Using paints/stains/sealers from quart containers

[Greg Magone]

I often buy polyurethane in quart size paint cans because it goes a long ways.

How do you use it without getting polyurethane in the ring where the lid goes? I can dip the brush in the can, but that contaminates the entire container plus allows the volatiles to evaporate. Pouring the needed amount into a small container is much preferred.

However, that means I get polyurethane in the ring, which hardens and allows air into the container.

Professionals use small paper cups, but I don't have a free source for these to make the transfer.

How do others do it?

[Mike Henderson]

I buy in gallons and use a small plastic cup to transfer small amounts. Throw the cup away after. Not free but cheap. Also, you can buy gadgets that do a decent job of cleaning that ring around the can. It doesn't get everything but it gets most of it. Check at your paint store (real paint store, not the paint section of the Borg).

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

Check out this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=112501

[Mike Henderson]

Check out this thread: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=112501

That's what I have.

Mike

[joe milana]

I take a finish nail and make several small holes around the rim of the can. After pouring, run a brush around the rim forcing most of the material down through the holes back into the can. Wipe with a rag, then when you put the lid back on, it too will force any remaining material back into the can. Works great for oil base products, but I have found it causes the can to rust sometimes with WB products. Cheap cans i guess.

[Jim Kountz]

I take a finish nail and make several small holes around the rim of the can. After pouring, run a brush around the rim forcing most of the material down through the holes back into the can. Wipe with a rag, then when you put the lid back on, it too will force any remaining material back into the can. Works great for oil base products, but I have found it causes the can to rust sometimes with WB products. Cheap cans i guess.

Thats what I do except I have an old chisel I use to make the holes but the idea is the same. Get the finish to drain back into the can.

[Jamie Buxton]

I take a finish nail and make several small holes around the rim of the can. After pouring, run a brush around the rim forcing most of the material down through the holes back into the can. Wipe with a rag, then when you put the lid back on, it too will force any remaining material back into the can. Works great for oil base products, but I have found it causes the can to rust sometimes with WB products. Cheap cans i guess.

You're giving up half the sealing power of the lid. Without the nail holes, the lid has two sealing surfaces. One is at the inside edge of the gutter. The other is at the outside edge of the gutter. A solvent molecule trying to get out of the sealed can has to get past both seals to escape. With the nail holes, there's only one seal left.

[Jason White]

Take a finish nail and punch it through a couple of places in the "ring" where the finish is collecting. The finish will then drain back down into the can and no air can get inside with the lid on.

Jason

I often buy polyurethane in quart size paint cans because it goes a long ways.

How do you use it without getting polyurethane in the ring where the lid goes? I can dip the brush in the can, but that contaminates the entire container plus allows the volatiles to evaporate. Pouring the needed amount into a small container is much preferred.

However, that means I get polyurethane in the ring, which hardens and allows air into the container.

Professionals use small paper cups, but I don't have a free source for these to make the transfer.

How do others do it?

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

Works great for oil base products, but I have found it causes the can to rust sometimes with WB products. Cheap cans i guess.

Nope - when you punch holes in the rim you also punch a hole in the can liner.
Since all WB materials are packed in lined cans, the cans are actually more expensive than the ones the oil material comes in.

Either way, what Jamie said is spot on. Putting holes in the rim allows solvents to escape and air to come in.

There's actually a rediculosly easy way to remove material that leaves nothing in the rim to clean out, does not put holes in the lip, involves no messy ladeling, delivers very precice amounts of material - critical for mixing/matching or reduction ratios -, has very little cleanup involved & once you get the knack of it, it's pretty quick.

LOL! No it isn't advice to buy half pints of material!

Unfortunatly, it's too difficult to describe.

It's something that only a video can show.
If I can con my wife into it & get the time, I'll try to shoot one.

[Greg Deakins]

Never really had that problem. Even some cans with a buildup I have usually succumb to a few choice taps with a deadblow. But to reduce the build up, I simply run my brush around the rim, angling it so the extra material rolls over the inside rim rather than the other and down the outside of the can. That wouldn't be a problem, but it looks bad and gets on your shelving. Then if there is still some hanging around, I suppose one could take a popsicle stick or similar and wrap a single layer of a rag over the tip, and just run it in the channel. No holes in the can, and just a little bit of time. -Greg

[Prashun Patel]

Man this is an over-thought problem...

I just 'comb' as much of the stuff back into the can with a clean rigid piece of anything: paint stick/business card/credit card/shim/etc.

Then I put the lid on and then put a rag over the lid and mallet down the lid through the rag. I actually WANT a little finish in the rim since it makes an airtight seal. The rag catches the splatter.

Yeah, you can get a film in the rim over time, but you can and should be straining finish once it's been opened more than once/twice.

I've also become a hoarder of salsa and tomato sauce jars. When you get a new quart, decant it into as many containers as necessary. A small dab of vaseline around the rim of the jar will keep a tight seal but will prevent seizing.

[Mike Griffin]

I use the plastic lips that they have in the Borg paint dept. They're made for gallen cans but can be cut down to fit quarts. Just take your time pouring and all you have to do is wipe a couple of drops off the under side of the lip.

[Chip Lindley]

They suck up quite a bit of liquid for transfer, and can be cleaned with mineral spirits. No more messy can rim, and no lack of lid sealing power due to punched holes. No tree-wasting paper cups! Is everybody happy now?

This thread must have been started on a *rainy day*! Wayy too Over-Thought!

[Alex Shanku]

You're giving up half the sealing power of the lid. Without the nail holes, the lid has two sealing surfaces. One is at the inside edge of the gutter. The other is at the outside edge of the gutter. A solvent molecule trying to get out of the sealed can has to get past both seals to escape. With the nail holes, there's only one seal left.

Non-issue, imo. I have never had any can with holes punched in the rim go bad due to this technique.

[Phil Phelps]

....there is a stiff bristle "Fitch" brush on the paint table along with a bottle of lacquer thinner. I ream the can of excess paint and wash it in the lacquer thinner. I'll bet there is over 250 quart cans in the shop and you can open every one with ease. I also pour the paint from the direction side leaving the front legible. Remember, if you need two quarts for the job, by the gallon.