[shoddy_f-body]

One of my favorite tricks.When you open a gallon of paint take a small pick tool and punch a few little drains in the trough where the lid sits. After you pour, the excess paint will drain out of the trough back into the can instead of sitting in there,splattin out when the lid is hammered back on,drying up into chunks that end up back in the can and just making a general mess

[MARTINSR]

That is a very good one that is missed by a lot of guys. I have a small, cheap awl on my bench right along with the can opener. They go hand in hand with the light rubber mallet as the three tools NECESSARY to work with paint cans.

Brian

[kenseth17]

That is a good one that I do. Also when you have a full gallon of paint it can be a mess to pour. They actually make a plastic peice that will snap on to the top of the can for aid in pouring, but I always just use a peice of 2 inch masking tape taped on the edge so half of it is stuck to the can and half of it overhangs the edge of the can. Or after you have mixed it well you can pour half the can into another container to make it easier to pour and handle when it comes time to mix and pour into the little quart cup for the spray gun. At home depot and walmart in the paint sections they have mixing cups for measuring paint with the amount of ounces printed out on the side of the container.

[Bad Rat]

For getting the paint out of the can and into the mixing container,, I use a lattle type dipper, it has a 'V" shaped side on it and works very well, ,without getting paint all over the edges of the can , and makes it easy to get the correct amount of paint in the mixing container,, and if you dip out too much,, its easy to put back in the can,,the hole in the edge is a very good idea too, Thanks

[66GMC]

Originally Posted by kenseth17

At home depot and walmart in the paint sections they have mixing cups for measuring paint with the amount of ounces printed out on the side of the container.

USC (US Chemical) "Painter Pails" :
#36174 1 qt. pail
#36175 lid for above

#36170 1 pt. pail
#36171 lid

[kenseth17]

yeah, they also have the quart mixing cups at the paint suppliers also, we had ones with ppg logo on the ones at my last job, lots of places to get them. Also nice to have the paint sticks with the marks for different mix ratios like 4:1:1.

[baddbob]

Speakin of mix cups, I picked up a box of mix cups the other day and my supplier had some new lids with built in strainers. I can see the advantage of pouring out strained paint directly from the mix cup especially with small touchup guns. These cups were made by EZ-Mix. Anybody here using them? Paper strainers are cheaper though.