For a third of that money on sale try a drill press.
The large 4 inch paddle is only about $7.

The DP can also be used to drive a flex cable allowing you to use grinding tools and wire brushes on your work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drill Press

OK What Jo wanted = $170 What tufaenough said was 1/3 the cost= $90 + $7 for paddle = $97. That's not 1/3 the cost in my math book. It's slightly more than 1/2 the cost of what Jo wants.

Can't take drill press to where you want/need to work like the hand held unit. Drill press needs to be mounted securely to bench and have motor head turned around to have the clearance needed for paddle and bucket of mix.

I think what Jo wants is more reasonable as it's much more portable and is made to do the work without a lot of modifications. It has my vote.

I just picked a page.
You can buy a suitable DP on sale for $50 and I've seen them second hand for as little as $20 here at garage sales.
The paddle I bought in Canada for $6.50 so you might get it for $5 in the US.

I should add a DP is hands free.
I made a simple wood swivel that works just like the on on a Kitchenaid mixer so I can spin the bucket and get a good mix. I use fat 3 gallon buckets and a big scraper to push the tufa down and into the paddle.

Mixing TUFA with a handheld powered unit is hard work.
Probably harder than hand mixing with a hoe in a mortar pan.

Before buying on I suggest renting a similar one from HD and mixing a batch of Tufa recipe first before buying.
Tufa does not mix as easy as drywall mud or paint and likes to sit in one spot in the bucket unless you muscle it around.:)

A BIG handheld unit is cool but is a single purpose tool and too expensive for me.:)

Jo, you might advertise for a used (working) unit on your local Freecycle online. If you're not familiar with it, just do a search for (YOUR COUNTY)+FREECYCLE, sign up and post your request. You never know when you might luck out and some guy has a bunch of stuff filling the garage (you know how guys like multiples of the same tools! ;-) ) and his wife is screaming at him to clean the place out so they can put the car inside.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Sue

I'm not sure what you're looking for, but when I want to mix up tufa and don't to mess with my cement mixer, I use something called an Odjob mixer that holds around 80 pounds of concrete. I just dump everything in, screw on the top and roll it around the floor for a couple of minutes. Sometimes I dump the mixed tufa out into a mortar trough and "fine tune" it if the spirit moves me. I think I paid around $30 -$35 for it around two years ago. It holds up fine and is easy to clean/

Jo, Everyone seems to have hand held drills. All you need is a paddle. Drill press is too fixed. Wouldnt you love to see some of those tools and projects Tufaenough is making? Wish he would break down and buy a camera so he can share. (wonder why he doesn't) I still like the hand mixing myself. It's great exersize. Maybe with nice rubber boots you could stomp your tufa like fine grapes in a vat, Lucy style.

The other Jo

I suspect most here have very little interest in my work.:)
I don't do leaves, I don't paint, and I don't cast.
I work with pigment colored muds and slurries and there is little interest in that.
You are probably more interested in my failures than my sucesses and I'm not posting any pictures of those any time soon.:)

All I really have to offer is my limited experience with recipes, uncommon ingredients, and pigment colored materials.

Jo, have you ever longed for a concrete mixer? We were trying to design one from an old dryer last summer. Still haven't figured out if a cement mixer would be good for mixing tufa or not. I remember last summer someone came up with an idea for mixing tufa in a big piece of plastic, just folding the mix in on itself over and over. Was a great idea.

Tufaenough, we are interested in anything new and different. Please inspire us with what you are doing. We even love the failures cause we learn alot from them. We have all had failures and we use to post them! (wasn't it fun?) Being limited in experience is what we are about, and pigments and uncommon ingredience is the HOLY GRAIL! Don't feel like you have to be perfect. We know your not. ;)

Jo

Hi Jo-

Yesssssss, I dream of having either a cement mixer or a bunch of men to mix tufa and concrete for me. Oh, um, wrong forum..sorry. ;D
(singed, but unrepentant)

Anyhoo. Yeah, I'd love a cement mixer. Not only for tufa, but I've got a whole acre to wall up and the thought of mixing all that cement by hand is a bit overwhelming. I figure I'll go at it section by section, starting with chickenwire on either side of the current fence, dry pouring a trench underneath it in which the bottom of the chicken wire loop is embedded then just attaching the CW to the fence enough to keep it from getting tangled. Later, I hope to rent a mixer and go on a pouring spree with forms and get my rabbit frustrator completed.

So, yeah, I'd get a whole lot of use out of a mixer, even if it never got used for tufa. Maybe Santa will bring me one....no, wait, that means I'd have to be good for 3 whole months! I don't know if that's possible. I guess I'd better start saving my pennies instead.

Hi, Tufaenough.

I hope that there is room for anyone and everyone who would like to participate here. I'm sorry that you don't feel like you fit in, but I hope that you will stick around anyway.

One of the things that I have loved most about this forum is the free and generous exchange of ideas, advice and encouragement from the forum members. I have appreciated bearing witness to some of the most astonishing artwork I have ever seen.

Spontaneous creation is a wondrous thing and I hope that everyone here can appreciate that each creation they produce is a unique and special expression of their artistry. I, for one, would love to see some of your work, if you would like to share.

There is a great saying "Dance as though no one were watching, sing as though no one were listening and live each day as though it were your last" To me that means, do what you do for yourself first, whether or not anyone notices or applauds your efforts. Don't cease to be generous even if you think others are not being generous to you.

I am inspired nearly everytime I log on to this site. I look forward to the next amazing thing I will see from someone tomorrow.

Singing and dancing my heart out.

Jo

tufaenough, you don't cast,you don't paint,you don't do leaves, what do you do with your muds and slurries?

Jo, if you can't get your hands on a cement mixer, try using the plastic sheet mixing. Some of us tried it last year, (wish the bump fairy were here, we would have still had that thread) and it worked like a charm for doing larger amounts. I think the ingredience were placed in the center, you fold over the plastic and roll and mash the whole thing till it is mixed. Does anyone remember this?

Jo

For those of you longing for a low price mixer...check out Harbor Freight. I just got a sale flyer and they have a small (1.25 cf) that's just $139 bucks. Don't know anything else about it but you can check it out online at the link below. I'm considering going to take a look myself as it would be very handy for small volume mixes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Cheap Mixer...

Harbor Freight link

Here is a link that might be useful: This mixer looks great for small jobs