Mixing Paint
with Gilles Pepin
gfpepin@sympatico.ca
Proficient, sturdy, and less expensive than the commercially available models.
What you need:
• a jigsaw (I used a Canadian Tire Jobmate, 54-8201-6)
• a Canadian Tire Mini Clamps, 4-in, 2-Pk, 57-2582-8
• a self-adhesive 3/4″ round 1/16″ thick rubber pad
• a 1″ metal screw, and
• an elastic
• You will need metal drill bits to drill the holes through the clamp and a metal saw to reduce the length of the clamp.
Make sure the jigsaw you will use has the capability of attaching the shaft of the clamp as per the photograph below; grinding down the base tip of the shaft with the aim to insert it as you would a jigsaw blade will weaken the shaft and it will break almost immediately. Strip the saw of all superfluous parts.
Before attaching the shortened clamp to the saw, drill two holes on the shaft of the clamp, positioned to very snugly accommodate both 10mm and 23mm Tamiya Acrylic bottles; the 23mm hole will be very useful to shake all Tamiya Liquid Primers and others when those bottles are inserted in the jaws of the clamp sideways, as these are exactly the same width as the height of the 23mm bottles. I drilled those two holes at precisely 3 3/4″ and 4″ from the bottom of the upper jaw.
The rubber pad will help with the tolerance, and with the prevention of lateral movement of the paint jar; the elastic is a further prevention the jar will not “jump” laterally.
The metal screw in the photograph below is necessary, as the repeated use of the “mixer” will fairly shortly and inevitably destroy the ratchet mechanism within the clamp crank.
