I know that there are a lot of accomplished paint and body guys on this site and I'm sure that there are a lot of tips and tricks that you have learned over the years. Show us some of your tips.........
My contribution..........
I dropped by a friends shop a short time back and he was mixing up some high build primer. Now mixing up primer might not be very exciting to some of you, but I come from back in the days of lacquer type primer, just open up the can, give it a good stir, pour it in a container, pour in proper amount of thinner, mix it up and ready to go. What you don't use, put a lid on the can and use it later. That last part you can't do with today's primers that use a catalyst. You can throw it in a fridge and extend the pot life a little but not much.
So what you try to do is mix only what you need and use it or lose it. My friend had acquired one of the mixing lids used by your local paint supplier for his mixing station. They use a gear drive on top that is attached through the shaft to a mixing paddle. The lid has attaching tabs that secure it to the can and a pouring spout that is opened by thumb action and spring pressure closes it
He removed the guard over the gear and then the gear
Now all he has to do when he needs a little primer is grab a drill and run the agitator for a few minutes.
Next he uses his thumb to slide the pouring spout open and pours himself exactly what he wants to mix up.
Neat, clean, and no wasted primer on paint mixing sticks or in the lip of the can or running down the side of the can or worse, spilled on the floor.
If you do any amount of body work where you do a lot of priming, this is one of the best ways to dispense a small amount of primer that I've seen lately. He got the lid from his paint supplier for free because it had a broken gear on top. I assume that they don't sell replacement gears to fix them. (maybe not worth the trouble)
I don't need to tell you that I had to have one and it is now resting peacefully on top of a brand new can of primer, ready at any time to pour up any amount that I may need.
Drewski
My contribution..........
I dropped by a friends shop a short time back and he was mixing up some high build primer. Now mixing up primer might not be very exciting to some of you, but I come from back in the days of lacquer type primer, just open up the can, give it a good stir, pour it in a container, pour in proper amount of thinner, mix it up and ready to go. What you don't use, put a lid on the can and use it later. That last part you can't do with today's primers that use a catalyst. You can throw it in a fridge and extend the pot life a little but not much.
So what you try to do is mix only what you need and use it or lose it. My friend had acquired one of the mixing lids used by your local paint supplier for his mixing station. They use a gear drive on top that is attached through the shaft to a mixing paddle. The lid has attaching tabs that secure it to the can and a pouring spout that is opened by thumb action and spring pressure closes it
He removed the guard over the gear and then the gear
Now all he has to do when he needs a little primer is grab a drill and run the agitator for a few minutes.
Next he uses his thumb to slide the pouring spout open and pours himself exactly what he wants to mix up.
Neat, clean, and no wasted primer on paint mixing sticks or in the lip of the can or running down the side of the can or worse, spilled on the floor.
If you do any amount of body work where you do a lot of priming, this is one of the best ways to dispense a small amount of primer that I've seen lately. He got the lid from his paint supplier for free because it had a broken gear on top. I assume that they don't sell replacement gears to fix them. (maybe not worth the trouble)
I don't need to tell you that I had to have one and it is now resting peacefully on top of a brand new can of primer, ready at any time to pour up any amount that I may need.
Drewski
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