Paint/Finish can closing?

[Leuf]

I know I'm going to get grief for this one. Knock yourselves out.

You know those can closer things they have at the paint counter? Pull a lever and the lid is sealed up. That thing. Well, it always seems to work out that I can get another coat of finish on before going to bed, but everyone else has gone to bed already. No problem, finishing is quiet. Except for sealing the lid back on the can. So I end up screwing around with clamps, and the clamp slips off and takes a noisy trip to the concrete floor. And if the ring around the can starts getting gunked up even with a mallet it can be hard to get it to seal all the way. So I thought to myself, why not get one of those things they have at the store. Well all I can find through google is this:

$240? You've got to be kidding me.

I was thinking about getting a cheap harbor freight/ebay vise with enough travel for a quart can and mounting it vertically, but maybe someone has a better idea.

-Leuf

[Puckdropper]

Leuf wrote in news: [e-mail]:

*snip*

Why not simply use a rubber mallet? Put the can on a piece of thin carpet or some very firm but padded surface and it should create almost no noise at all.

Puckdropper

[Zen Cueist]

Like the $240 thingie in 2x4 and a big carriage bolt for maybe $5-$6?

Horizontal piece for can to sit on.

2 vertical pieces about 2" taller than can.

Piece hinged on carriage bolt between vertical pieces. Get the hinge point right and this piece presses on the can's lid evenly.

[Mike Marlow]

Well - no real grief Leuf, but it does strike me that you are making a huge deal out of a small thing. It's really not that hard to seal up a paint can lid. Clean the groove with some paper towels or old rags - takes all of 20 seconds, and press the lid on by hand. It does not even require a mallet. Drill a couple of holes, or punch a couple of holes in the groove when you first open the can and most of the paint will drain from the groove back into the can before you're even ready to put the lid back on.

I open an close a lot of paint cans on a regular basis, and I never use a hammer or a mallet to close the lids back down after I'm done.

[Morris Dovey]

Leuf wrote: | I know I'm going to get grief for this one. Knock yourselves out.

FCOL - just step on it! If you're fastidious, you can do this wearing shoes; and if you really hunger for a tool, then set a 2x6 cut-off on the can and step on that. If it's a "cool tool" that you want, make that an ipe 2x6 cut-off with a hole at one end so you can hang it on the wall. OSHA-phobes can add a strip of non-slip stair tread material; and technophiles can add one or more lasers.

HTH ;-)

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[J. Clarke]

Ipe shmeepay, use lignum vitae. For the technoholics it used to be used as an insulator in the high voltage circuits on large (I mean like antennas the size of a football field) radars on the DEWline, not to mention its continuing use in the shaft bearings on aircraft carriers, and its historical use for rigging blocks on Napoleonic-era warships.

And if you polish it up and give it a good coat of was you'll be able to peel the spilled paint off of it.

Just be careful you don't smash the can flat when you're laying it on top.

[# Fred #]

Plastic sheet and a strong rubber band should close the top off just as good as the lid. Or I could loan you my hydraulic press but you may hurt your back carrying it to your house.

[Morris Dovey]

Morris Dovey wrote: | Leuf wrote: || I know I'm going to get grief for this one. Knock yourselves out. | | FCOL - just step on it! If you're fastidious, you can do this | wearing shoes; and if you really hunger for a tool, then set a 2x6 | cut-off on the can and step on that. If it's a "cool tool" that you | want, make that an ipe 2x6 cut-off with a hole at one end so you | can hang it on the wall. OSHA-phobes can add a strip of non-slip | stair tread material; and technophiles can add one or more lasers.

Afterthought (because there is a growing number of people who, sadly, won't be able to step on a paint can lid): a riser and tread can be added to each end of the cutoff so that rolling a wheelchair or other mobility device onto the tread can extert the force necessary to close and seal the can.

Another: A bench press capable of exerting a ton or more of pressure is available from most machine tool suppliers - for a third to half the price of Cary's paint can closer. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any with factory-installed lasers.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[Leuf]

Well here I have to say that I have spent many an amusing moment trying to get a paper towel wadded up just right to fit in the little groove and still have enough in there to actually soak anything up, and then chased the liquid around in circles around the can. I've had some success with using the brush to soak it up, and a foam brush works even better but I don't usually use those.

I have tried this, with varying sizes of nails to make the holes and either nothing drains at all due to surface tension, or just enough goes through to make a big dam on the underside so that nothing at all goes through the second time. I've done the aforementioned chase the liquid around with the wad of paper towel toward the holes, and it just goes right over it. I thought this was a great idea the first time I heard it, but in practice it's never worked for me. I always try to pour off into a smaller container and reclose the can ASAP with finishes, so there isn't really time for it to drain anyway.

I can get them almost closed with hand pressure, if it's clean, but never just that last little bit.

-Leuf

[Leuf]

You know I've actually done that once or twice, and it sure works with drywall buckets too. The hard part is remembering this at 1 am after the fumes have gotten to me.

-Leuf