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Surface Finishing Tutorial

#170 Painting

Category : Painting
October11, 2013

Painting

Painting is probably the oldest of the surface treatment procedures we have so far introduced. Painting which uses paint to give beautiful aesthetics on objects and to protect them is said to be in practice since the prehistoric times.
Lacquer is used on Egyptian mummies and arrowheads found in ancient tombs. Of course these coatings used were naturally derived resins, drying oils, raw lacquer, and animal proteins. Paints were formulated by mixing colored rock powders to these coating materials.
The solvent diluted paints that are close to the concept of the paints used today came into use in the 18th century. In Japan, the western paints (Oil Paints) were first imported in the 1st year of Meiji, and the production of such paints had begun replacing raw lacquer and astringent juices.
Today, wood, steel, non-steel metal and plastic products are being painted in all aspects of our daily necessities such as construction materials, home appliances in large construction, transportation equipment, electrical, communication, marine and farming industries.

The purpose of painting

Painting is intended to achieve the following goals by creating organic paint layers on the surface of objects.

(1) Chemical protective effects

With paint layers strongly bonded to the object surfaces, paints prevent rusts and corrosion by isolating the objects from surrounding corrosive elements such as water, oxygen, sulfur, electrolytes.

(2) Mechanical effects

Prevention of damages by externally applied forces, wear prevention, and improving sliding characteristics by reduced coefficient of friction. In addition on the other hand, increased friction resistance, making sliding more difficult.

(3) Appearance value enhancements

By painting and giving visual effects different from the original appearances, artistic and product values are enhanced.

(4) Added functionality

In recent times, other than mentioned above, there are paints to keep off living organisms and aquatic plants (ship bottom paints, pesticidal paints) due to bio-repellant nature. There are a number of paints that give functionality to products are in extensive development, such as electrically conductive paint, electrically isolating paint, temperature sensitive paint, flame retardant paint, and sound-proof paint.

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