Thread: Cheap paint brushes

I'd be interested - just been looking at web sites and they certainly look to be cheap to me. How about a box of 864 1/2" brushes for $132? (That's US $ of course but still cheaper than anything I've seen locally). Or 1 1/2" brushes at 14c each.

Aus sites I saw look nearly as expensive as the shops (depending where you shop) - over $1 ea.
Rollers may be more difficult.

Could be worth buying on line for a group. Anyhow keep me in mind.

That's exactly what you should be doing Richard. I get brushes by the case, but buying just one case doesn't get much of a discount (considerably better then purchased as singles) so me and several others each buy a case and now we're getting 2" chip brushes for 15 cents a piece. I have a coop with a number of builders. We get lumber, plywood, epoxy, supplies. With the likes of a far reaching fourm like this, you should be able to pool resources and save some money.

I have some contacts Richard and working on it

Originally Posted by m2c1Iw

I have some contacts Richard and working on it

Good, count me in

Richard

The sounds of a coop, being formed . . .

Originally Posted by PAR

The sounds of a coop, being formed . . .

cluck cluck cluck

Richard
(yes, I know you mean co-op )

I'd join your coop, but you can't have more than one rooster in the hen house.

I'd be interested in joining your co-op though. But I do live at the other end of the universe.

OK I've got them down to 63 cents each in boxes of 36. I'm waiting for a price if we bought say 10 boxes. That's for 1" does anyone use wider?

Getting some prices on foam roller covers for epoxy and the high density ones for painting as well.

Anything else we should look for.....gloves? Post any ideas while we are at it.

Mike

Personally, I like the 2" and use them exclusively.

Originally Posted by PAR

Personally, I like the 2" and use them exclusively.

Yeah I use the 1" cause that's generally what is available but 2" would be better just trim a bit if needed. The price difference is only small so that is what I'll work on.

Cheers

Good news Mike, that's nearly a third of the price of buying them at Bunnies.

1" for me. I only use brushes for frames and things like that, stuff I can't do with a scraper so 2" is too wide.

Roller covers would be good.

Gloves - they're cheap enough from the supermarket.
Tongue depressors can be hard to get and come in monster boxes, I'd be interested in a couple of boxes though.
A few syringes but not in bulk because they're very reusable (I usually break the tip off before they stop being reuseable).

Richard

Tongue depressors (isn't this what British food is?) aren't really necessary. I prefer to use the tool I'll be spreading the goo with to mix, which is usually a putty knife. This is especially true if I'm adding a filler. You see, when I mix goo, it doesn't stay in the cup very long, just long enough to get it measured accurately, then it's dumped into a mixing tray.

My mixing trays are purchased from a department store as plastic cake storage boxes. They're about 14"x24" and 3-4" deep. I like these because they have big radius corners and no ridges on the bottom. The unmixed epoxy is dumped directly into this, then mixed with a "folding" action, rather then a stirring motion.

I use the mixing tray because I can spread out the epoxy over a much larger area, which keeps the thermolidic reaction down. Second it offers a lot of area to apply fillers without it clumping or balling up in a corner of a mixing cup. Lastly, I can leave the mixed goo in the tray, all spread out so it doesn't kick off from being in a thick mass. Sometimes, I mix so much goo, that I have to use a piece of plywood to spread the thickened mess on. If you can stretch it out thin, say 1/16" thick, you can really increase your working time over a clump in a mixing pot.

Originally Posted by PAR

Tongue depressors (isn't this what British food is?) aren't really necessary. I prefer to use the tool I'll be spreading the goo with to mix, which is usually a putty knife. This is especially true if I'm adding a filler. You see, when I mix goo, it doesn't stay in the cup very long, just long enough to get it measured accurately, then it's dumped into a mixing tray.

My mixing trays are purchased from a department store as plastic cake storage boxes. They're about 14"x24" and 3-4" deep. I like these because they have big radius corners and no ridges on the bottom. The unmixed epoxy is dumped directly into this, then mixed with a "folding" action, rather then a stirring motion.

I use the mixing tray because I can spread out the epoxy over a much larger area, which keeps the thermolidic reaction down. Second it offers a lot of area to apply fillers without it clumping or balling up in a corner of a mixing cup. Lastly, I can leave the mixed goo in the tray, all spread out so it doesn't kick off from being in a thick mass. Sometimes, I mix so much goo, that I have to use a piece of plywood to spread the thickened mess on. If you can stretch it out thin, say 1/16" thick, you can really increase your working time over a clump in a mixing pot.

I use the tongue depressors because you mix with them, spread with them, fillet with them, then toss them out. To clean up, I have half of them with one end ground to a chisel.

I was cleaning up with a putty knife for awhile but got sick of having to clean the tool so went back to the wooden chisels - maybe I'm lazy but it's so easy to just throw them out and with a couple of years between purchases, I don't notice the cost of the tongue depressors.

My kids have those chocolate deserts (Milo, Yogo) that come in small, plastic cups - rounded corners, no ridges, free (because they were going to be tossed out anyway). Between the two of them having a desert every night, I've got an over supply of the things so one use and they're in the bin. They are small but are big enough to take a three pump mix (West) or two pump if you're thickening it. As Paul says, you have to watch the thermolidic reaction though I haven't had much of a problem yet, probably because I'm working with such small mixes and getting it out of the pot quickly. The down side to such a small pot is that you have to keep mixing fresh goop which hasn't been a problem so far. I've got bigger pots to fall back on if needed.

Ahh, the joys of being an amateur rather than having next sunday's dinner hanging on the results of your labours. One of the real pleasures of watching people work is noting the different circumstances and how they handle them.

Richard

Originally Posted by PAR

My mixing trays are purchased from a department store as plastic cake storage boxes. They're about 14"x24" and 3-4" deep. I like these because they have big radius corners and no ridges on the bottom. The unmixed epoxy is dumped directly into this, then mixed with a "folding" action, rather then a stirring motion.

I use the mixing tray because I can spread out the epoxy over a much larger area, which keeps the thermolidic reaction down. Second it offers a lot of area to apply fillers without it clumping or balling up in a corner of a mixing cup. Lastly, I can leave the mixed goo in the tray, all spread out so it doesn't kick off from being in a thick mass. Sometimes, I mix so much goo, that I have to use a piece of plywood to spread the thickened mess on. If you can stretch it out thin, say 1/16" thick, you can really increase your working time over a clump in a mixing pot.

Mm I like that idea.