Spray paint shaker

My arm was tired of shaking my paint, especially since most cans call for one minute of shaking. So... I had to make this shaker. It's made from what was on hand, so mostly wood and a few bits of hardware.

Step 1: Can holder

First, we'll make the can holder.
Draw around the bottom of your paint can, and cut out two identical saddles. I used 3/4" plywood for all the parts.
Then, cut out the base. Mine was five inches wide by three and a half inches, with a tab off the side for the connecting rod.
In the exact center, I drilled a hole to a close fit on my pivot bolt. I had a 5/16 bolt,so that's what I drilled. If you have a drill press, this would be a good time to use it. a nice square hole will insure that it doesn't wobble.
Now, glue and screw the saddles onto the base. I recommend pre-drilling since I'm screwing into the edge of the plywood, and I don't want to split it.
Last, we need to attach a strap to hold the paint can in place. Get yourself a piece of plumbers strap. and screw one end to the flat side of the base. Lay your can in the saddle, wrap the strap around it then mark and drill a 1/4" hole for a bolt to draw it up. Now with a 1/4" carriage bolt, fender washer, and wingnut, you can snug the can down.

Comments

[ChrisMentrek]

Hah hah! This is a great idea! I'm going to use this as a tinkering challenge for my students.

Thanks for posting the design!

[king_zilla]

a truly ridiculous idea Great Job! when i was a kid we used to use this thing called our hand...

[heathbar64]

THANKS!!! (I think) Sometimes it's fun to build something silly, just to see if it will work.

[RangerJ]

I agree - I have a shop full of things I built for a single use that took me more time and money than if I had either done it the conventional way, or bought an existing product. That's not the point - it was fun doing it, and I got a chance to think about something I wanted to do for a change.

[mixkwikis1st]

I had to mix alot of paint cans for a job and it was really killing my elbows, wrists etc. so I duct taped a can to my sawsall blade! There's a USA company now making a tool for this - Here's their address. www.mixkwik.com

[RangerJ]

That's cool.

[mixkwikis1st]

Hey there everyone, I just wanted to share a great idea. I had a customer that needed to shake 5,000 cans of aerosol paint so I designed a bench mount for the recip saw to help out. I chose the Skil model 9205 corded sawsall because it's cheap and good too. ( $53. Lowe's ) and it has a speed dial. I strap the trigger down w/ a velcro watch band and plug it into a switched power strip. It just sits on the bench and mixes paint while I do more important things! Works on the tailgate too - just get a cheap transformer for the cig lighter. I have patterns to build these stands if any one wants them. They're free. Just email me [e-mail]

[heathbar64]

That's cool Goatar! thanks for sharing the pic's

[Goatar]

I do Space paintings and it takes many colors to make one. So this is my first prototype. My new model has rods to hold the cans in. My next model will be with a Saws-all.

[heathbar64]

to my understanding, this site is about having fun with your brain So all of you who say how stupid or impractical this is just don't get it!! . No, Of course it's not practical, but it was fun to design and build. Of course I can shake paint cans the normal way with no problem, but this is way more fun. And as an added bonus, it firmly establishes my title of eccentric Mad Scientist in the minds of all my friends and aqaintences who see it.

[I died with my head in a washing machine]

this is point less stupid and its easy to sake acan but this is kinda cool :)

[opc167]

I paint auto a lot as a hobby and just bought two cans of primer that had been on the shelve for months. I would usually take about 10 minutes if you mix them well. I'll have to manually mix this go-round, but my cusin and I will make one and update you on the mods. Frist hit on this website. This is good stuff.

[opc167]

Heck, I was trying to find such device to buy! This is cool.

[heathbar64]

that's awsome. I'm glad somebody will actually make one of these. As I suspected, the screws serving as pivots in the connecting rod didn't hold up. What I would do instead is cut short pieces of small diameter tubing and bolt these to the crank and rocker. then let the connecting rod turn freely on the tubing.

[rimar2000]

Is that you have not done much wrist exercise when you were a kid. ;)

[Charles IV]

Only your dominant hand...

[lemonie]

Truly great idea and build - there's a bad character in the URL, I can't watch the video. L

[heathbar64]

Thanks for the kind words. this is my first ible, so praise from a pro like you is high praise indeed!!! the link worked earlier, I'll have to check on it later.

[crapflinger]

not to knock lemonie (he is one of the funner folk to have around and makes some of the better comments)...but the fact that he has "pro" next to his name...means he payed for a membership...not that he's got a higher than average skill set

[crapflinger]

payed = paid