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Hi guys

I'm thinking of adding them to my Vallejo paints and was just wondering if anybody has had success with them? They are stainless steel correct so they won't rust? Would appreciate hearing your opinions on them

Jeremy

I didn’t get army painter, I got ones from green stuff world. I don’t know if there’s a difference.

Anyway I transferred all my citadel paints to droppers and put a ball in and the mix much better I think. So adding them to pots without is probably just going to make mixining easier.

I have heard some people prefer glass because they worry the metal ones will rust

I use them in my Citadel paints and they work really well and no issues with rust or anything unpleasant.

I've had no issues. I've had them in my paints for about two years.

Mixing balls: great idea, well worth doing, go for it

Buying mixing balls from hobby companies: bad idea, waste of money, just get them off ebay for half the price

I have used them with most paint brands and have had no problems.

Stainless steel can rust, but only if the coating is removed. If you put more than one bearing in a pot there is a small chance they will ding each other enough to cause this. All in all though, not worth worrying about.

Definitely ebay them, 6mm glass bb's are the ones you want

I got the Army Painter ones. 100 mixing balls for price of two paint pots is quite a good deal IMO. Greenstuffworld is more expensive.

Thanks for all the help everyone I picked some up today

mrFickle wrote:
I didn’t get army painter, I got ones from green stuff world. I don’t know if there’s a difference.

Anyway I transferred all my citadel paints to droppers and put a ball in and the mix much better I think. So adding them to pots without is probably just going to make mixining easier.

I have heard some people prefer glass because they worry the metal ones will rust

There are differing qualities and grades of "stainless steel" - some are able to withstand corrosion after full immersion ("marine grade" for example), others less so. The grades of stainless steel range from the 200s, to the 300s, 400s, 500s and 600s.
"304" is "standard", "316" is marine grade and has a lower corrosion risk. 316 is used for food grade and surgical instruments, as well as Rolex watch bodies. 420 is also known as "surgical stainless" and used in implants.

I prefer glass beads as my paint mixers, because they do not corrode or oxidise, and can never affect the paints.

 chromedog wrote:

mrFickle wrote:
I didn’t get army painter, I got ones from green stuff world. I don’t know if there’s a difference.

Anyway I transferred all my citadel paints to droppers and put a ball in and the mix much better I think. So adding them to pots without is probably just going to make mixining easier.

I have heard some people prefer glass because they worry the metal ones will rust

There are differing qualities and grades of "stainless steel" - some are able to withstand corrosion after full immersion ("marine grade" for example), others less so. The grades of stainless steel range from the 200s, to the 300s, 400s, 500s and 600s.
"304" is "standard", "316" is marine grade and has a lower corrosion risk. 316 is used for food grade and surgical instruments, as well as Rolex watch bodies. 420 is also known as "surgical stainless" and used in implants.

I prefer glass beads as my paint mixers, because they do not corrode or oxidise, and can never affect the paints.

Fascinating, I have always wondered why cheap stainless steel often is not stainless and rusts. Is this an international standard?

mrFickle wrote:

 chromedog wrote:

mrFickle wrote:
I didn’t get army painter, I got ones from green stuff world. I don’t know if there’s a difference.

Anyway I transferred all my citadel paints to droppers and put a ball in and the mix much better I think. So adding them to pots without is probably just going to make mixining easier.

I have heard some people prefer glass because they worry the metal ones will rust

There are differing qualities and grades of "stainless steel" - some are able to withstand corrosion after full immersion ("marine grade" for example), others less so. The grades of stainless steel range from the 200s, to the 300s, 400s, 500s and 600s.
"304" is "standard", "316" is marine grade and has a lower corrosion risk. 316 is used for food grade and surgical instruments, as well as Rolex watch bodies. 420 is also known as "surgical stainless" and used in implants.

I prefer glass beads as my paint mixers, because they do not corrode or oxidise, and can never affect the paints.

Fascinating, I have always wondered why cheap stainless steel often is not stainless and rusts. Is this an international standard?

Yes, for the most part.

I do agree with you on the nomenclature - it should be called 'rustproof' steel, not 'stainless', because it most certainly stains in rust color if you will it.

However, I'd note that the SST oxidizing in your paint will not affect your paint in any significant way. There may be minor inconveniences, but that's about it.

I wanted to see out of curiosity if I put a ball in salt water and a ball in another container with hydrogen peroxide and salt what it would look like after a week.

The one with salt has showed nothing over the week while the one with the peroxide showed some slight tarnish/ rusting. I'm assuming since our acrylic paints don't contain anything as corrosive as peroxide I should be safe.