October 6, 2012

Easy Iwata Trigger Mod ! ! !


Today was the first day I sprayed with the Iwata Custom Micron SB and it swept me off my feet! Now the CM SB is at least on par with the Paasche Turbo where the control over fine lines is concerned. Not only does it spray ultra fine lines, but the measure of control over variations in the lines is absolutely fabulous... From now on I will no longer need the Turbo to spray ultra-fine detail; The Iwata does the job equally good!

Iwata Custom Micron SB Trigger Mod


I previously applied the same modification to the Harder & Steenbeck Infnity gun, which also significantly improved its handling. A 7 millimetre hard felt pad from Dremel (originally a miniature polisihing disk) was glued with a Bison Kit (Montage Kit in Dutch) onto the airbrush' trigger. To me it was impossible to anticipate the measure of improvement that a 7 mm taller trigger would result in. But from experience I can recommend every owner of the CM SB to modify his or her airbrush. You will most certainly not regret it!

Besides the increased level of control, the felt pad feels much more comfortable against the index finger than the original trigger's steel rest. The modest amount of elongation does not force the hand to be held in an acrobatic position and spraying can be done for hours at the time without fatigue making airbrushing difficult. The felt is somewhat flexible which also cancels out abrupt movement of the index finger to some level. All in all this taller trigger is a marvellous improvement.

For those who clean their brush in an ultrasonic cleaner it is good to know that both the Dremel pad and the glue withstand being submerged in the cleaner, even when organic agents - I use liquid green soap - are added to the water in the cleaner. I haven't had the pad to come off the trigger yet and I've cleaned it almost after every session for three years. So this solution does not just give better control and a more comfortable feeling of the airbrusher's index finger, but it is also quite rugged.