Letter 409

How wrinkle paint works

I have been using Black Wrinkle Paint for Fiberglass Gun Stocks, sold in 12 oz. spray cans. It is only available in black.

What I need is a source for a good wrinkle paint in a medium to darker gray, a forest green and maybe a darker brown. It would be nice to find in bulk to spray out of a gun.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

John Berish
- New Salem, PA, USA

Those of you looking for brown wrinkle paint should try the the manufacturers of machinists toolboxes. I believe they have touchup paint available.

Bill Bourdon
- Labadie, MO, USA

I'm also looking for the brown wrinkle paint and was told today by the toolbox company that the EPA will not allow them to sell the wrinkle touch up paint for their tool box. They now powder coat their boxes. Where to now?

Leo Roberson
- Williamson, GA, USA

I have experienced exactly the same problem as all you great guys out there, when looking for a supplier of dark-green wrinkle paint.

Over and over I got the same depressing answer "I'm sorry sir, but this product went out of production more than thirty years ago"

There might after all be hope for all of us, as I just spoke to the owner of a very old paint manufacturing company, which is in fact still making black wrinkle paint.

I asked him if he would be able to make other colors than black, and he said that he could possibly make a transparent wrinkle paint, which would allow buyers to tone it exactly to their specific needs.

He told me, that if it will be possible for him to make a transparent wrinkle paint, I was bound to buy at least 300 liters. I'm posting this, in order to get an idea of how many of you guys out there that are interested in buying customized wrinkle paint colors. Suggested retail price would be around $25-30 per litre.

If you are looking for a specific color in wrinkle paint, which is no longer available, let me know and I will see what I can do.

Poul Erik Enevoldsen
- Aarhus, Denmark

Hi all. Getting paint to wrinkle with automotive paint, as described before, is easy. spray on lacquer paint first let dry 5-10 minutes then spray on your desired top coat color with enamel paint. What happens, is the lacquer paint dries from the inside out, and the enamel paint dries from the outside in. When the two meet it causes the two to react. (almost, if not instantaneous)Hope that helps.

Painting, and baking with enamel works well too. While still relatively wet, place the part under a heat source, such as a heat lamp, or an old oven works well too. For some of you with sensitive camera, or telescope equipment, this won't be an option for you. You'll have to use the lacquer/enamel method. Do some test panels first, play around with varying dry times (for both lacquer and enamel), and paint film thickness's to get different degree's of wrinkle. Once you have settled on a formula that works, apply that to your project piece. Happy wrinkling.

By the way, some of the "hammer tone" paints use silicone in the paint mix. Paint won't stick to silicone, it will separate from it like the plague, this causes the paint to crater as it separates from the particles of silicone, resulting in a "hammered" look.

Craig A. Castellano
- Chester, IL

I understand that spraying two coats of enamel, with a time lag in between, using different reducers may also create the wrinkle effect. In other words, first coat with a slow reducer, second with a fast reducer. This is also probably one reason why spray can products are so hard to work with; the necessary ingredients cannot be combined in one mixture.

Geoff Fors
- Monterey, CA

Regarding the use of "toolbox brown" wrinkle finish, it IS available in single spray cans directly from the toolbox manufacturer. I tried it in restoring an antique Atwater Kent radio and one of my toolboxes. Turns out it doesn't exactly match the color of my toolbox and is an almost abrasive-feeling texture, not the wrinkle effect. The original toolbox finish may be a powder coat as suggested in a previous post.

Dave Allen
- Cincinnati, Ohio

I am in a group for a car building project and we were suggested to use krinkle paint and wanted a little more info than we could get and any info any of you can give us will be most appreciated. Thanks for all your inputs.

Andrew Hagle
- Bad Axe, Michigan, USA

Well, I have one for you and judging by the time in between responses I won't hold my breath. I am restoring an antique Brunswick "Challenger" pool table. It was built in 1939. It is made of wood but it has a (you guessed it) wrinkle finish. So has anyone reproduced a wrinkle finish on wood before?

Tom Fraley
- Rochester, New York

I have been an auto body tech for about 27 years, if you want a wrinkle effect apply several coats of enamel letting each coat flash about 20 minutes but not set hard, then spray with clear laquer. Each coat of clear wait about 10 minutes between coats to get the wrinkle effect you want, I also play around with old radio equipment and this works well for me.

Jack E.Smith
- McKeesport, Pennsylvania

I once sprayed a set of oak cabinets that already had been finished. I used latex in an airless sprayer. I sprayed on way to much paint so I took a roller and rolled it to keep it from running and it came out with a real heavy wrinkled effect. Probably resulting from the heavy nap roller I used. For a finer wrinkle maybe a lighter nap roller could be used. This only works for wood products.

Leonard LaBerta
- Dickinson, Tx

I was wondering where I could find some in a purple-ish Blue I've seen it on a Honda but I haven't found any.where can I buy some.I would greatly appreciate it if someone had the answer...........

Christopher Sexton
- Birmingham, AL, US

Hi. I would like to know if a wrinkle paint in black is commercially available here in the Philippines.
Would need to get this for my director who wants to restore film cameras.

Ciao!

Mary Catherine Naguit
- Makati City, Philippines

I personally contacted the company that makes Kennedy toolboxes, which have the brown wrinkle finish on them. I'm restoring my thirty-six (36) year old machinist chest. The lady kindly told me that the wrinkle finish they used back then has been replaced by a newer process which is "proprietery" and they cannot sell any of this product, period. If I wish I can ship my tool box back to the factory and they will re-finish it for me. The quoted pricing was way too high. FIY>

David Chatman
hobbyist - Albany, GA, USA