discussion Turn paint bottles into rattle bottles

[Guest]

Some paints (e.g.. Vallejo Clear gloss varnish, Flory Washes) tend to clump in their bottles and need a lot of shaking and you never know whether it is enough. I read somewhere that putting a stainless steel nut in the bottle makes it behave as a rattle can and needing much less shaking but giving better mixing. I got mine from:

A2 Stainless M5 Nuts

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£1.05 plus VAT and delivery charge of £3.50 It is big enough not to jamb the spout of Vallejo bottles. (But Tamiya say that their Clear Flat varnish XF-86 should be stirred carefully, not shaken.)

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[Guest]

I've used ball bearings from automotive ballraces before, never thought of nuts though .... Might have to have a rummage through the shed

Every trade I've heard mention varnish say you should always mix slowly and never shake "clears" as you end up with loads of air bubbles that tarnish the finish when they sit on the surface.

 

[Guest]

Perhaps the old oil based varnish Colin may have been susceptible to bubbles but the water based ones do not seem to be.

I give the Valljo Varnish as real clattering & not had any problems at all.

The worst I found are the Valljo model paints. Really nice paints but they are little devils to mix. Ordered a small Dentist's Vibrator ( chuckle chuckle) which is adjustable to your needs. Let you know how that goes.

Matter of Interest. Did take possesion of one which came from China. But it had a fault & sounded like a road drill. Had an Ebay Resolution Centre case as the suppliers were not returning my emails which they did as soon as Ebay sent one. Went on for 10 days with only half answers coming back.Said I did not want one back just the return of the money. About to order another but from an English Company I thought. Traced it to America then found that to was a Chinese company.

Laurie

 

[Gern]

If it's any use to you Laurie, I got one of those shakers. Unless you get the paint fairly well stirred before you use it, it doesn't do any good! They're not strong enough to cause the thicker paint which has settled at the bottom to start breaking up and mixing with the base liquid.

Gern

 

[offender]

I use ceramic baking beans i found ball bearings start to rust

Rob

 

[Guest]

Most i have are 440c stainless bearings, I normally use the paint up before they've even thought about even tarnishing

 

[Ian M]

This is not some thing I have tried myself, yet but I have seen several videos on the interweb where people have made paint shakers out of reciprocating saws, thats a crocodile saw to you and me....

Take an old blade and fix a plastic jar type container with a screw top, (an old medicine pot?) to it. put the a bit of foam in the bottom pop the paint bottle in it, bit more foam, screw the lid on and pull the trigger. One well shaken bottle of paint!

I'm dying to try it but dont have one of those saws, ....yet.

Ian M

I have tried the stainless nut thing, that works well and I have a good supply of A16 / 316 steel nuts (work)

 

[Guest]

Thinking about it.. You could make a contraption to fit in a variable speed jigsaw

 

[Guest]

Yes I tried, as mentioned on here previously, a B & D drill with an Allan Key in the chuck. Going OK until it made a hole in the tin (like a 2 litre can of emulsion) & the tin inturn started to spin on the Alan Key. Blimey what a mess.

So I only go with pre designed jobs now. Thanks Dave seems I am on a loser there as well.

Laurie

 

[Guest]

Dave how do you manage to keep the paint on the Dentist's vibrator. I use mainly Valljo bottles.

Laurie

 

[Gern]

I got some 2" wide masking tape and ....

Gern

PS Forgot to mention that the bottles do not need to stick to the tape. The 'wall' it creates is high enough to stop them jumping out.

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[Guest]

Hey that is so effective & as they say (not sure who they is) the simple things are the best.

Thanks Dave

Laurie

 

[Guest]

I use bb pelts the plastic ones for my paints there cheap and you get loads I just pop 2 in the bottle and your good to go no worries about rusting in the bottle.

martin.

 

[Guest]

I would be concerned about placing a nut in the paint in case there's a reaction, rust was mentioned. I've considered trying to make some kind of cage or holder with a piece to fit in a hand drill.

 

[Guest]

Flory's advice specified a stainless steel nut, (see my post), so hopefully it would not deteriorate. I will fish one or two out sometime next year to see.

 

[Guest]

I've just bought a set of Vallejo Model Air and being thin enough to use straight through an airbrush do they really need to be shaken that vigorously?

 

[Guest]

I've just bought a set of Vallejo Model Air and being thin enough to use straight through an airbrush do they really need to be shaken that vigorously?

I believe that Vallejo say that their Air range does not need thinning, it being thin enough already. However, I and many other modellers thin them a little by about 5% just to make sure that the airbrush will not block.

I shake all their Model Air paint (and other makes of paint) which does not have a stainless steel nut in them for, say, 15 seconds if it has not been used for some time, to make sure that the pigment is thoroughly dispersed. Some paint seems to clump more than others, probably due to the type of pigment and its natural tendency to clump. I know that their gloss varnish definitely clumps in the bottle and produces a thick mass at the bottom. I think it is better to be safe.

Tamiya say that their Clear Flat varnish must not be shaken, just stirred, presumably because it would cause minute bubbles.

 

[Guest]

Actually Steve Vallejo say that although they are prepared specially for air brushing thinning is down to the user. Different needle/nozzle sizes temperature compressor pressure all dictate how much you thin. On average I thin 20 / 25%.

Not had any problems with the Vallejo gloss varnish. After a break in moving etc about 4 months just had a look at the gloss varnish & it is the same at the bottom as the top no need for shaking. But they had a batch which was poor quality which clumped & clogged my airbrush. They replaced it plus a bonus.

I also use Vallejo premium Acrylic Polyurethene Gloss Varnish which does not need any shaking at all & air brushes perfectly.

Vallejo web site has a veiritable mine of information.

The first belwo questions with answers. They give info on thinning & stirring of paint although I shake them like mad & do not get any problems at all.

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/media/65a2f7365274da82fe3b0d786827957b.cms/model-faqs-cc001-rev03.pdf

http://www.acrylicosvallejo.com/en_US/media/1bbb33f90bc1bbb81bebfcd775bf22f1.cms/cc071-rev11.pdf

Laurie

 

[Guest]

I would be concerned about placing a nut in the paint in case there's a reaction, rust was mentioned. I've considered trying to make some kind of cage or holder with a piece to fit in a hand drill.

Yeah I seen that I think stainless would be ok im not sure about galvanised or anything else.

If you live near a body shop the go through a lot of rattle cans, I would imagine the ball would be perfect. I have 2 friends that paint cars, I might try that.

 

[Guest]

As any nut will be at the bottom of the container & covered with paint rust will not be a problem.

Matter of interest sometimes stainless steel can look aa though it is rusting. Used to be into boats, real not model, & the pulpit some times looked as though it was rusting away. In the production manufacturers use ferrous metal wheels & fine wire brushes to finish the metal. Minute pieces of the ferrous metal embed themselves in the surface of the stainless steel & then go to rust.

Laurie