Paint Selection Guide

Question 1:

If I claim to read a column regularly in PF magazine, it is yours. I appreciate the breadth of exposure I receive when reading the Q and A column. I find however that with the current NESHAP developments across the surface coating category, there is a need to see a summary of coating options available. Either in your column or as a direct response, I would appreciate seeing a chart describing typical coating groups, the relative VOC/HAP content, approximate film range, typical percent solids, inherent characteristics and typical applications. Can you point me towards such a generic chart or can I hope to see such a summary in a future article? Thanks a ton. Keep up the informative articles. J. H.

Question 2:

I am an engineer at a consumer electronics company. We routinely paint many of our products that are made of steel, plastic, zinc diecast, etc. I wanted to know if there is a site online or somewhere that has information on what kinds of paint are available and their make-up plus the advantages, disadvantages, compatibility or adhesion to various surfaces, properties, etc. P. M.

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Answer:

Good questions—what you want is a Paint Selection Guide. I am not aware of one on the Internet. When I had a real job, one of our 100 plants made large industrial blowers, which were used for exhausting all types of chemical fumes. Since the blowers handling acid fumes needed acid-resistant paint and the blowers handling alkaline fumes needed alkali-resistant paints, etc., they were painted with a host of different finish systems.

I was asked to develop a Paint Selection Guide. My sources were technical handbooks, paint supplier’s literature and resin supplier’s literature. After it was written, the chart was used by the plant engineering department to specify paints for each blower produced. You can do the same using the aforementioned references. I know, that’s easy for me to say.

On the other hand, a lot of that information can be found in my chapter, “Overview of Industrial Coating Materials” on pages 150 to 153 of the Products Finishing 2004 Directory & Technology Guide (www.pfonline.com/articles/pfd0325.html). Although it's not as comprehensive as the Paint Selection Guide, it will help guide you in your selection of paints.