Re: [CR]1949 Holdsworth Paint Finishes

(Example: Framebuilding:Restoration)

Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2006 21:23:01 -0500
From: "Tim Victor" <timvictor@gmail.com>
To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
Subject: Re: [CR]1949 Holdsworth Paint Finishes
In-Reply-To: <9327C3B25BD3C34A8DBC26145D88A90706428D@hippy.home.here>
References: <75d04b480612031309s272c7c75t99afda240a4a2a7e@mail.gmail.com>


On 12/3/06, Mark Bulgier wrote:
>
> Kurt Sperry wrote:
>
> > I think of enamelling as the fusing of a vitreous layer to a
> > steel substrate by heat, not merely spraying on epoxy or
> > other type conventional paint. The Brits seem to me to
> > perhaps use the term "enamelling" for the latter. Is this
> > just a Anglicism or do they actual "enamel" frames in
> > England? I've got an enamelled stove and that is 1,000 times
> > tougher than any painted finish I've ever seen. An actual
> > enamelled finish would be pretty cool if it wasn't too heavy
> > and you didn't have to overheat the frame to fuse the enamel.
>
> DuPont, makers of Imron, call it enamel. I seem to remember the classic
> Testors Model Paint I used as a kid was also called enamel. Enamel as
> paint (regular air-dried paint, not baked on) is well-established usage
> in the US.
>
> Paints are often speed-cured in a drying oven, but the temperatures used
> are nowhere near as high as for real stove enamel. Bike frames
> advertized as "baked enamel" or some such are always just speed-dried as
> far as I know. Without the oven the paint would get just as hard
> eventually, it would just take a long time.
>
> I'm not a painter but this has been told to me by several bike painters
> over the years. Exceptions anyone?
>
> Mark Bulgier
> Seattle WA USA

Wikipedia does a pretty good job with this one:

Enamel paint

An enamel paint is a paint that dries to an especially hard, usually glossy, finish.

This is a commonly used, yet fanciful term, implying that an ordinar latex or oil-based paint has the same properties as true, fired vitreous enamel.

Some enamel paints have been made by adding varnish to oil- based paint.

The term sometimes refers to oil-modified polyesters that were introduced in the early 1930s. The oil is required to stop or enhance the crosslinking of the paint in order to achieve sufficient flexibility of the paint film.

Typically the term "enamel paint" is used to describe oil-based covering products, usually with a significant amount of gloss in them, however recently many latex or water-based paints have adopted the term as well. The term today means "hard surfaced paint" and usually is in reference to paint brands of higher quality, floor coatings of a high gloss finish, or spray paints

Compared to:

Vitreous enamel

In a discussion of art technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The powder melts and flows to harden as a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. It is often applied in a paste form and may be transparent or opaque when fired. Vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals.

Peace,

Tim Victor
Greensboro, NC