Paint shaker

[ewetwo]

This might have been on here but I didn't see it. So I thought I would share it. I ordered on of these today. Hopefully it works well. 

[Miatatom]

Where did you get it?

[wayne00]

I was curious so I looked them up online.

Found this one on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Shaken Not Stirred Tattoo Ink Shaker Hobby Paint Mixer Permanent Makeup Pigment Nail Polish Gel Lacquer Microblading Varnish Bottle Shaking Machine: Beauty

Looks to be similar to the one OP has.

 

   Rog?

[peteski]

I bought a similar shaker from Micro-Mark about 20 years ago.  It is made by Robart.  It was originally designed for battery power, but it was upgraded to AC-power (included a permanently wired wall-wart).  It worked really well for small bottles (1/2 OZ. or smaller), but the motor didn't have enough "oomph" for larger bottles (1OZ. or larger) and it would really slow down.  It also used to walk on my workbench.  I glued in couple of large steel bolts in the battery compartment for ballast and that solved the walking problem.  I also found much more powerful geared motor I'm going to retrofit in the shaker.   For now the shaker is out of commission.

This is the current version. Mine was cream color and had a different label.

Edited June 1, 2021 by peteski

[NOBLNG]

Shaken or stirred, which is better? I use one of these so the lids don’t get paint all over them. ?

[iBorg]

3 hours ago, peteski said:

I bought a similar shaker from Micro-Mark about 20 years ago.  It is made by Robart.  It was originally designed for battery power, but it was upgraded to AC-power (included a permanently wired wall-wart).  It worked really well for small bottles (1/2 OZ. or smaller), but the motor didn't have enough "oomph" for larger bottles (1OZ. or larger) and it would really slow down.  It also used to walk on my workbench.  I glued in couple of large steel bolts in the battery compartment for ballast and that solved the walking problem.  I also found much more powerful geared motor I'm going to retrofit in the shaker.   For now the shaker is out of commission.

This is the current version. Mine was cream color and had a different label.

I'd love to see the motor retrofit and info on it. I've got one of these also twenty years old and would like to update.

 

[Xingu]

8 hours ago, iBorg said:

I'd love to see the motor retrofit and info on it. I've got one of these also twenty years old and would like to update.

 

I have one of these that I bought about 5 years ago and it does just fine with the 1 oz. jars of airbrush paint that I buy. Maybe they upgraded these at some point.

[ewetwo]

On 5/29/2021 at 11:42 AM, Miatatom said:

Where did you get it?

EBay Tom

 

[peteski]

9 hours ago, Xingu said:

I have one of these that I bought about 5 years ago and it does just fine with the 1 oz. jars of airbrush paint that I buy. Maybe they upgraded these at some point.

Quite possible since I  had mine for a long time.  Mine was powered by a small motor, similar to what powers inexpensive motorized toy cars.  It would still shake 1OZ. bottles but at about 1/3 of the oscillations of the small Testors bottles.

You got me curious. If you feel adventurous, and have some spare time, maybe you could unscrew the bottom plate and take a photo of the innards?

Edited June 2, 2021 by peteski

[Curt]

David, I just bought the one you show in the picture and I’m very happy with it.  It has no problem shaking the 2 oz. bottles.

[ewetwo]

20 hours ago, Curt said:

David, I just bought the one you show in the picture and I’m very happy with it.  It has no problem shaking the 2 oz. bottles.

Thank you Curt. Happy to know it'll work fine.

[peteski]

On 6/1/2021 at 2:00 AM, iBorg said:

I'd love to see the motor retrofit and info on it. I've got one of these also twenty years old and would like to update.

 

On top of the photo is the original motor.  The motor with the gearhead is much larger and has lots more torque.  The output shaft was rather large diameter, so I had to grind it down until I could fit the spherical brass coupler onto it.  Now I just need to create a mounting bracket for that motor, and put it all back together.  I also have a new wall-wart with a higher amperage rating that the one powering the original motor.   You can also see the large bolts I glued in to prevent the shaker from walking on the bench.

[iBorg]

Wow....that's a huge upgrade.

[Xingu]

18 hours ago, peteski said:

On top of the photo is the original motor.  The motor with the gearhead is much larger and has lots more torque.  The output shaft was rather large diameter, so I had to grind it down until I could fit the spherical brass coupler onto it.  Now I just need to create a mounting bracket for that motor, and put it all back together.  I also have a new wall-wart with a higher amperage rating that the one powering the original motor.   You can also see the large bolts I glued in to prevent the shaker from walking on the bench.

Mike - mine is similar in size as this one. I cracked it open right after your post and forgot to take a photo of it or even reply to your post. Sorry. I was shocked at how small it was. It has no trouble mixing 1 oz. jars from MCW. Maybe having the mixing ball in the jar helps though.

[peteski]

24 minutes ago, Xingu said:

Mike - mine is similar in size as this one. I cracked it open right after your post and forgot to take a photo of it or even reply to your post. Sorry. I was shocked at how small it was. It has no trouble mixing 1 oz. jars from MCW. Maybe having the mixing ball in the jar helps though.

Well mine would shake 1 oz. bottles but fairly slowly compared to smaller bottles (which where  oscillating like crazy).  It was really struggling. 

[modelercarl]

Just received mine from Amazon and tried it out with 1 oz. MCW without mixing ball(s).  It was amazingly quick completely mixing the paint that had completely separated.  Probably been stored for 5+ years.  No more sore 80 year old arm!  Tried it out on a bottle of MCW metallic and it mixed the separated paint but not the metallic flakes after 2 minutes, but it was easier mixing the flakes by hand than it used to be.  Will try leaving metallic in the mixer for longer period of time at a later date. 

[Bainford]

I wonder if it would have mixed the metallic flakes with a couple BBs tossed into the bottle.

[Capt. Speirs]

On 5/31/2021 at 7:34 PM, NOBLNG said:

Shaken or stirred, which is better? I use one of these so the lids don’t get paint all over them. ?

Stirred, shaken adds bubbles.

[peteski]

On 6/11/2021 at 11:18 PM, Capt. Speirs said:

Stirred, shaken adds bubbles.

Yes, I have heard this mentioned numerous times.  Yet, shaking is the only mixing method used in thousands of hardware stores and home improvement stores all over  the U.S. And the latex paint those paint shakers mix, shaking the bejesus out of is rather thick, so it should be really prone to trapping air bubbles. I have never had any air-bubbles problems with my latex paint  after it was being shaken, and I never heard of anybody complain that the paint shakers create air bubbles, making the paint difficult to apply.

Most of our hobby paints are also less viscous than the latex house paint, so bubbles should even be less of a concern.

[NOBLNG]

I don’t think bubbles are too much of a concern, especially if you are blowing it through an airbrush. The mess on the lids is my main irk. I have had some old testors paints that I couldn’t get the lids off with a pair of pliers.?

Edited June 13, 2021 by NOBLNG

[Miatatom]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

The mess on the lids is my main irk. I have had some old testors paints that I couldn’t get the lids off with a pair of pliers.?

I put layer of Peal and Stick wrap on top of the jar and then screw the lid on. Keeps it clean. If they're stuck, soak them in real hot water for a while. Then go for the pliers. Helps sometimes.

[peteski]

3 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

I don’t think bubbles are too much of a concern, especially if you are blowing it through an airbrush. The mess on the lids is my main irk. I have had some old testors paints that I couldn’t get the lids off with a pair of pliers.?

I'm very meticulous with my paint bottles.  When I'm ready to put the cap back on, I always clean the lip of the bottle and the seal inside the cap.  Not just wipe the paint off, but I use lacquer thinner on paper towel to remove all the paint.  Once I tighten the cap I shake the bottle so the paint gets on the seal. That way if the seal isn't 100% tight, the paint will dry in the areas that are not tight, sealing them tightly.  I have some paint bottles that are over 30 years old, and the paint is still usable.  And of course, I never have problems opening the bottle (just using my hand).

Edited June 13, 2021 by peteski

[37 caddy]

I have my own bodyshop for cars,what i did was put a bunch of the little testors bottles in a pint sized can,packed them in with  towel so they wouldnt break and put them on my air powered paint shaker for a couple of minutes,it actually worked to revive some of the older bottles i had,I even put the aerosol cans on too,you have to watch them as the plastic tops will start to loosen,but it works 100% to make the mettallics loosen up. harvey

[Skip]

On 5/29/2021 at 7:44 AM, ewetwo said:

This might have been on here but I didn't see it. So I thought I would share it. I ordered on of these today. Hopefully it works well. 

Got the same shaker off of eBay, I love it.  For high solid/pigment acrylics or the square Testers enamels in glass bottles you can’t  beat it.  I’ve always had issues with some acrylics getting the pigment fully mixed in with the acrylic and this always does the trick!  I’ve used it with everything I shoot through my airbrush, never had any issues with air bubbles in the mix, but I normally allow the mix to rest after any heavy agitation of any kind.  After the mix rests it’s normally stirred gently just like you’d normally do with any automotive paint.

I also have a Badger paint mixer, which in my opinion doesn’t do quite as good as the shaker does, especially on enamels that the pigment is all sitting on the bottom of the bottle.  The mixer left pigment on the bottom of the jar where the shakers agitation left none.  Paint shops and hardware stores shake paint for a reason, probably because mixing is messier or maybe because it works better…. They’ve probably tried about every way to mix paint that there is and they shake away!

Probably the best $30 I’ve spent on any paint gadget in a while, if I could get my One Shot enamels (1/2 pints) to shake on it I would in a heartbeat!

[ewetwo]

11 hours ago, Skip said:

Got the same shaker off of eBay, I love it.  For high solid/pigment acrylics or the square Testers enamels in glass bottles you can’t  beat it.  I’ve always had issues with some acrylics getting the pigment fully mixed in with the acrylic and this always does the trick!  I’ve used it with everything I shoot through my airbrush, never had any issues with air bubbles in the mix, but I normally allow the mix to rest after any heavy agitation of any kind.  After the mix rests it’s normally stirred gently just like you’d normally do with any automotive paint.

I also have a Badger paint mixer, which in my opinion doesn’t do quite as good as the shaker does, especially on enamels that the pigment is all sitting on the bottom of the bottle.  The mixer left pigment on the bottom of the jar where the shakers agitation left none.  Paint shops and hardware stores shake paint for a reason, probably because mixing is messier or maybe because it works better…. They’ve probably tried about every way to mix paint that there is and they shake away!

Probably the best $30 I’ve spent on any paint gadget in a while, if I could get my One Shot enamels (1/2 pints) to shake on it I would in a heartbeat!

Yes. I used mine and it works really well. It does move on the table a bit. But I was amazed at how heavy it was.