Finishing accesories

[Old School Carpenter]

I've never bought a lot from Rockler, but these caught my eye and I'm glad they did.

The mixing mates are great for that finish or stain you keep coming back to. I use them on or stain and on conversion varnish cans. They seal tight to the can, cut down on waste, provide easy stirring and pouring, and make the finish process that much nicer overall.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=31747&site=ROCKLER

Mike

 

[Brice Burrell]

Cool, I've never seen these.  I might give one a try.

 

[JPF Woodworking]

I've seen these advertised and my initial impression is that they would be more trouble than they are worth. Please note that I haven't actually seen them up close but won't they be difficult to clean? The extra effort to keep these clean in  order to reuse them certainly seems like more work than just replacing the covers on the can. Can you comment on cleaning these devices?

 

[Old School Carpenter]

Cleaning is actually pretty easy. Remember it is basically a new can lid, so the varnish/ stain acts just like if you were putting a lid back on it.
Cleaning if required is as easy as placing the appropriate thinner in a can locking it on the mixing mate and spinning the stir handle. When I first got these, i put them through the paces, even spinning the can upside down and sideways. Not a drop, not that you would normally do this, but I didn't want to trust it without trying [scared]. These were recommended to me by another cabinet maker and he has had zero problems with them also.

Mike

 

[peter halle]

I made a rare stop to the Rockler website last week and saw those.  I watched the videos.  Glad to see a comment from someone here.

Peter

 

[semenza]

Yeah, I've been tempted several times to buy. Didn't know there was an gallon size! 

How well do you think the gallon size would work for latex paint?  Not that it usually needs a lot of stirring , but for dispensing into cups, trays and such.

Seth

 

[Old School Carpenter]

I think it would work fine, Seth. I haven't used it for that, but would imagine it would work as well. It only works on metal cans as far as I know.

Mike

 

[Aaron Underdahl]

I purchased a gallon size one about a month ago.  I spray a lot of lacquer using a gravity feed hvlp gun and have always wished for a better way of stirring and pouring a full gallon of lacquer into the cup gun with out spilling it all over!  So far it has answered my dreams.  Real easy to clean up too.  I can switch from a white lacquer to a clear just by wiping of the mixer off with a paper towel.  I will be buying a couple more of these next time am at Rockler.  The only down side that I can see so far is it durability. It seams a little on the light duty side, but time will tell.

 

[tallgrass]

These are very similar to the commercial units that autobody shop shoes. This is how they dispense paints in their mixing area.