Harbor Freight Single Action Review
4/2011
Well, you won't find an airbrush much cheaper than this one. The regular price is $9.99. I got one on sale at $7.99, and I believe it has even been offered as low as $5.99. So, what do you get for that kind of money?
Here's what's in the box:
There's the airbrush, a 55" plastic hose, two bottles, a wrench, a 1/8" to 1/4" compressor adapter and an adapter for canned air. I don't know what sort of can the can adapter fits. Harbor Freight doesn't seem to sell it and it's way different than the Badger type. The large jar is kind of funny. You might think that it's there for spraying large amounts of paint. But, the lid size is different, and it won't accept the lid with the airbrush connection. So, it's really just a weird shaped spare jar.
The brush is obviously a copy of the Badger 350. I don't know how they get away with this, but it must be legal.
It even fits a Badger hose. None of the other parts are interchangeable though. It's made in China, of course.
It's kind of interesting that there's no brand or model number on it, just the words air-brush. I guess that's to make sure you know what it is.
Here it is broken down as much as possible.
There is no needle seal inside the nozzle. Instead, there's a tiny O-ring on the needle, an obvious cost saving.
Here are the nozzle and needle on the left and Badger 350 medium components on the right. The scrape mark on the side of the nozzle is there because it rubs against the knurled part of the air cap when it is adjusted. One surprise was that I couldn't fully close the needle. Something inside the nozzle won't allow the needle to fully seat. The wall thickness of the nozzle is much thicker than the Badger. The threads on the needle are about 33 turns per inch vs. 40 turns per inch of the 350. This will make spray adjustment more touchy. Here is a close up of the needle. It has a funny little bump on the end rather than a point.
First Impressions
What can I say? It's cheap, and it looks cheap. The machining of the nozzle and needle is crude. The trigger force is about the same as the Badger, but the throw is longer. And, of course, it fits in the hand just like the 350.
Trying it out
I had read the reviews on the Harbor Freight website, and one of the complaints was that the bottle wouldn't fit tight. I soon found out that's true. The bore in the needle is over sized, and the tube on the bottle is too short to fully tighten. It feels like it could fall off. Strangely enough, the bottle and cup from the dual action Harbor Freight airbrush have longer spouts, and they tighten OK.
I put some food coloring in a cup and shot it on a paper towel. The box says the spray pattern will go from 1/4" to 2". I found that I could do better than that, as you can see on the right. I sprayed at 25psi. Atomization is pretty poor, and that could partially be due to the bump on the end of the needle. It's possible that another sample might be much better, or much worse. Closing down the nozzle does completely stop the spray, even though the needle doesn't fully fill the opening. I tried spraying some Rust-Oleum enamel, that I had decanted from a spray can, on a plastic bottle. I say I tried, because I just couldn't get a smooth coat. The atomization was just too poor. If you compare the head with a 350 medium head you can see why this might be.
Conclusion
From the sloppy machining I see on this brush, I would expect there to be large variation from batch to batch. So, it's possible that some may work just fine. That could explain the few reviews I saw that were favorable. But, I'd say it was a long shot.
Since it is a direct copy of the 350, there is no reason that it couldn't spray as well if it were well made. But, it isn't, and it doesn't. Even the simple Badger 250 sprays smoother. My recommendation if you are considering this brush, either from Harbor Freight or under some other name, is to save up a little more cash and get a real 350. You might avoid some disappointment.
Postscript
This was one of those cases of nothing to lose, so I decided to see if I could make any improvement by reworking the nozzle and needle. Here they are on the left, and the result on the right.
It's certainly better. I tried spraying the Rust-Oleum again, and I was able to get a smooth coat by applying it fairly heavy. But, it was clear that the atomization is still not as good as the 350.