Iwata Eclipse - what's the knurled knob and cut out for?

[munnst]

The Iwata Eclipse has a cut out on the rear section and a knurled knob.

My revolution has the same knob. It's for stripping down and cleaning. It locks the needle in place. But the Eclipse has a cut out so you can get to the knob without taking the rear section off.

What's the point? I still have to take the rear section off anyway to clean and remove the needle.

Is the cut out just a way to make parts common to more advanced airbrushes? Or am I missing something here? It's not mentioned in the instructions?

My H&S has a fine adjustment knob so the cut-out makes sense. But not the Iwata,

 

 

 

 

[Ray_W]

According to Iwata: The cutaway handle (#19) is a special feature on the Eclipse. Its purpose is to free up paint clogs that may have formed at the tip of the airbrush without removing the handle and the needle.

[dnl42]

As Ray wrote, the cutout allows you to 'cough' the airbrush by pulling back on the needle, forcing a full fliow. This might be needed if your paint is prone to tip drying. While Mr Color doesn't usually suffer from this, I needed to cough my airbrush yesterday when I was applying a highlight color, with a lot of staring and stopping the paint flow.

[nheather]

The Eclipse doesn't normally have a knob at the end but some special editions do and you can buy that rear part separately.

 

The knob sets the amount the needle can be pulled back.  The idea is if you want to spray very fine consistent lines then you can set the knob and the airbrush needle is limited almost behaving like a single action airbrush.

[Vapouriser]

On 01/06/2022 at 20:43, munnst said:

The Iwata Eclipse has a cut out on the rear section and a knurled knob.

My revolution has the same knob. It's for stripping down and cleaning. It locks the needle in place. But the Eclipse has a cut out so you can get to the knob without taking the rear section off.

What's the point? I still have to take the rear section off anyway to clean and remove the needle.

Is the cut out just a way to make parts common to more advanced airbrushes? Or am I missing something here? It's not mentioned in the instructions?

My H&S has a fine adjustment knob so the cut-out makes sense. But not the Iwata,

 

 

 

 

Thanks for asking - it’s something I have always wondered but never thought to find out ! 

[Ngantek]

Yep all answered, I just thought it would be helpful to collect all the information into one post:

 

Going from the trigger and moving back, there's a long splined screw that can be adjusted to vary the spring tension in the trigger. Next we have the knurled knob (exposed through the open rear cover), which simply locks the needle into the mechanism; it's not for adjustment, and should not be loose during operation. Then as @nheather says, there are replacement rear covers ('preset covers') that also have a trimming screw right at the back that can limit the needle travel. 

 

The hole in the cover is to allow you to manually pull the needle fully back by tugging on the knurled knob. This is useful, as people have a said, to quickly clear tip dry (though make sure your next spray is away from the model!!), and also I use it when cleaning the brush to spray the cup empty a little faster.

 

[Ray_W]

46 minutes ago, Ngantek said:

I just thought it would be helpful to collect all the information into one post:

 

And some pictures:

 

 

 

Ray

[munnst]

On 08/06/2022 at 08:56, Ngantek said:

Yep all answered, I just thought it would be helpful to collect all the information into one post:

 

Going from the trigger and moving back, there's a long splined screw that can be adjusted to vary the spring tension in the trigger. Next we have the knurled knob (exposed through the open rear cover), which simply locks the needle into the mechanism; it's not for adjustment, and should not be loose during operation. Then as @nheather says, there are replacement rear covers ('preset covers') that also have a trimming screw right at the back that can limit the needle travel. 

 

The hole in the cover is to allow you to manually pull the needle fully back by tugging on the knurled knob. This is useful, as people have a said, to quickly clear tip dry (though make sure your next spray is away from the model!!), and also I use it when cleaning the brush to spray the cup empty a little faster.

Bingo. The sound of penny dropping.

"The hole in the cover is to allow you to manually pull the needle fully back by tugging on the knurled knob."

Never thought to do that but never experienced the problem either. I use a retarder when using acrylics.

Useful to know. Thank you.

[munnst]

On 08/06/2022 at 09:44, Ray_W said:

 

And some pictures:

 

 

 

Ray

Bingo. Penny two dropping.

Never knew you could adjust the spring tension. Always assumed it was screwed fully in always.

Thanks.

[munnst]

Another quick question. 

The lid on my eclipse is a poor fit and was poor from new. Is that a fault or are they all like that?

It fits but never sits correctly? Always wonky?

 

Thanks for all the replies. 10 years with an airbrush and still learning.

[Ray_W]

 

9 minutes ago, munnst said:

The lid on my eclipse is a poor fit and was poor from new. Is that a fault or are they all like that?

It fits but never sits correctly? Always wonky?

 

Mine is a slight interference fit. Fits snug without going fully home. Not wonky. Like most things Iwata it actually is a very nice fit.

 

 

 

12 minutes ago, munnst said:

Always assumed it was screwed fully in always

 

I knew I could adjust it but never found the need to. Always screwed it in most of the way.

 

Ray 

[munnst]

On 10/06/2022 at 17:49, Ray_W said:

 

 

Mine is a slight interference fit. Fits snug without going fully home. Not wonky. Like most things Iwata it actually is a very nice fit.

 

 

 

 

I knew I could adjust it but never found the need to. Always screwed it in most of the way.

 

Ray 

This is my cap fully inserted as far as possible?

Worth an email to Iwata? The brush is brand new.

[colin]

Never seem to understand the cut out as pulling the trigger all the way back will do the same thing surely 

[Ngantek]

10 hours ago, munnst said:

Worth an email to Iwata? The brush is brand new

Looks okay, it doesn't go flush completely.

Basically, does it function? If it stays in place and seals but can still be removed, I don't really see the issue; any difference with the above picture would be purely cosmetic. For the record, mine probably sits somewhere between the two pictures.

 

9 hours ago, colin said:

Never seem to understand the cut out as pulling the trigger all the way back will do the same thing surely 

The trigger doesn't pull the needle fully back such that it is fully removed from the choke (and you wouldn't want it to while spraying!). It will still poke out slightly. When clearing the tip, however, you want the needle to be fully immersed in paint. It also prevents you from poking your finger when cleaning from the front.

 

[Ray_W]

11 hours ago, munnst said:

Worth an email to Iwata? The brush is brand new.

 

Always worth an email.

 

I've had mine for many years and it still fits well. I do not recall what it looked like when brand new. As I expect some wear, being a slight interference fit, it may of been the same as yours Day 1. 

 

10 hours ago, colin said:

Never seem to understand the cut out as pulling the trigger all the way back will do the same thing surely 

 

I also very rarely use the cut-out, there usually being sufficient range with the trigger mechanism. The cut-out does provide a simple way to provide the extra travel (which it does) without removing the needle and having to dump any paint from the cup. Of course, if there was no cut-out you could just screw off the rear housing. The cut-out is handy though and does protect the rear needle extension if you drop the airbrush. And, yes, this happens.

 

This is an airbrush designed for a wide range of paint mediums some of which we may not typically get used in modelling and may benefit from having that extra needle travel for clearing troublesome paint.  I have used it when spraying Gunze's Mr Metal Color particularly with the smaller needle 0.2 mm in the HP-B Plus.

[Vapouriser]

Reference the paint cup lid - mine too is VERY snug, so much so that it took me several minutes of attempting to get it off last night !! (I think I had inadvertently put it on at a very slight angle) 😖 

[Chuuurles]

On 6/8/2022 at 3:56 AM, Ngantek said:

and also I use it when cleaning the brush to spray the cup empty a little faster.

 

🤯🤯.. Ser you have rocked my world this morning! This is a major annoyance for me