Need help w/ decanting

[J Smith]

Hay Guy's

I decanted a can of plasti-kote into a 4 oz. bottle

around 6:30 this evening. Here it is 9:30 and it will still fizz with me when I

put the cap on the bottle. How long should it take to gas out?

Thanks for your help

J Smith

[Mike Whatshisname]

Jimmy,

Usually when I decant a can, I will hold it upside down and spray until the pressure is fully gone. Then I puncture a hole and drain the can into a jar. I have never had a problem doing it this way.

[E St. Kruiser50]

Jimmy,

Then I puncture a hole and drain the can into a jar. I have never had a problem doing it this way.

THIS IS THE WORST, AND MOST DANGEROUS TIP, I HAVE EVER READ ON THIS SITE.

NEVER EVER PUNCH A HOLE IN AN AEROSOL CAN - NEVER NEVER.

THAT CAN TURN AN OTHERWISE HARMLESS ITEM INTO A "HAND GHRENADE".

NO APOLOGIES HERE GUY'S - THIS IS JUST NUTS

There are kids here who read these posts and listen to our recommenation, AND THIS IS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST THING ANYONE COULD EVER RECOMMEND HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HARRY - THIS POST OF HIS SHOULD BE REMOVED - PERIOD.

Edited August 18, 2009 by Treehugger Dave

[Harry P.]

Jimmy,

Usually when I decant a can, I will hold it upside down and spray until the pressure is fully gone. Then I puncture a hole and drain the can into a jar. I have never had a problem doing it this way.

Your method works, but I think you have to emphasize the fact that you have to hold the can upside down and spray until ALL the pressure is gone. If there's even a little pressure left in the can when you punch a hole in it, you might get an eyeful of paint. At the very least you'd get a big mess, with paint shooting out of the hole all over the place.

Punching holes in spray cans is probably not the best idea. If you insist on emptying out a spray can, you're probably better off spraying the paint into a container. Or better yet, don't buy aerosol paint if you want to use an airbrush-buy liquid paint in bottles that's meant to be airbrushed in the first place.

[Guest Gassersgarage]

When I first started decanting paint I had a really big surprise, the day after I put my paint in a jar I was getting ready to paint when I took the little jar and started shaken it up, when I untwisted the lid it blew right off the jar and covered everything within 10 feet with paint. ALWAYS be care with this stuff.

Robert

[Zoom Zoom]

To answer J Smith: There's no telling how long it will take. It could take an hour, it could take days. Put the lid on very loose, or leave it open for awhile in a safe area.

Here's a novel idea for everyone to consider: Only decant what you need for a project right now.

There is no need to do it all at once; I've been shooting a lot of projects lately w/decanted sprays. The spray can is a great storage device and it's completely reusable. Just spray what you need into an open container (use a straw to direct the contents into the container, I use mixing cups), let it sit for a few minutes to let the propellant dissipate (stir it to see), add a few drops of thinner (optional, depends on how smooth it flows) and then airbrush. It doesn't take long spraying decanted paint to get a good idea of how much paint you'll need for a session. Run out? Decant a little more. Put the can away for the next time. I'd rather do this than worry over it drying up in a new container....or worse, having to deal with the worry over capping any propellant. My spray can is still completely usable as designed.

Poking holes in spray cans is very risky & completely unnecessary (unless the task is to retrieve paint from a can that the nozzle no longer works, as in no more air pressure). You can go to the hardware store and spend about 15 bucks and have a really neat Rube Goldberg contraption that carefully pokes a hole in the can to decant via a vinyl tube. All the Monster Garage and Mr. Wizard fans love it. They are convinced that they've accomplished something really incredible & fascinating, so maybe the 15 bucks can be considered a viable entertainment expense. I think it's a clever idea to throw away a perfectly good $15.00 ruining a perfectly good can of paint

A pack of straws costs about $1...that's if you want a relatively clean and mess-free decanting session. Otherwise one can spray straight into a cup (I think Mr. Obsessive uses conical water cups) and deal w/a little bit of splash/spray...still a lot safer than poking a hole in a spray can!

These threads are always entertaining

Here's my KISS method explained with photos:

Easy Decanting

[J Smith]

99GT, the point of decanting is that you will get better control w/ an a.b.

I know that it does dry quick, but the problem I'm having is on the 2nd coat

paint is like sandpaper on the model. I thought I would try this way to see if using my a.b.

will do the samething.

Zoom Zoom, This is the way I decanted the paint using straws

Well today I put the cap on the bottle & started shaken it up and I can still hear a psssssssss

is this normal?

Thanks guy's for helping me out.

J Smith

[David Thibodeau]

I really don't understand decanting paint or primer anyway. Why make a simple job hard?? Just because the paint or primer has been sprayed from an airbrush doesn't make the paint better. The paint still has to be color sanded and cleared to get a truly good shine. I tried it once and saw absolutely no advantage in doing it. Especially when you consider the time spent/wasted on decanting,waiting for the paint to gas out and cleaning the airbrush afterwards. It's like driving on a side road when when you could have taken the interstate.

Even Primer depending on the brand can build up too much.... some people want to control it in very thin even coats... very hard to do with a spray can.... Bob Downie's method works like a charm and you only decant what you need to use.... not wasteful.... and punching a hole in the can is something I think I would be afraid to do!

DaveT

[Mike Kucaba]

I've decanted 100's of spray cans usually because the spray nozzle did not work.I just rip the valve off the top of the can and when I hear a little hiss of air I toss a rag over the top and walk away for a bit.I use a pair of large side cutters to remove the valve.I worked for a number of years in an aerosol valve manufacturer and had to find a way to do this for the Q.C. department so they could check why valves were returned by the fillers.To get as much of the pressure as possible from the can shake it as normal and use a large c-clamp to hold the nozzle down while the can is upside down!!! Repeat this procedure many times as there is a lot of propellant in a aerosol can.

The device Bob refers to is a saddle clamp valve and usually is applied to tap a water pipe for a ice maker in a fridge or a humidifier in a heating system.I haven't tried this yet

but iy seems that it would work quite well.

I just wish Tamiya & Testors would offer all their sprays in bottles so this would not be neccessary (for me).I believe that even the crummiest airbrush sprays better that any nozzle on a spray can,even Tamiya.

[Albert Moore]

From the files of 'Do not try this at home'-

About nine years ago (back when I was young and foolish- don't ask the difference now other than it's just nine years later ) I was working on a #24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Monte Carlo and decided that I wanted to decant the metallic blue from the can when it came time to apply that color. I had read about letting all the propellant out of the can and then puncturing it to drain the paint. I turn the can upside down and release the all the propellant until I couldn't hear any hissing. So, out comes the safety glasses (at least I was smart in that regard) and the Black & Decker cordless drill. You know what happens next- as the bit entered the can- BANG! As a reaction to what had just occurred, I squeezed the trigger which spun the can really fast, flinging paint EVERYWHERE within a 15 foot radius from where I was standing. The spousal unit was not amused at the mess...... The drill still bears the splattered metallic blue paint as a reminder to not try such foolish things again.

The straw trick is soooo much safer...

Cheers,

Albert

[Art Anderson]

I can understand decanting paint to spray with an airbrush,but primer??? In the time spent decanting the primer and waiting for it to gas out, your model could have been primered,sanded and painted. Plasi Kote filling/sandable laquer primer dries within an hour easily.

Except, that if you are gonna decant and airbrush rattle can finish colors, why compromise your work by just rattlecanning the primer? The biggest advantage of decanting rattle can paints and then airbrushing them is, you won't be going after painting the model as if you had a firehose in your hand.

Art