Harbor Freight paint shaker

[Roger Feeley]

I really like Vermont Natural Coatings Polywhey varnish but it settles in the can fairly quickly. I know I will have to stir for 20 minutes before use. Using a drill mixer is out because I don’t use that much and the stirrer would carry away too much. The pneumatic mixer from HF seems like it would introduce bubbles in my varnish.

question: can you throttle down those shakers to a more gentle motion?

[Jim McCue]

I have one. I think it says 40-70psi and it sounds and seems slower at 40psi. I think if you go lower than that it gets slower but then it just might stop shaking all together. It's still not 'gentle', just slower. I don't know if polywhey is like polyurethane but I wouldn't use it for polyurethane.

Laboratories use little rockers for blood tubes. I'd imagine they're hard to find and expensive but with amazon and direct-from-china websites these days, who knows.

[John TenEyck]

If you run a magnetic stirrer at lower speeds, it will not form a vortex like in this photo. They only work in liquids up to a certain viscosity, but I suspect it will work in most any varnish.

https://www.amazon.com/INTLLAB-Magne...s%2C109&sr=8-6

One nice thing about magnetic stirrers is that the stirring motion is at the bottom, which should do a good job of mixing in the settled flatters. You could leave the stirrer in the can between uses, so there's no loss in product, then fish it out when the can is empty.

John

[Roger Feeley]

Hmmm. Interesting. I would still have to use a stir stick to dislodge all of the settled solids but the stirrer could take over from there. I saw the rods are just under a buck each so even if I forget one, it’s not the end of the world.

[Michael Schuch]

If you run a magnetic stirrer at lower speeds, it will not form a vortex like in this photo. They only work in liquids up to a certain viscosity, but I suspect it will work in most any varnish.

https://www.amazon.com/INTLLAB-Magne...s%2C109&sr=8-6

One nice thing about magnetic stirrers is that the stirring motion is at the bottom, which should do a good job of mixing in the settled flatters. You could leave the stirrer in the can between uses, so there's no loss in product, then fish it out when the can is empty.

John

Do this work through a magnetic paint can?

[Roger Feeley]

Ooo good question. My Vermont Natural Coatings cans are all plastic.

[John TenEyck]

Do this work through a magnetic paint can?

Probably not.

I mix with a stick, but I have used a stirrer rod like this on the end of a drill on occasion. Not much product remains on it afterwards.

https://www.amazon.com/Stirring-Elec...%2C105&sr=8-13

John

[Roger Feeley]

I just ordered the stir plate. Since I want it primarily for Vermont Natural Coatings Polywhey and they have plastic containers, it makes sense.

[Roger Feeley]

I just ordered the stir plate. Since I want it primarily for Vermont Natural Coatings Polywhey and they have plastic containers, it makes sense.

Received it, tried it, didn’t work…I think. I need to play with it some more.
It came with 1 1” rod. I wonder if a different size rod would make a difference.

[Tom Bender]

How about a rock tumbler?

[Roger Feeley]

How about a rock tumbler?

I have one but haven’t tried it. I kind of wanted to keep the can vertical. There’s some crusty stuff around the edge and on the lid. I haven’t given up on the stir plate.

[John TenEyck]

Received it, tried it, didn’t work…I think. I need to play with it some more.
It came with 1 1” rod. I wonder if a different size rod would make a difference.

The one in the link I posted comes with multiple length stir rods. If the bottom of the finish container is reasonably flat, and the viscosity isn't any higher than typical WB varnishes, it should work with the appropriately sized rod.

John