"Any recommendations on a hobby paint shaker?" Topic

Looking for something reliable without breaking the bank – I am a hobby painter only – lots of paints that arent used often

Suggestions?

Thanks in Advance

This is the one I have. I'm happy with it.
INTLLAB Lab Vortex Mixer, Touch Function Lab Vortexer, Gel Polish, Eyelash Adhesives, Acylic Paints, Test Tubes and Centrifuge Tubes

amazon.com/clp/B08CR43XR3

Seconded!

I bought that Intllab mixer and it wore out in about 6 months. I'm currently looking for something different.

The least expensive, and foolproof, is a Jig Saw; check FaceBook Marketplace and/or estate/garage sales for inexpensive used models. Check out what I am talking about on this YT video.

Some will accept a locking bar clamp (get the smallest you can find) in place of a blade, but not all will have a big enough blade lock for a clamp. I use Painter's Blue Masking Tape wrapped around a wood-cutting blade, a couple of times around the blade, then wrapped around the bottle, with the bottle aligned with the blade. I adjust the speed to faster than I could ever shake a paint bottle, but I do NOT run it too fast as the tape will tear, and the bottle will fly away…

This will shake the bottle up/down, faster than humanly possible, longer than humanly possible. It will work best if you add some stainless steel BB's to each bottle, before you shake them -- this is especially helpful it you infrequently use the paint bottles, as they will agitate the paint even more thoroughly than the Jig Saw, by itself!

I paid around $10 USD for a used Jig Saw at an estate sale, years ago. I have used it to cut plywood, a few times, but I have used it to shake craft paint bottles, literally dozens of times. It just works; it is simple; and it is very inexpensive. Cheers!

Thanks – any benefit to the shakers that hold the paint bottle/jars? or not a big deal?

This guy is using blue Duct Tape -- that is what he needs to achieve this insane speed without launching his paint into low-earth-orbit! LOL!

If you need to shake/mix cans of spray paint, here is my favorite: YT video on how-to-make your own for your electric hand drill. This works magnificently, based on hundreds of uses, over several years of first-hand experience. Cheers!

In over 40 years of painting models I have never found the need for a paint shaker.

The hand drill one works great! You can also load it with 6-10 little bottles of Vallejo paint and mix them all at once!
Caution: do use your hand as support, as he demonstrates! Otherwise, that big bolt will eventually bend, causing unusable wobble!

I bought an inexpensive nail polish shaker & have not had a problem. It holds Vallejo as well as acrylic paint bottles with a strap.

Everything Sgt Slag said.

I made a jigsaw paint shaker for myself during the pandemic lockdowns, with a $20 USD Black & Decker jigsaw from Amazon and a $2 USD clamp from Harbor Freight (and steel BBs added to every single plastic paint bottle that didn't already have one).

Both the Jig Saw mixer and the drill spray can mixer are a lot of fun to use. Watch out! You might just catch yourself smiling from ear-to-ear as you use them… There is just so much satisfaction in seeing them function. Their effectiveness is also very amazing.

I tend to get carried away with the spray can mixer -- it is too much fun to spin the cans, both directions, several times… You need to be absa-tively, posi-lutely certain that you mix them fully, don't ya' know! LOL!

There is a twisted satisfaction in seeing paint bottles moving up and down in a blurringly fast motion, as well. I've opened many up, afterwards, just to see how it looks inside: creamy smooth, and zero air bubbles, in case you were wondering. It works best when the bottle is at least 1/4 full. With craft paints, that is a good excuse to buy another one. >;-)

They are both ridiculously effective, and laughably fun to use. Cheers!

Sounds fun Sgt Slag -= will have to try it

In over 40 years of painting models I have never found the need for a paint shaker.

I find the most need for a powered paint shaker when first mixing a bottle of paint I just bought, but also sometimes with paints I haven't used in a long time. The paint components can get badly separated, and sometimes it takes minutes of violent shaking just to break the ball loose inside, before the mixing can even begin. The jigsaw paint shaker solves this problem nicely.

I bought this one in 2021 and still works great!

link

Thanks.

John

This is the one I got 2 years ago. I do not paint much so it hasn't got a lot of use. I do like it.

link

My first electric paint shaker was a Robart hobby paint shaker.

It broke the belt in less than a year, then the motor burned out before it was 2 years old. I decided not to buy another of this kind.

I have a vortex style paint shaker similar to this one on my desk now.

It makes shaking up a functional paint bottle easy, quiet, and clean – just press the bottle into the vortexer, hang on while it shakes, pick it up when done, no faffing about with tools or settings. What it doesn't do well is restart a settled and separated paint that's been sitting too long. If the ball is stuck in sediment and needs to break out, the jigsaw works much better.

I shake it by hand.
If it's going to "come back", you will see it then. If it won't, toss it.
If it dies, stir it with the end of a crapped out brush.
Why spend bucks?

…does… 🙄

Thanks all

Love the tornado the vortex creates… Just so long as it stays in the bottle and not out hitting peoples homes

The vortex work well. The Robart motor fails, straps can be substituted with a rubber band.

I have a robart. I've had it for many years. The strap broke but a rubber band works just fine. I can strap paint in and let it shake without me staying there holding it down. This works great for contrast paints which need extended shaking.

I also have praise for the INTLLAB Mini Vortex Mixer with Touch Function on Amazon. It's $25 USD and still going strong after 14 months.

I'm with Major B.

+ Many for John Leahy's suggestion. Bought one almost 5 years ago and have been using it ever since to great effect.

Uses a massive 5600 rpm's, much more than others I've seen. Plus it's cheaper than it was when I bought it. You don't see that very often.

when first mixing a bottle of paint I just bought, but also sometimes with paints I haven't used in a long time. The paint components can get badly separated, and sometimes it takes minutes of violent shaking just to break the ball loose inside, before the mixing can even begin.

Never had those problems. Maybe because I use different brands of paint? None of the paints I use have a "ball" inside.

I've had separation from sitting in acrylics going all the way back to my first paints: Army Painter, AKI, Vallejo, Tamiya, Testors, Model Master, Howard Hues, RAFM/Iron Wind, Partha Paints… probably some I can't remember.

I've never noticed the problem with MIG Ammo, but I own maybe 3-5 dropper bottles of it, and I don't remember the last time I used one (it might be years).

I don't remember ever having a Model Master or Partha Paint badly separated straight from the store. That problem seems to have started with the dropper bottle paints. Or maybe I just didn't buy enough paints back then to run into it.

As an aside: I don't shake Tamiya paints, I stir them. Stirring works perfectly, shaking creates bubbles that wind up on the model. Also, the glass jars preclude a steel ball, so shaking would take forever.

I don't have steel balls in any of my craft store acrylics (Delta Ceramcoat, Americana, FolkArt, etc.), and they don't seem to separate the same way as the miniature hobby paints. I'm going to take a wild guess this has to do with the pigment grain size (smaller in hobby paints, larger and/or more variable in craft store paints) or the quantity of pigment in the acrylic medium (more in hobby paints, less in craft store paints) – but that's only a guess.

For bottles, I've always relied on the traditional thumb and index finger. For spray cans, grasp the can firmly in your dominant hand, and move the elbow up and down vigorously for a full minute.

How long are you letting these set, anyway? Often helps to rotate stored paint.

The elbow vigorously works for me but I stay in shape with that motion…