Anyone know where to find the tiny little flat jar to clean bearings? I watched the Gentry Stein and Shu Takada videos on setup and they both seem to have the same little jar. I usually repurpose things for a job like this, but I can’t find anything that small and I’d like to minimize the acetone I bring home from work.
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I got all mine in a paint kit years ago. Any hobby or art supply store should have them.
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Yep, you can also get some sets of them on amazon searching for “mini paint mixing jar”. The one I’m using now is actually a tiny jam jar.
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yeah i was going to suggest a baby food jar
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I have not tried this lately…>
But this is what I use to do>.
I would go to a Camera Store that ‘still’ develops 35mm film rolls. (Some old school Pros still do some 35 Fuji or Kodak film🤓
Some people that bring in their roll film, have put it back in the small canister it came in. Usually a small grey container with a black snap on lid.
They usually Love to give them away…if they have any?
Or Hobby Lobby or JoAnns fabrics or Paint Supply ‘Touch up paint bottles’.
Worth a try.
PS… Another good source would be a prescription bottle that’s obviously empty. Pretty much somebody in every household has little prescription bottles laying around sometimes of pills They have never taken or they took everyone but one and there’s a little see-through yellow bottle with the white click on top just sitting around with one pill in it that nobody’s ever going to take.
Put the word out with your family or friends. Empty prescription bottles with good ceiling tops. Or small vitamin bottles did I have a pretty good entry size so you can put a bearing in it but you don’t have to go fishing to get it out. If you use a small glass or plastic bottle that doesn’t have a real big opening then just drop your bearing in with whatever fluid you’re going to use. And when you want to fish it out just hold it up with some pretty good light so you can see the bearing at the bottom if it’s a see-through bottle. Then go find yourself a chopstick. Do you know the kind that comes when you buy Chinese food and they include chopsticks and you never use them?. Don’t throw them away. A single chopstick works great for fishing a bearing out of a small bottle. Like I said hopefully a bottle you can see through otherwise you’re really fishing.
My girl was going through a kitchen drawer one day with a knives, forks and stuff like that are stored. And she asked me what do you want to do with all these chopsticks? The little two packs wrapped in paper. So I opened one of them and open snapped the chopsticks apart. I stared at A chopstick and focused on the one end being smaller than the other one. And the smaller one just about the diameter that will go into at least a C size bearing. And obviously if you’re working with different size bearing and for some reason the chopstick won’t go in it just get out of his pocket knife and carve down a little bit.
Every yo-yo player has to have a little bit of MacGyver in them. We’re all kind of creative or artistic or handy in one way or another or we wouldn’t even be drawn to yo-yos in the first place.
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This is EXACTLY what I use too! who knew jam and bearings went so well together 
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+1
Cheap
Perfect size
Available 5mins away
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Search for a “Tamiya paint mixing jar” - readily available throughout the inter-webs, or a local hobby shop. It’s the perfect container for cleaning bearings and storing your solvent imo. It’s made for mixing small amounts of paint for model airplanes etc. Airtight seal, good quality, cheap, small.
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If you have any fountain pen nerds like me in your life, then an empty ink bottle is a nice choice. Many have wide mouths which makes it easy to fish out the bearing.
That said, an empty prescription should be easy to come by.
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Thanks. That looks a lot like it! And thanks everyone for the great suggestions. If I can’t find the worlds smallest jam jar the next time I’m at the store, I’m going to the hobby shop.
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Just remember acetone doesn’t play well with some plastics.
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Is that relevant to the lid of the container only or are there some bearings with plastic parts inside? I definitely want a glass jar, not just because acetone would mess up the plastic, but it’s pretty volatile also and I don’t want it to all evaporate in the months when it will just be sitting.
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I think it’s relevant to the container’s overall structure. The tamiya jar I posted is mostly glass, and i’ve been using it with the same solvent (99.9% alcohol) without any signs of deterioration to the plastic lid. I would expect the same to be true with other solvents.
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I did an amazon search for “small glass jars” and got a lot of results. I ended up getting a pack of 10 small jars for really cheap labeled as dab jars and they work great.
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Baby food jar would work perfect.
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I’ve seen a few bearings with plastic shields but no other plastic parts. Since I primarily use mineral spirits or lighter fluid (Ronsonol) it’s not an issue for me.
Not really, it’s sold in plastic bottles.
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Very good point lol
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Try using gift honey bottles. They are usually pretty small.
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Welcome to the forum!
The thing about using food jars, is some solvents eat away the rubber seal at the top. That will both contaminate the liquid and cause the jar to leak. You can use isopropyl with those, but not Acetone. I’m not sure about mineral spirits?
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Just don’t use ABS, HDPE, and EPDM plastic with mineral spirits and you should be good to go.