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Decorative coatings that look like real metal

 

I am trying to develop a line of finishes for decorative use on sealed wood and am having trouble finding a source for quantities, of various metal powders finely ground (especially silver) enough for a good metal luster without graininess. I have seen a good example of this in a metal coating, in aerosols, but most powders when mixed tend to look grainy.

John Roberts
- Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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In order to keep this non-commercial, try Coatings World [affil link on Amazon] or the CTFA Buyers guide www.ctfa-buyersguide.org . I'm pretty sure that you want aluminum powder for a silver look. Real silver would be costly, and difficult to keep from oxidizing(tarnishing). You may also be having problems because you are using a powder that has too low of an aspect ratio(the ratio of the diameter of a platelet to it's thickness) The higher the aspect ratio, the less graying or darkening you'll see in your product. Several of the companies selling metallic dispersions have come out with ultra-thin particles which give an improved metallic effect in coatings.

Bob Zonis
- Bohemia, New York