Anyone using this mixer for small bottles? I like to mix into 60ml glass Boston Rounds. The top is about 1/2" ID. The mixer below is cheap, but has one attachment that might fit a small bottle. Answered questions on Amazon say the the minimum bottle opening is .43" so it looks like a possibility.
https://www.amazon.com/Badger-Air-B...-fkmr0&keywords=hand+stirrer+small+bottle#Ask
Hey Dave,
I have the Badger 121; though I bought it from here:
RC Planet. The product+shipping price beat Amazon (I am not a Prime member).
I just put my digital calipers on the mixing blade, and it measures 10.90mm or 0.429in, at its widest point (tip-to-tip). The only bottle necks it does
not fit for me are the narrow unicorn bottles.
I chose the Badger mixer because it was made for mixing oil-based modelling paints, which are both viscus (thick) and can't have a lot of air bubbles introduced (it hurts the finish of the paint. In my opinion, as fare as hand mixers go, this is as close to the action of a magnetic stirrer as you are likely to find.
The one downside (to me) that I have found, is it prefers narrower bottles. If you mix in wider containers (such as beakers) you have to do a fair amount of stirring (swizzling the blade around in the beaker) in order to get a thorough mix. This is not the fault of the mixer; remember that it was designed for mixing small bottles of paints like the little Tester's cubes. It does fine in 15, 30, and even 60mL dropper, and Boston round bottles; but 100, 150mL beakers require some manual stirring to help it along.
As for the Norpro mixer; I have read many favorable comments about the straight split "stick" fitting small necks. The others are probably going to only be useful in larger containers (such as beakers).
I suppose, if you were willing to risk the potentially ruining any of the other attachments, you could try modifying at least two of them. With the two prong attachment; you could file the tips back (shorter) so they could squeeze together more tightly and thereby fit in a smaller opening. And similarly with the metal whisk; snip the wires at the bottom, near center (allowing the sides to be squeezed together), and then continue snipping/removing wire until it fits your desired openings. (note: if you decide to try this with the whisk, I would strongly recommend
not running this with the motor,
unless it is in a bottle/container with steep sides, as I fear the inertia will put too much stress where the wires are trapped by the plastic) Here's a picture to try and help convey what I mean:
I honestly have
NO idea, if doing either of these modifications, would give you any advantage over the spit straight stick; which as I understand it, will flare open as it spins.
