Why the unloved airbrush preset screw may actually be a really helpful ‘cheat code’ feature.
My Iwata airbrush didn’t come with a preset — the screw stop which allows you to set a limit on the needle travel — but I began to think that it could help with a weak spot in its otherwise pretty decent performance.
The HP-CS is an all-rounder with a large .35mm nozzle, which can produce fine lines as long as I’m on top of my game. But one possible downside of its flexibility seems to be a step in the flow curve, which makes it noticeably less progressive than that of a fine, high-end airbrush. Most resins and some solvents are quite tolerant of it, but with metal paints there’s a short hop between ‘barely enough’ paint and ‘way too much’.
Really, any task which demands a specific and consistent flow rate could be marred by a small misjudgment, loss of concentration, or the doorbell ringing.
However, when I searched for insight about presets, I found an overwhelming consensus against their utility. The question “should I buy one?” is met with a succession of unqualified replies along the lines of “don’t bother, I never use it.” A landslide vote of no confidence, then, but very little in the way of supporting arguments or data.
And if they really are so pointless, why are they commonplace on higher end airbrushes and increasingly found on budget models? That could conceivably be dismissed as upselling by differentiation, but if professionals didn’t want them, professional airbrushes wouldn’t have them. Much like those features which are common on many cameras except the pro models.
I put far more value on experimental data, preferably my own, than all the world’s contextless opinions. The proof of this principle can be found in several great products which I wouldn’t have tried had I been swayed by critics. So my research only made me more convinced that, for less than the price of a kit, I should try a preset for myself…
…and I can confirm that it turned out to be £40 very well spent. Whenever I need it for critical spraying tasks, especially fine lines or those fussy metal paints, I do a quick test to dial in the sweet spot and it's one less way for me to mess up!
There’s a moral somewhere in this little story. 🤔
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