White spirit or turps, there is a way to use much less. Use two containers, maybe three. One is for washing a brush in clean turps, the others are to store the dirty turps and leave it to settle. Then next time you pour the clean stuff off the top of the settling container, pour into the washing container. When the brush is washed pour back into the settling container.
It can be easier too, if you add a bit of cellulose thinners to the turps (or white spirit).
A G Wood I don't think the box is anything special but I suspect the vapour pad is another matter; it's not just white spirit. Are the refill pads available in NZ I wonder? To be honest the kit is quite modestly priced - about £20 as I recall for mine.
Bob it's a while since I've been into a DIY shop (150 days chez nous now) but just to give you an idea Wilko are offering 750ml white spirit at £1.60; Bartoline "clean spirit" at £2; turpentine substitute at £1.60 or 'brush cleaner' (500ml) at £3. Genuine turps is not on offer and in my experience you'd struggle to find it on the high street these days. Just found some after a 5 minute search & it's £9~10 for 500ml.
I wonder if anyone else has great tools or garage kit to recommend?
13-08-2020, 02:44 PM (This post was last modified: 13-08-2020, 02:47 PM by Steve Jones.)
Found on the Car Park where I worked in about 1983, the centre of the tool is spring loaded so that it holds a slotted screw (think Distributor Points) whilst you screw it into place. US made by Blue Point and so very useful. The blunt end contains a strong magnet for when the pointy end doesn't hold the screw sufficiently!
Thanks KC. I wonder if turps is plant origin pure turps and the turps substitute mineral turps, which is what as is conmmonly available here. Some older paints used to specify pure turps. I gathr in parts of Europe solvent paints are more or less banned.?
I have done a lot of non acrylic brush painting over the decades; used to buy and resell bikes at schoool, painted 6 cars and a lot of interior house work striving for brush mark free finish although with modern paints largely despair of the latter. I scrape paint out of the brush using the rounded back edge of a knife, wash successively in used turps and finally clean turps. Brushes which have become clogged are combed with a coarse wire brush, commecing above the bristles so these are not stabbed and severed.
A lot of amateurs seem to abandon the brush at end of task!
A workshop tool I have found very useful is a quality 8 inch direct reading vernier calliper. Instantly adjustable. Keeps the brain nimble and does not give a false sense of accuracy. Easier to hold than 6 inch. Can quickly sort dia and tpi for screws
Chris, I've never seen such a thing in this country, certainly not at the usual suspects.
Last time I did any extensive alkyd painting brush maintenance was thoroughly old school: wash the brushes etc. out after the days toil was over, what a chore. Fortunately in those days the turps was easily and cheaply obtained [i.e.'free'].This bit of kit would've saved a lot of time (and solvent if you had to pay for it).
Our son was a professional painter in his younger years, next time they're over I'll ask him if he has ever come across one.
Steve Jones, those holders are the ducks nuts for points screws, especially when the first weapon of choice, a magnetic screwdriver, can't get in there. There is also a similar one for cross head screws but it doesn't work that well.
14-08-2020, 03:58 AM (This post was last modified: 14-08-2020, 04:02 AM by Tony Press.)
(13-08-2020, 09:01 PM)Bob Culver Wrote: Thanks KC. I wonder if turps is plant origin pure turps and the turps substitute mineral turps, which is what as is conmmonly available here. Some older paints used to specify pure turps. I gathr in parts of Europe solvent paints are more or less banned.?
I have done a lot of non acrylic brush painting over the decades; used to buy and resell bikes at schoool, painted 6 cars and a lot of interior house work striving for brush mark free finish although with modern paints largely despair of the latter. I scrape paint out of the brush using the rounded back edge of a knife, wash successively in used turps and finally clean turps. Brushes which have become clogged are combed with a coarse wire brush, commecing above the bristles so these are not stabbed and severed.
A lot of amateurs seem to abandon the brush at end of task!
A workshop tool I have found very useful is a quality 8 inch direct reading vernier calliper. Instantly adjustable. Keeps the brain nimble and does not give a false sense of accuracy. Easier to hold than 6 inch. Can quickly sort dia and tpi for screws
Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, wood turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially), turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. It is mainly used as a solvent, and as a source of material for organic syntheses.
White spirit (UK) or mineral spirits (US, Canada), also known as mineral turpentine (AU/NZ), turpentine substitute, and petroleum spirits, is a petroleum-derived clear liquid used as a common organic solvent in painting. There are also terms for specific kinds of mineral spirits, including Stoddard solvent and solvent naphtha (petroleum). Mineral spirits are often used as a paint thinner, or as a component thereof, though paint thinner is a broader category of solvent. Odorless mineral spirits (OMS) have been refined to remove the more toxic aromatic compounds, and are recommended for applications such as oil painting.
For decades here white spirit was the very evaparative product widely used for plumbers irons (horizontal tpe) and campstoves. Quirte dangerosu to use as the fumes spread and ignite from yards away . During WW2 my plumber father used to add to the Austin (rationing was about 2 gals a month) Along with petrol donated by friends enabled his honeymoon trip 150 mile radius. There seems to be a lot in modern paint to give the near unmanageable rapid dry (I doubt if the chemists actually try their product; the assumption is that none today will attempt a glass finish with a brush on say a door). Turps was/is much less evaporative. It seems that the moderately refined mineral turps may have been phased out in UK.
Incidentally if anyone has no other use for a gas cyl a plumbers iron on petrol is much cheaper to run. For heavy soldering and serious heating.
