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Hints and Tips Perhaps you have painted things with ordinary silver paint and discovered that it deteriorates very rapidly. A new non-smudge aluminum paint has been produced called Alumi-Blast by Seymour Paint Co. It is easy to use, runs and thin spots don't show, it dries quickly, and provides a surprisingly durable professional quality finish. Alumi- Blast looks good on trailers and boat accessories and is very weather resistant. They also make a darker color called Cast-Blast that is excellent also. Available at many different auto parts stores, the # on the can is 815-895-9101. Call me if you can't find it. Have fun! Many products from the home can be recycled in your garage or shop. Cardboard orange juice cans are straight sided and can easily be marked with a ruler for mixing small quantities of epoxy. The cans can be cut down in height with scissors for working with smaller amounts and are handy for cleaning small brushes. Margarine tubs with lids can be used for storing screws and small parts when something is disassembled for repair. Write on top and side what it is so you can find it later. Tuna cans and jar lids are helpful for keeping small parts together; as soon as you begin taking something apart, the screws start getting lost, so always have a cup or lid to keep them together. A can with a lid can be used along with an acid brush, to make a handy grease applicator. Any time you work with bolts and nuts, lightly grease the threads. On your trailer particularly, in later service, you will always be glad you did. If your family uses high quality paper towels like Viva or Sparkle, they can be reused when dry for cleaning brushes or wiping batteries. I keep a pile of recycled towels for wiping out the rims of paint cans. Using a gloved hand, the rim can be wiped clean by folding and re-wiping until all wet paint is removed, ensuring an easily removed lid the next time. Wet towels are tossed in a metal can and put outside to dry then reused again. Towels stiffened with paint work even better! Plastic mustard bottles like French’s, can be used to apply Smith's Clear Penetrating Epoxy to well dried rotted wood to restore it to useful condition. The tip allows adjustment to just the right dribble speed. Because they are clear you can see what's left and you can use them for other liquids. Infuriating safety caps that must be pushed down while turning can sometimes be pried off revealing a handy little cap that can be used to mix small quantities of paint to fix your latest boo-boo. I use these when tinting stain for matching the color of a boat or for paint touch-up work. Many times when driving you will see a truck mud flap or a slab of tread that has been thrown off. If you have the nerve to retrieve one they can be used to make many useful and helpful repairs. The truck tire tread must be the outside without any cord in it with a sharp knife and liberal use of WD-40 feet can be cut for noisy shop tools or an air compressor and attached with Goop adhesive. The nearly bulletproof mud flap material makes good isolation damper padding for all kinds of machinery. I quiet electric fuel pumps by mounting them to rubber and then bolting the rubber down. Once you have these materials you will discover uses for them. Party platter trays can contain items for cleaning or washing on the bench. The thin, stiff plastic can be cut into shims to make your trailer hitch rattle free. Old flip-flops are great for bumpers or rattle stoppers for many different jobs. I liked them so much I used mine all up!
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