On Wed, 13 May 2020 07:59:37 +0700, John B. wrote:
On Wed, 13 May 2020 00:15:07 -0000 (UTC), bob prohaska wrote:
Eli the Bearded wrote:
In rec.crafts.metalworking, wrote:
On Sunday, March 9, 1997 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, wrote:
Wow, you are replying to a post old enough to buy booze.

Back then, VHS was the dominant way to watch movies at home; Netflix
was founded in August 1997 as a DVD rental service. Google (and thus
gmail and google groups) did exist, that company was founded over a
year later. Monica Lewinsky was an unknown person, she didn't start
talking to Linda Tripp until September 1997. In March, Garry Kasparov
was still able to beat the best computers at chess. Comet Hale--Bopp was
still bright in the skies in March, and the Heaven's Gate cult hadn't
yet offed themselves. Timothy McVeigh was still on trial. Princess Diana
was still alive and trying to avoid photographers. The Simpsons had not
yet predicted President Trump.

What a different world that was.

Seems to me that in the 1940s thru 1960s, iron was painted
with a black wrinkle paint. This stuff was tough and very
plentiful. It may not have covered machine tools, but it
was used on laboratory equipment and instruments galore.

What is this stuff? Why is it used? Is it superior or
just convenient? Why is it out of style today?
....
Another item to add to Boris' list... Does not show smears nor finger prints.

Doesn't answer any of the questions. Doing some cursory checks it seems
the stuff is apparently called "wrinkle paint", I can't say why it was
used, but style is certainly an option, and I can't answer if it was
superior or not, or why it went out of fashion.

I certainly think it looks good on a lot of things, so I was interested
enough to check.
....
I always thought it was intended to make stamped
parts look like sand castings. Hiding fingerprints
as an extra bonus. Wrinkle finishes were popular
on office machines (typewriters, calculating machines)
and sometimes office accessories.
....
I've always thought that it was intended to be a non reflective
surface that wouldn't show finger prints and so on. I remember we used
to repaint light aircraft instrument panels with black "wrinkle paint"

I thought it was due to high solids in the paints, mostly with the
intent of allowing a tougher baked finish, but also (like for various
plaster-wall treatments) to hide a few unintentional flaws or wrinkles
by having a more-uniform field of surface marks.

However, https://www.finishing.com/04/09.shtml implies wrinkles
are due to different layers in the paint drying at different rates,
and in the 'old days' tung oil was important to the effect, but
more recently the technique of adding layers fairly quickly is
used. (Ie wrinkles not necessarily due to high solids or baking.)

--
jiw