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So I have come to the realisation that I am regularly not mixing paint properly. Normally it’s just a couple of shakes. But then I watched a video and the new paint I was using was not as dark as in the video and I realised the pigments were separated. To mix it by hand was a really good shake and I can’t be bothered to do that all the time.

So I was looking at mixing tools. On amazon we’re taking 25 to 60 pounds for one of many different types of paint mixer and I think that’s a bit of a rip of and the 25 quid ones will probably be crap.

Soooooooo I’m thinking of home solutions and I’m. Urgently thinking of getting a USB desk fan and some how attach the paint bottle to the center of the fan/motor and spin it.

But, what’s the best direction to mix paint. Should I stand it vertical and mix it with a vortex in the bottle. Lie it down horizontal and spin it which would be an easier solution but surely all the paint will just ge touched to one end and not actually mix.

Or, as there are mixing balls in the bottle, should it’s be shaken up and down as if with the hand?

With the mixing balls, they will have sunk into the pigment and will require a hard shake to get free.

Shaking as if a rattle can, I have the GW pot between my thumb and index finger with a closed fist, then shake upside down so my thumb is towards the floor.

A fan probably won’t be spinning fast enough. The DIY solutions tend to centre around electric drills or reciprocating saws to get some decent grunt into the mixing process.

Vortex mixer, starting at around $25 US on Amazon.

I've been on the fence about those vortex mixes for a while now. They seem to be quite useful, but I don't know if $140AUD is worth one or not.


$25USD seems far more reasonable, but i'd really rather not buy from Amazon if I don't have too.

If paint can be mixed successfully by hand surely any mixing device doesn’t need to be that powerful

Most of the paint can be shaken by hand, the are a select few that the pigments drop out such as the metallics.

I have one Liberator Gold that has completely seperated and will require a machine to mix, despite having 2 mixing balls they have sunk and been covered by the flakes.

a minidrill whit a piece of bend rod will do wonders

Actually I haven't thought of that, sort of like a plaster paddle

I find that usually disturbing the sunken particles with a stirring stick of some kind followed by a vigorous hand shake can usually fix it. Though usually the hand shake is unnecessary as even after you scrape most of the paint off the stirring stick back into the paint, there's usually enough on it to paint with!

 Rybrook wrote:
Actually I haven't thought of that, sort of like a plaster paddle

Does this not lead to paint all over the walls?

Shaker solutions for closed pots should be tidier at least.

an agitator and shaking is a good start,
(I use fishing weights as they are cheap)

if the paint is to thick/viscous, the vortex mixers dont work as well, even with an agitator
(I have a small vortex mixer)

the best alternative I've heard of for a vortex mixer is a few guys on TheMiniaturesPage who use a reciprocating saws-all,
with a custom rig on to keep the bottle from flying away

sounds very industrial!!

If you live in the northern hemisphere, you'll want to stir your paint clockwise. If you live in the southern hemisphere, counter-clockwise stirring is required.

apparently these work well for shaking paint and you can pick them up at most beauty stores as well as Walmart, JC Penney's and any other store that sells beauty products.

I'm in a small town so my Walmart doesn't sell it in store so I'd have to order it.

Also a lot cheaper than the vortex shaker and most of them can do over 5,000 shakes per minute. Guarantee your hand can't do that.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000206689524.html?src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=708-803-3821&isdl=y&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&aff_platform=google&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&&albagn=888888&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&albcp=11473778399&albag=112983073900&trgt=449349191507&crea=en4000206689524&netw=u&device=c&albpg=449349191507&albpd=en4000206689524&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmIuDBhDXARIsAFITC_7dghgtspdkbQc9HF4epUn-uVU0oZdZGuugh2nRtTFUQeQisrAjm-QaApb0EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
If you live in the northern hemisphere, you'll want to stir your paint clockwise. If you live in the southern hemisphere, counter-clockwise stirring is required.

jivardi wrote:
apparently these work well for shaking paint and you can pick them up at most beauty stores as well as Walmart, JC Penney's and any other store that sells beauty products.

I'm in a small town so my Walmart doesn't sell it in store so I'd have to order it.

Also a lot cheaper than the vortex shaker and most of them can do over 5,000 shakes per minute. Guarantee your hand can't do that.

Spoiler:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000206689524.html?src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=708-803-3821&isdl=y&slnk=&plac=&mtctp=&albbt=Google_7_shopping&aff_platform=google&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&&albagn=888888&isSmbAutoCall=false&needSmbHouyi=false&albcp=11473778399&albag=112983073900&trgt=449349191507&crea=en4000206689524&netw=u&device=c&albpg=449349191507&albpd=en4000206689524&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmIuDBhDXARIsAFITC_7dghgtspdkbQc9HF4epUn-uVU0oZdZGuugh2nRtTFUQeQisrAjm-QaApb0EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

The lower priced vortex mixers are used for the same purpose.

I realize this but this seems better than a Vortex.

I'd pick the nail polish shaker over a vortex, even if I pay $7 more.

Interesting I haven't considered a shaker thing.
Is there a difference between the Fours £100 and very similar looking £30 ones ?

Eg.

1. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Scientific-0-3000RPM-Laboratory-Classroom/dp/B07QN9QN69/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=paint+shaker&qid=1617162726&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzTVIzVUxOQzk0NFhCJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTAxNDkzQzlDVlJQV1FWMU9OJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3ODUxNTMxUENLTFRHUkRNQlVZJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

2. https://www.amazon.co.uk/APROTII-5200RPM-Adhesives-Permanent-Pigments/dp/B08ZXX3XJB/ref=sr_1_36?dchild=1&keywords=paint+shaker&qid=1617162765&sr=8-36

consider taping to the blade of a jigsaw (like $40 NZ here) which will shake the living shiitake out of it

 ShadowsAndDust wrote:
If you live in the northern hemisphere, you'll want to stir your paint clockwise. If you live in the southern hemisphere, counter-clockwise stirring is required.

Noice


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Getting power tools out to shake paint seems a lot of effort, well it is in my house. There must be a simpler solution..... I feel like there’s something obvious I’m missing so I’ll probably end up spending 35 quid on a shaker from amazon

 NOLA Chris wrote:
an agitator and shaking is a good start,
(I use fishing weights as they are cheap)

Fishing weights are cheap because they're made from cheap materials, and are likely to corrode and leech into the paint. Stainless steel, glass or ceramic are much better options. I used old glass beads initially (although you need to be careful there as some are painted rather than tinted, and the painted coating can come off into your paint), but wound up accepting the expense and buying stainless steel balls for the extra weight.

I do mine by hand, but quite often (weekly at least).
I have that GW paint case, with the hex storage that you push the paints into.
So shaking those trays is a two hand job but gets 24 done at a time. So the main 72 are all done in big groups per minute.
Then the odd extras get done by hand as I’ve saved a lot of time so don’t mind grabbing a couple of extra to shake after.

I have seen people finding ways to clamp the paint pots to the business end of a jigsaw to mix them - whilst it would work, it could also either spray paint everywhere or even lose you an eye so I'd not recommend it!

Not seen vortex mixers before, they look pretty effective!

 some bloke wrote:
I have seen people finding ways to clamp the paint pots to the business end of a jigsaw to mix them - whilst it would work, it could also either spray paint everywhere or even lose you an eye so I'd not recommend it!

I use this. The fixture is 3D printed and clamps onto the blade. Works great, no beads or marbles needed, never spilled. Of course I'm also mostly using Vallejo bottles, so those won't pop open. You'd need rubber bands for GW pots.

I cannot recommend stainless steel as an agitator. The corrosion resistance of stainless steel depends entirely on the chromium content, and cheap Chinese-made bearings are a crapshoot as far as material quality. Worse, often they're only plated with stainless, so agitation can cause them to chip and expose normal steel. Glass beads have zero risk of contaminating the paint so make a better alternative.