Paint Shaker for mixing plastisol

[ebscreen]

I think the title says it all.  We mix probably 2-10 quarts and occasional gallons of Pantone matches a day.
Drill ain't cutting it no more.  M&R sells a shaker that is a bit overkill for our situation, don't know that we'll
be mixing 5's any time soon.

So, anyone know? Thread on M&R's shaker says it isn't unlike a hardware store version.
We use the Wilflex PC system, and the standard Epic base, pretty soft stuff.

[tonypep]

They work fine , Zelko may have some insight they use one.

[Frog]

Is plastisol really thin enough to pull off the James Bond line, "shaken, not stirred"?

I always thought that the standard mixer held a bucket and moved it around a fixed blade, at least, that's the only one I remember seeing up close and personal.
Long time ago, probably from American/Advance

[BorisB]

We tryed to use regular paint shaker. It didn't work.  You will need to go blue, or check some other vendors. There probably is bigger industry then ours with need for shaking of thick paste-like inks. Bigger industry would mean better price.  I vaguely  remember advice of a good friend chemist. He said latex, or rubber industry should be good to look for...

[tonypep]

The shakers do work. In fact Wilflex (or was it Rutland?) has demoed them at shows in conjuction with the auto
ink dispensing system. For around 60K you can have all that awesomeness without getting your hands dirty.
Can you imagine large shops of the future with auto ink making/mixing, auto coat, CTS with auto expose and washout, auto screen clean/reclaim and auto unloaders? Its all possible,  $$$$$$$ are the only obstacle. Perhaps it will look like this.

[Zelko-4-EVA]

I think the title says it all.  We mix probably 2-10 quarts and occasional gallons of Pantone matches a day.
Drill ain't cutting it no more.  M&R sells a shaker that is a bit overkill for our situation, don't know that we'll
be mixing 5's any time soon.

So, anyone know? Thread on M&R's shaker says it isn't unlike a hardware store version.
We use the Wilflex PC system, and the standard Epic base, pretty soft stuff.

what type of quart bucket are you using?   if the pressure plate from the top has too much pressure it will squish the quart bucket and it will either stop shaking or it will keep shaking and the bucket will be thrown around inside until the shaking stops.  we used to shake quarts but its a pain - much faster to stir by hand - which you will have to do either way.  either stir some of the bucket up or put some base covering the top of the pigment - if you dont - the lid will have pigment on it that dosent get mixed in.

make sure the lid is sealing the bucket or the inside ink will make it outside the bucket

clean the outside of the bucket before putting it in the shaker


i personally like stirring the ink over shaking - unless im making a 5 g.   even then, make sure the shaker is perfectly level or the weight of the 5g of ink will make the ink shaker walk.  so - i make a gallon, put it in the shaker, and then make a new gallon while the other is shaking, then i empty the gallons into a 5g bucket.

do not shake cold buckets - the cold makes the plastic bucket brittle - and all that ink that you had shipped UPS Red  and froze on the UPS truck will end up on the inside of your ink shaker.

i think the unit we have is a wilflex rebranded one - it has a transformer to take the 120v 60 Hz and turn it into 208 50 Hz (or equivalent)

[ebscreen]

Thanks for the info guys.

Bauman, I have always been under the assumption that plastisol is prohibited in Europe, and you must
use a more of a rubber based ink? Is that correct or are you using the same types as we do in the states?


Zelko, we use deli-tainers at the moment and I know that they won't hold up to a pressure plate, so we'd have
to switch, which is fine assuming everything else works. I guess my main mission is more of a self contained mixing unit
type thing where you put the bucket in and set it and forget it. No more standing there with a drill and the occasional
employee that pulls the drill out too soon and now the ink room looks like a rainbow threw up. It also just seems to me that
shaking would be a much more thorough dispersion, which is why they would use it for paint, but if experience says otherwise
I'll listen to it.

Maybe I'll take a quart mix to the hardware store and see if they'll try it for me.

[Frog]

A question to the movers and shakers out there. Do you need to leave much room at the top of the container, or fill it all the way?

[Prosperi-Tees]

The paint shaker will not work. What will happen is the pigments will shoot up into the crevice on the lid and never mix in. If your container is to full the bottom will never get to the top and vice versa. I had one here and tried it and it is a no go. I found it was great to mix emulsion though.

[ebscreen]

I was wondering if you had tried Gerry.

What "motion" did yours use? Up and down? Oblong? Side to side?
I'm thinking that plays a large part in getting plastisol to move.

[Prosperi-Tees]

Mine was an up and down, front to back type. The gyro mixers might work better but my experience even with paint and its liquid thin colorants it still flung it into the lid.

[244]

Thanks for the info guys.

Bauman, I have always been under the assumption that plastisol is prohibited in Europe, and you must
use a more of a rubber based ink? Is that correct or are you using the same types as we do in the states?


Zelko, we use deli-tainers at the moment and I know that they won't hold up to a pressure plate, so we'd have
to switch, which is fine assuming everything else works. I guess my main mission is more of a self contained mixing unit
type thing where you put the bucket in and set it and forget it. No more standing there with a drill and the occasional
employee that pulls the drill out too soon and now the ink room looks like a rainbow threw up. It also just seems to me that
shaking would be a much more thorough dispersion, which is why they would use it for paint, but if experience says otherwise
I'll listen to it.

Maybe I'll take a quart mix to the hardware store and see if they'll try it for me.

shaking the ink is the best way to mix it. Our shaker does a fantastic job with quarts,gallons ,and fives. The problem is they are very expensive to build properly. Plan on spending 6-7,000 for a good one.

[Prosperi-Tees]

So there must be something more robust about the shakers that M&R and others sell specifically for mixing ink. Must have stronger motors. I still don't see how it could "fully" disperse a pms match unless there is a change in the container itself in some way.

[ebscreen]

Half your base, add pigments, rest of base. When using a PC system it's a good idea to do that
and smear the walls of the container with base before mixing as well. I'd probably smear the lid as well
when using a shaker.

What about a shaker for quarts and gallons only? I'd assume that the robustness necessary for mixing fives
is likely quite a bit more than for a gallon or quart.

Maybe I'll just hire a pro wrestler to shake inks for an hour a day.

[Prosperi-Tees]

I had one of these: Which in this listing is way overpriced! It is just the first one that came up.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hero-S2700-1-to-7-quarts-5-gallon-Mega-Mix-Automatic-Paint-Shaker-high-speed-Gal-/380747198050?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58a64d2e62

I would go down to Harbor Freight and check one of these out to see if it will work, if it doesnt, return it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/pneumatic-paint-shaker-94605.html