40 More Handy Tricks

Step 22 Marbles from Spraycans

You know the sound when you shake a paint can?

That's a marble! Why wasn't I told?
They come in all different colors, and the color of the marble has nothing to do with the color of the paint.

There was something wrong with the cans and they wouldn't spray. I opened them with a chisel and sprayed the paint with my spray gun.

Imagine my delight when I won four marbles!!!

Comments

[All the Marbles]

I have been collecting marbles from spray paint cans ever since I was a kid. I currently have 300ish spray paint can marbles and I had about 100 stolen from my car years ago; I suspect I have personally opened over 400 cans. I can validate many of your comments.

First: Metal balls, usually with a flat spot on opposite sides, come primarily in primers and very small cans. They rust, yes, but only after having been exposed to the air. While in the pressurized can, full of paint which would solidify if it was exposed to air, they are fine.

Second: You normally get only one marble, some cans have two. I have never found a certain brand that always has two.

Third: Yes, they can be dangerous but you can open, semi-safely, a full can. They can fly out of your hand though as they act like a large, angry, directionless, heavy bottle rocket. The can doesn't explode though. It is unnecessary to spray out the remaining pressure, but you can if it makes you feel safer.

Lastly (fourth): Yes, they are glass marbles. They seem like marble "seconds" as they are usually not totally spherical and some have grooves in the glass. I have found very few opaque marbles which were not black. Many have bubbles throughout them. Blue is the most prevalent color.

I made a special tool out of a piece of 1.5" angle iron that I use to open the cans and extract the marbles. It is also beneficial to have a pan of paint thinner or stripper to drop the marbles into upon their birth into air as it is awfully hard to remove the paint once it has dried.

On a personal note. It always disturbed me that there were no other people who collected the marbles from spray paint cans. It is nice to see that there are at least a few people with the interest.

[chuck_29]

i'm sure this is already written, but i'm not going to look,, it's gotta be a glass marble cuz if it was metal, it would rust and probably stick and not stir the paint..

[cameronl]

LIAR! It's a cover up! Everyone knows that rattling is baby teeth, sold to the paint companies by the Tooth Fairy.

[winniekate]

Do you ever find a ball bearing instead of a glass marble? I always thought it was a steel bearing.

[TimAnderson]

I always thought it was a ball bearing, I think I was even told that. But I've only found marbles. But I haven't been doing it for very long.

[NormMonkey]

Hold the can upside down and spray out all the propellant. Then you can cut it open, recover the paint and earn your free marble. The propellant is probably stuff you don't want in your face or lungs so point away from you and do this in a well ventilated area. Aim at some old cardboard in case bits of paint come out with the propellant. Don't prop the cardboard against your shiny new car in the garage.

[22tpring]

I'm a spray fanatic and have TONS of cans like these that will no longer spray but you can hear tell there is still a lot of pain in the cans....is it safe to open the cans? I was always under the impression that there was a lot of pressure to contend with (dangerous). I'm a little weary but would love to use the paint in my new compressor painter and also get the free marbles.

[hobbssamuelj]

yeah, if there's not enough pressure to push the paint out of the can, then it's probably safe to open it up.

[Rishnai]

I like the concept of shooting them with a .22 from a ways away. If one of those cans blows up in your face, it'll cover you and your lungs in a very unpleasant cocktail of chemicals.

[lilroud]

a pellet rifle works well on even a full can.... one of the rifles that you pump...

[Magre1441]

if you squeeze the cans sides and they squish in then theres relitivly no pressure in the can but if they dont push in then there is pressure in the can still.

[bettbee]

You can hold can upside down so the straw isn't in the paint and spray until it won't spray any more, thus relieving the pressure.

[Gunk on Floor]

I had a can of Wd-40 that was the same way. Not spraying but obviously full of the oil. We took a .22 pellet gun and shot a hole in it, and was able to harvest all the oil! It did'nt explode like we thought it would though. So you're probably safe.

[wquoyle]

A friend of mine has an auto paint shop; got slapped with a nasty lawsuit once when some brainiac boiled up some spray cans (to "revive" the paint) and lost an eye... So... caution advised.