Another Storage Issue... Paint

[Denver Road Doug]

OK, we cruised through a lot of ideas on storing freight cars.

Now I have a question regarding organizing the work bench.  Specifically, how do you store paint?  This includes small spray bombs, full size spray bombs, the various sizes of bottled paint, tube acryllics, etc.  I know some of you have permanent workbench areas that have shelving and such.  I've seen some use lazy susans to dial up that perfect color.  I've used spice racks in the past pretty effectively.

I am interested in all ideas, but I would particularly like ideas about somewhat portable solutions.  I envision a plastic toolbox that opens up much like a tradional tackle box only is much larger and maybe has angled "bins" (when open, sitting straight up otherwise) to allow you to easily see the paint names and colors.

I bought a huge case at  Fry's Electronics for all my wiring "stash"...DCC testers and other stuff, soldering iron, solder, DMM, extra wire, cabling, etc.  It would probably work good for this use, too, but it was kinda pricey.  I'm just trying to get your input if you use anything or have seen/heard of anything that might work.

[wm3798]

Same thing... plastic storage drawers.
Lee

[3rdrail]

Railroad paints go into the large side drawer of the metal desk I use for a workbench, although some are atop the wooden artist's next to it. Some are in the mess atop the work desk as well. :-[

Non-railroad "spray bombs" (for structures, etc.) are in a large shopping bag under the railroad.

[DKS]

Same thing... plastic storage drawers.
Lee

Ditto. For now, that is.

My plan is to complete a mechanism that rotates the paint bottles end-to-end once a day, thus keeping them semi-mixed and also keeping them from going bad in the jar. I started construction many years ago and just never finished (a classic "round tuit," in more ways than one). It comprises the following:

A heavy-duty timer motor from an old 24-hour programmable timer, the kind used to control outdoor lighting and other electrical devices that run on a periodic basis.

A paint jar attachment platter, made from an old record turntable, bolted to the timer programming disk.

A string of rare-earth magnets glued to the edge of the ring to hold the bottles in place.

The timer is hung on the wall, and the bottle caps are simply placed on the magnets. Round and round we go.

[wm3798]

You played "Q" in those Bond movies, didn't you?
Lee

[qantaqa]

I have an old fridge drawer that I place the all the little bottles lid-down in (no holes in case of leaks).  a small scrap of masking tape with the name of the color if it's not apparent goes on the bottom.  larger cans, spray bombs, and chemicals go in a cabinet in the shop (locked for safety)

cheers!

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Spice racks are about the right size for small paint jars.

[Sokramiketes]

Same thing... plastic storage drawers.
Lee

Ditto. For now, that is.

My plan is to complete a mechanism that rotates the paint bottles end-to-end once a day, thus keeping them semi-mixed and also keeping them from going bad in the jar. I started construction many years ago and just never finished (a classic "round tuit," in more ways than one). It comprises the following:

A heavy-duty timer motor from an old 24-hour programmable timer, the kind used to control outdoor lighting and other electrical devices that run on a periodic basis.

A paint jar attachment platter, made from an old record turntable, bolted to the timer programming disk.

A string of rare-earth magnets glued to the edge of the ring to hold the bottles in place.

The timer is hung on the wall, and the bottle caps are simply placed on the magnets. Round and round we go.

Like wine, the cork needs to be kept wet.  So storing the bottles up-side down in a drawer would be even better than rotating them end for end where the seal gets flipped from wet to dry constantly.  But don't let me stop you from engineering.

Are you sure you can just bolt a disk with a bunch of paint bottles to the face of one of those timers?  Something tells me they weren't rated for that load...

[DKS]

Like wine, the cork needs to be kept wet.  So storing the bottles up-side down in a drawer would be even better than rotating them end for end where the seal gets flipped from wet to dry constantly.  But don't let me stop you from engineering.

Are you sure you can just bolt a disk with a bunch of paint bottles to the face of one of those timers?  Something tells me they weren't rated for that load...

Based on experience, flipping the seal from wet to dry does not degrade the seal once a proper seal is made. There is no cork to dry out in a paint bottle. I've stored paint bottles upside-down, but opening them and mixing the paint can be somewhat messy, particularly after a long time, when the paint has settled firmly onto the lid.

And yes, heavy-duty AC timers have a main bearing that is adequate for the mass of the disk and bottles, and as long as the bottles are distributed relatively evenly around the disk, the rotational load is quite low. I've already built the thing--the stopping point was a simple method of securing the bottles to the disk that made for easy removal. I was originally going to make spring clamps, but that was a lot of work. With the recent availability of really cheap powerful little magnets, I now have the solution.

[wm3798]

So it's only a matter of minutes before the paint bottles have plastic lids... ;D
Lee

[DKS]

So it's only a matter of minutes before the paint bottles have plastic lids... ;D
Lee

Yep. I expect Testors to switch over next week.

And Tamiya has had plastic lids for a while.

[chuck geiger]

Throw it out - You have to use it pretty quick, anything I have every stored is gravy after awhile and the airbrush hates it....i was kidding.

[Walkercolt]

I've got a skeet-bird box with all my paint in it, all higgly-piggly. 35 year old Pactra, Testors, Model Masters, Tamyia, old Floquil, Polly S, and Polly Scale and Badger all together. Don't know if any of it's any good. But it's "saved for someday", like the rest of my junk. I tried to have a garage sale, but nobody would offer me anything for the garage with all the junk in it.