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  1. #1
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    Aug 2008
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    Default Paint can key mystery

    Alright. I've had it. The torment has been far too great for far too long...

    What the heck is the looped end of a paint can key for!?!?!
    (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...an_key_001.jpg)

    Yeh, sure...a bottle opener...but what are painters using that comes in capped bottles (besides the obvious home brews that defy the Geneva Convention)?

    Put me out of my misery
    Every time you make a typo, the errorists win.

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  3. #2
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    May 2012
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    Woodstock (Cowra)
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    Default

    Easy to hang up so you can easily find it to open a bottle

    um.... put on a key ring

    Real reason is to provide a decent grip and leverage by hand when in use. Try and use one without and you will soon find out its a PITA
    The person who never made a mistake never made anything

    Cheers
    Ray

  4. #3
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    Default

    I figured leverage was probably the key (*boom-tish*) to the loop itself, but it seems like unnecessary processing to pinch out the tabs inside it just so you can sink a sly one (or twenty) on the job.
    Every time you make a typo, the errorists win.

  5. #4
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by RedShirtGuy View Post
    I figured leverage was probably the key (*boom-tish*) to the loop itself, but it seems like unnecessary processing to pinch out the tabs inside it just so you can sink a sly one (or twenty) on the job.
    Maybe the industrial designer had an ulterior motive and the paint tin application was an after thought
    The person who never made a mistake never made anything

    Cheers
    Ray

  6. #5
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    Default

    May be the home brew has to be opened to use as paint stripper.
    Hugh

    Enough is enough, more than enough is too much.

  7. #6
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    Melbourne, Aus.
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    Default

    FWIW if you have pushbikes in the house and do the tyres, you prob have a lever with a cupped end. Just as good.
    Cheers, Ern

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra
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    Default

    My paint can opener (one of them, at least) lives in the kitchen drawer for both opening milo lids as well as bottle opening functions.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
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    Parkside - South Australia
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    Default

    I was using one the other day after reading this post. I hadn't previously noticed the bottle opener on the end but I was thinking it would have been handy if they didn't fully close the loop so you could store the opener on the paint tin handle.

    I tend to open the tin and then loose the opener before I need to use it again on the same tin.
    Now proudly sponsored by Binford Tools. Be sure to check out the Binford 6100 - available now at any good tool retailer.

  10. #9
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by rsser View Post
    FWIW if you have pushbikes in the house and do the tyres, you prob have a lever with a cupped end. Just as good.
    Exactly what I have used for many years. It lives on the magnetic bar on the end of the bench.
    Tom

    "It's good enough" is low aim

  11. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chesand View Post
    Exactly what I have used for many years.
    I think I've been missing out and feel deprived. Never knew that there was a special tool for opening paint cans.

    All my life I've been making do with old screwdrivers.


    Peter.

  12. #11
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Sturdee View Post
    I think I've been missing out and feel deprived. Never knew that there was a special tool for opening paint cans.

    All my life I've been making do with old screwdrivers.


    Peter.
    At least screwdrivers are better than using chisels. You now have an excuse for an extra tool in the shed.
    Tom

    "It's good enough" is low aim

  13. #12
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    Sep 2002
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    Minbun, FNQ, Australia
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    Default

    There is only one way you could get me interested in painting.... that is it.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  14. #13
    Join Date
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    Default

    Here is my take on the subject;
    The scoopy bit that does the actual "Opening" of the can is shaped to put the end of the scoop *right under the corner of the lip pressed into the lid. Repeated use of a screwdriver instead of the opener, will make resealing the lid very hard due to bending out shape of the lid.
    *the round loop at the other end is there to make it easier to find in the confusion mess that goes with a painting job
    *painters are known for their large appetites for the amber stuff so why not make your paint tin lid opener have a "duel" function

    I had never figured that you could hang it on the wire handle of the can. I like that idea.
    I have a few kicking around that you can never locate when you want to use it, so I put a piece of string on it to leave a trail to locate the sucker
    Just do it!

    Kind regards Rod

  15. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Katoomba NSW
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    Default

    Many years ago, before they invented those new fangled, plastic, screw top bottles, paint additives came in a small glass bottle that needed a bottle opener.








































    OK, I totally made that up but it's might be true.
    Those were the droids I was looking for.
    https://autoblastgates.com.au

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
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    Default

    Hah. While NCA's theory is entirely plausible, I'm going to stick with the "painters are giant lushes" one. It's much more likely
    Every time you make a typo, the errorists win.

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