifying glass for the most precision.
7) Be sure to take quite a bit of time and familiarize yourself with the spray patterns associated with different air and turbine speed settings to prepare you for using this on a real piece of artwork.
Again the AB is not a brush for neophytes and even gave the pros a lot of headaches. But if you're interested in learning about one for collector or historical reasons, I hope this post helps you do that.
Take care