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I have owned several plant sprayers since Harrelson Stanley of Shapton USA introduced them to me in 2003 as a great way to keep your waterstones wet.
Of all the sprayers I’ve used, this sub-$10 one from Home Depot or Lowe’s is by far the best. It’s sold under the “Project Source” label and is found in the gardening section. (Definitely skip the nicer-looking Flo-Master – that thing leaks like the Nixon administration.)
What’s to like about the Project Source sprayer? Its seals hold quite well so it stays pressurized for a long time. It does not leak when pressurized. The brass nozzle is well-made, knurled for your pleasure and finely adjustable. The trigger does not get stuck in the “open” position – a common defect with sprayers.
While you are at the home center, pick up a boot tray to contain your sharpening mess, and you will have a portable sharpening station that can be stowed under your bench.
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. All of the gift guide entries (including last year’s) are here.
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I got 10 or so small non-pressurized water spray bottles from amazon.com. They’re cheap and really useful. One sits on my bench for sharpening duties, another sits next to the stove with water in it (generating steam in the over or also handy for chopping garlic and preventing it from sticking to everything), another holds a mix of distilled water and sanitizer for my beer making equipment, etc.
Since it’s not pressurized, I don’t have to worry about sticky triggers and leaks. The only hard part was finding ones that are small, holding about cup or so of liquid.
These work well so far and are priced right.
http://www.leevalley.com/US/garden/page.aspx?p=71498&cat=2,33134
This article saved me an hour of work already. Ran over to Lowes on my lunch break the day it came out. Picked up a sprayer and a boot tray. (Came out to $34.92, but you can shave $20 off that if you don’t take cash back. Also, they moved the boot trays over to the flooring section, in case anyone is wondering.)
Picking up my son from school later that day, I was handed a 12×18 sheet of paper with an amazing amount of glue and glitter sitting on it. Oh, boy.
After a moment’s thought, I ran out to the car and grabbed the boot tray and carefully carried the paper out to the car in that. Got the art project home safe and sound, without a twinkle of sparkle left in the carpet of my car.
Cheers for that, Chris.
TKW
I must be missing something here. I use a sprayer from the ‘dollar store’. It puts water where I want it, doesn’t leak, cost me a buck and its color fits in with my bland personality unlike the red thing. That boot tray, however, is a good idea; I may have to replace my developer’s tray from my black and white photography days.
I can recommend the Solo sprayers. I used a 2 liter size to spray my basement for insects and it worked great. It comes with a clear “drip guard” around the spray nozzle that needs to be taken off and thrown away so that the spray pattern can be adjusted. I didn’t know what a “boot tray” was until now. Brilliant idea. It’s on my shopping list now.
Any updates on the LN sharpening jig that I see in the background of your photo? Do you know when it will be available, and I guess more importantly, how well does it work?
Is this where we are now Chris? Comparing the pros and cons of plant sprayers? LOL!
P.S. Agreed. The trigger does stick
P.P.S. “…that thing leaks like the Nixon administration.” LOL!
I have the flo-master one and I can attest the trigger does stick.