Document 7RKORRpxY77Qp1G3m4BJ9o7vo

\ \ ' By" PHILIP HEIBERGER STANLEY & MORRIS. University of Texas - InterdiaiiiafCorpl' y ` Austin, Tex. Newark, N, J.,, " :>* -v'.'-'.'.' - .***. ...A OU STEP from the pressur portioned amounts of raw materials negotiations,for a 30 hour week. You Yized cabin of your laminateand-clcar-acrylic helicopter into a kettle, mill, or mixer, blend off begin to talk into the dictaphone, the intermcdiatcs,andspectrophoto-' ; "October>20, 2001 ..." into' the; adjacent subway and armeetrically color-match: the producb ii't.Ncvthis is not a story that slipped ' -whisked`by. underground tube to the An analyzer will. spectrographically \ off the pages of a Science-Fiction central office^and production build determine the control characteristics Magazine--merely a projection of ing of the Twenty-First Century of the batch, beaming the results on what we might look forward to in Paint Manufacturing Corporation. your office telescreen. Another lever, about fifty years. Infinitely more The air conditioned comfort of the and the filling operation is begun, , complex . manufacturing, operations " structures bracesyou.A: few words ' controlled by an electric eye. are carried'ori today by remote con to the secretary, a glance at the You sit back, musing on the tech trol. Why not finishes? When we morning mail, and your day is ini nical events of the day--the final consider the great contrast between tiated. A check of the previous day's tests on the newest UHF pigment the present status of the finishes field production and shipping data, a disperser eliminating the need for and that of fifty years ago, we realize hasty noting of the material whose emulsifiers, a preliminary report from that the foregoing projection is not due dates fall during the next five the laboratory on the new vehicle unduly imaginative. days, a few quick calculations on the whose rheology characteristics will slide rule, and you are prepared to enable the successful spray applica Secret Art feed the electronic compto-scheduler the requisite information for deter mining the day's schedule for the en tion of a 100 per cent non-volatile coating, and the acceptance by the leading boiler manufacturer of a AT the turn of the century the . paint and varnish industry was just faintly beginning to feel thr tire plant. Your calculations will white, non-yellowing, non-flammable, impact of organic chemistry on its enable you, by pressing the correct totally inorganic finish. Then you re classical formulations. Tung oil had buttons, to automatically feed pro- member that correspondence on the been introduced to the varnish world Left: Raid tubs ir used to remove impurities from white Iced mixed with ureter. Center: White teed m oil is being pickaxed in kegs from filling bench. Right: Row of white lead settling tanks. Photos courtesy of National Lead Co. just a few short years before, laying procedures hardly differing from the groundwork for the first major those listed in the first printing of technical advances in many yean. Watin's varnish formulary in 1772, While today tung oil is considered usually considered the beginning of an almost indispensable raw material "modem" varnish technology. Ma it was not so highly rated at first. As nila, kauri, and Zanzibar were still with any unfamiliar raw material, the most popular resins. Shellac, many mistakes were made in its use damar, sandarac, mastic and rolo-' and because of their ignorance in the phony (common rosin) were the proper treatment of tung oil, some resins generally used without oil in manufacturers tvere ready to blame solvents such as alcohol and turpen their failures on the tung-oil prop tine. These were known as spirit erties themselves. Although they varnishes. knew that tung-oil varnishes were The varnish kettles, as in so many more repellent to water than linsecd- installations used today, were mostly oil varnishes, and that rosin varnish copper, about three feet in height makers had successful methods of and in diameter, with the bottoms using it, they also found, to their riveted on. When that gave out, a dismay, that their varnishes fre new bottom was added. This was quently underwent decomposition done successively until the height of ' while standing and often gelled dur . the kettle became too small for use., ing processing. Over the years var It was set on a small frame "truck" nish -makers have learned how to used to move the kettle around. The cope with these difficulties and today, despite an occasional "monkey", for the most part this problem has. been eliminated. Instead of looking to the labora tory for new raw materials and im proved methods, it was customary in those days for the old formulas to be passed along faithfully from one generation to the next: white lead carbonate in linseed oil for paint, and fossil gums in various natural oils for varnishes. Progress was slow be cause the guardians of the ancient recipes," lacking scientific knowledge, had no means of predicting the con sequences of even a trivial modifica tion. Thus, they feared change as an evil in itself. Nevertheless, the so-called secrets of the trade, such as pre-bodying of the oils, use,of driers, preparation of the hard resins, etc., served them well and many excellent and durable products were available to the paint consumer. These var nishes were mostly dark materials, compared to the products of today, and as a rule they took as long as 48 to 72 hours to dry. coke fire, below the floor level, was started early in the morning, to be hot for the varnish maker. The gumj; as varnish resins were called, was ' heated over the fire with constant stirring by the use of a woodenhandled iron rod thrust, through a hole in the loose-fitting cover. The "run" was over in about thirty minutes, during which time 10 to 30 per cent of the gum was lost through "vaporization." Thermome ters were seldom used, as the desire was "only" to melt the resin, though temperatures in excess of 650* F were often reached. The linseed oil was simultaneously heated in another kettle at tempera tures ranging from 90 to 500 F, after which it was slowly added, with continuous agitation, to the gum kettle, after removal from the fire. When all the oil had been added, the cooking was resumed at approxi mately 500 F until a drop cooled clear. German practice called for more extended cooking and bodying of the linseed oil and a correspond ingly shorter period during which Varnish Technology the gum and oil were together. Many varnishes were made as short as 3 THE art of combining oils, par ticularly linseed, with hard gums gallons of oil to 100 pounds of resin. This was due to the fact that the had been developed over many cen gloss and depth of the varnish were turies, and the products thus pro the important properties and, of duced were, as today, of many quali course, the resin contributed most ties, ranging from the unexcelled highly to these factors. violin varnishes and great master Due to the risk of fire, wet burlap painters' vehicles to cheap, . dark, was constantly on hand for smother brittle wood varnishes. The manu ing purposes and thinning was per facturer of 1900 used formulas and formed at a distance from the open FAINT AND VARNISH PRODUCTION, OCTOBER 1951 Artist's CMCMtiM oftka Skcrwin-Williams Co. fcnildmi m Clcttlsud, Ohio n it looked ; . : 1*70. -Hr . t*7i--Smrwm panned first formula. First Skorwin-Williams factory located on site of pretant Clunland plant. Machiniry con sisted of hollar, on(int, mistr, mill and putty ckasar. 15 0 0 0 7-SWP-000007374 _^rsm I 1880--Km c m ! Sturaw-Vniina swot. Cucb color show cnj--III}. Dry colors nod lor wax llowars--1173. Photos courtesy of Sherwin-Williams Co. 16 fire. Naturally, this was done while much the same manner as those of the varnish was still quite hot and half a century ago. Admittedly, tuueh turpentine was lost. Because cooking facilities arc superior, but the art was older and the areas more a suprisingly small proportion of the thickly settled (necessitating more kettles arc Dowtherm equipped com precautions), European equipment pared to the number using direct was further advanced than American fire. On the other hand, although equipment. Closed varnish kettles of methods of manufacture have under aluminum, copper, or enameled gone relatively little change in the iron, often in batteries with their past fifty years, there have been un stacks leading to a common con precedented advances in vehicles-- denser, were the rule rather than from a raw material point of view. the exception. As restrictions on It is especially in this area that the atmospheric pollution, to say nothing increased activity of chemists in the of the noxious odors, increased, paint field has been notable, as American manufacturers began, . evidenced by the many new and using condensers, especially for gum:. / improved synthetic resins now avail- running. ablc. Compared to our present: day -44 . , Chemical Approach alkyd resins, the color was quite dark.' I"Inert atmosphere" was an unknown1 scientific marvel. Hand-sorting ,of . T was less than twenty-five years before' the turn of the century the gums and extremely careful cook- ' that the first graduate chemist ing were necessary to manufacture y. entered the paint profession. Techno the lighter colored and more ex- logical advancement, rebelling from pensive grades, which were,' never-'? customary practice, had a hard road the less, usually inferior to the darker at the outset. The guiding finger of with respect to durability. This: was * the scientific method had influenced so because the pale sorts were of a but' few of the tradition bound lower melting point than the darker ' varnish and paint makers. However, portions of the gum, necessitating a tine inherently superior properties of lower rooking temperature. Another China wood oil, over linseed oil, with reason for the lower cooking temper respect to speed of dry, durability, ature was the desire to keep the color hardness, resistance and also price, development to a minimum. - . provided the necessary spur .for Varnishes and spirit varnishes scientific progress. Varnishes of this were often "conditioned" or "clari "conjugated" oil, even when made fied" by storaging for a length of with rosin, proved superior to those time; some manufacturers claimed, made with linseed oil and fossil gums as long as four years. Not only did this act as a filtering or settling pro cedure, but it was believed that the properties of the material were con siderably enhanced by the passage of time, in a manner similar to that in which liquor is aged. It is interesting to note also that even in the early 1900's, the manu facture of varnish was conducted as a definite business, independent of any other, and so subdivided that the same concern did not make all kinds of varnish. In fact, it was not unusual for some of the larger, as well as the smaller manufacturers to purchase varnishes, either for and furthermore they were much cheaper. With the advent of the first "synthetic" resin, ester gum (rosinglycerol ester), progress toward the manufacture of intrinsically better products was well on its way. Chem istry was at last beginning to assume its rightful place in the paint indus- try- With relative rapidity, further improvements in the "hard" portion of the varnish constituents occurred: rosin-modified phcnolics, 100 per cent phenolic resins, coumaroneindenc resins and finally, the maleic hard gums. In combination with tung oil, or for that matter, with linseed oil, or any other number of direct sale or for use in making some currently employed oils, these var special product, from other makers nishes gave unequalled qualities of who were particularly successful in chemical and wear resistance, dura certain lines of work. bility and pale color. In addition, If the above procedures and these developments furthered the methods do not seem unfamiliar, independence of American manu this is not surprising. Many of our facturers from 'the vagucries of vehicles today are manufactured in foreign sources, a trend which shows \ \ OOO^-SWP-000007375 ) l i-! "a. no sign of waning. Not only are natural gas and petroleum derivatives, taking the place of fossil resins, but even such items as China wood oil arc being grown in this country. An increasing quantity of our requirements are coming from the growing areas of Florida and Mississippi. Thus, China wood oil may eventually be entirely free of. dependence upon China as a source. In common with numerous other imported raw materials, quality varies greatly. Domestic production has reduced this factor to a minimum. In addition, due to the superiority of our machine presses far more oil is pressed from the seeds than is achieved in China. This has further aided the economic stability and induced the.growth of the industry here. Vehicle Development JT has not been until recently that improvements have been WMtc Inf toi eeinr mX ad ky tW pkt Mntiy at tan af Hie caataiy. - VPketat tomrttty of Chmt. Jtou St Sou Co. effected in the oil portion of vehicles. The introduction of the newer and the improvement of the re alkyd resins, with their almost commercial oils--soybean, oiticica, sistance and drying properties Infinite number of variations--in etc.--was the first step in this direc through such methods as vinylation, oil "length", type of drying or non tion. The advent of the second catalytic isomerization and fraction drying oil, multitude of polvhydric World War with its attendant scarcities (in part caused by our inability to procure material from other parts of the world), as well as with the stimulation resulting from ation. One of the most far-reaching vehicle developments was the intro duction in the late twenties, and sub alcohols other than glycerol, such as pcntaerythritol and sorbitol, polybasic acids, such as maleic anhydride, in addition to the phthalic an hydride, and the addition of modi the recent development of "de sequent development and ex fying agents, such as phenolic resins hydrated" (conjugated) castor oil, pansion through the thirties, of and rosin--form the basis for in led to the upgrading of various oils glyceryl phthalate varnishes. These numerable air-dry and baking finishes. These finishes are note worthy because of their initial gloss and gloss retention, adhesion, out door durability, flexibility, and chem ical and abrasion resistance. The high application solids combined with the low cost of these versatile materials have greatly increased their use in the past two decades. Cuebientisa el pniat nitli and mrien used in early 1900'a. MINT AND VARNISH PRODUCTION. OCTOIEk 1951 Lacquer Development TURNING to a consideration of lacquers, the value of nitrocellu lose was already established in 1900. At that time, pyroxylin finishes came into extensive use for photographic purposes. Naturally, other uses sug gested themselves, but to adapt them for use on-metals or wood, suitable solvents hid to be found. At that time it was a formidable problem and the first solvents that were found use ful were nitrobenzene and ethyl ether, both of which were used in 17 0007-SWP-000007376 c. V: opened the door to innumerable tne atrcaay desirable characteris other developments, such as the low- tics of the widely used alkyd mate cost quantity production of butyl rials. These butvlated amines accel alcohol, numerous higher esters, erate the speed of cure and increase glycol ethers and esters, both by fer the degree of chemical and abrasion mentation and synthetically from resistance and hardness of the softer natural gas or other hydrocarbon oil-modified resins. Thus our mod sources. These in turn stimulated ern washing machine and refriger the growth of our now gigantic syn ator finishes have been made possi thetic organic chemicals industry. ble, with resistance properties that Another spur for this industry was are almost unparalicd in the field of the demand for ester-type plasticizers, organic coatings. not only for cellulose-nitrate com "High-bake" synthetic enamels, positions, but also for other cellulose in addition to their tremendous use esters, ethyl cellulose, and for the in the'appliance field, have also phenomenal vinyl resin field. gained a secure place for themselves in the automotive finishing business, -Other Synthetics where their high solids, excellent : gloss and durability have won them TNCREASINGLY large amounts of ' a position competitive with lacquers. - X vinyls are produced yearly and Their drying time has been shortened CMicat tw* psiat *<h I ink mil ns spit* - papular iwupl pamt tuaualactiarafl ip 1900'a. these polymers are. gaining wide almost to. that of lacquers by the spread acceptance , as air--dry mid , . copolymerization of styrene into the conjunction with.-methyl alcohol. Naturally, these mixed solvents had baking .finishes for specialty applica-.' - vehicle, at the tame time retaining tioni; particularly : where extreme the otter deniable properties. many objectionable-' qualities and as the demand for suitablc lacquers in* V-Latkes / creased, a great deal of research was >: undertaken to find^suitable solvents, CONSIDERABLE interest is ap parent today in the useof chlor for nitro-cvllulosc. ' Among the sol* inated rubber and butadiene-styrene vents which were tried at first were polymers far oorroskm-resistant ap acetone, methyl "nitrate* butyric plications, as on air-conditioning ether, benzoic ether, formic ether, units. And butadiene-styrene poly methyl salicylate, ainyl formate, amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, and many others. Except for the amyl' esters few of these were found to be of practical use. Amyl acetate was die most popular and the demand for mers are die vehicles for one of the newest and most sensational ad vances, emulsion-type water reduc ible paints. This branch of the art it still in its infancy and its maturity may very this purpose was so great that the world supply did not meet require Eecmlrie rtvehring vsntisk cutter ami wiur far cutting sktllac, ditsshriag min end gums. ments. Pyroxylin finishes were modi chemical resistance is required, in fied with various resins, such as shel addition, Uakclitc's famed "Wash lac, manila, sandarac, damar, mas Primer" systems have set a new tic, toiu. benzoin, etc. The most seri standard for corrosion resistance. ous difficulty experienced with these Even nitrocellulose, in conjunction solutions was due to the fact that with suitable compatible vinyl res most of the resins 'contained acids ins, yields lacquers of excellent ab which caused the film to decom rasion and cold-check resistance. pose on aging. In line with the desire to furnish Another result of chemical re superior products, air-dry and force- search has been the production of bake furniture finishes arc becoming lacquers having application non-vo more popular as a way of improv latiles approaching that of such ma ing the alcohol, heat, abrasion, and terials as alkyds, 35 per cent and cold-check resistance beyond those over. Because cellulose nitrate alone which cellulose nitrate lacquers are makes an unsatisfactory film of poor presently capable of producing. The durability, flexibility and adhesion, use of the recently introduced cata chemists have developed, during the lyzed phenolirs may become com past twenty-five years, a host of petitive with the currently favored modifying alkyds, plasticizers, and ajkyd-urea combinations. hard resins, which overcome to a The introduction of urea resins, large extent the deficiencies of cellu and subsequently of melamine res lose nitrate. In so doing, they have ins in 1939, considerably enhanced 18 0007-SWP-000007377 well revolutionize the paint indus try.' Ever since paint was manufac tured for resale, it was the fond dream of the producers to use water as a solvent. While a whole segment of the industry is devoted to the Tkt M*rpky r Co. manufacture of water finishes, these are limited to porous surfaces or for temporary finishes. The recent de works i Cltvsiaiid, Ohio s it looked in tfce IC80&. velopment of durable, washable and brushable water paints was a con sequence of the unprecedented growth of the synthetic rubber in Photos courtesy of the Interchcmixal Corporation, dustry. With the availability of new monomers, the rubber industry turned to the paint field as a poten tial outlet for its products. The suc cess of the various latices in inter share of notable developments. Im ior finishes has started a new branch proved manufacturing procedures of paint technology. It is too early - have outdated rise need to be satis to predict how large a portion of the fied with a pigment "so fine that it present market it will replace. Air i would pass through a brass wire though latex finishes have not as yet sieve of 200 meshes to the linear entered into industrial formulations, inch," as was true in 1900. Today, no there is no technical reason barring pigment manufacturer woujd be their usage. The major difficulty thus . foolish enough to offer such a coarse far has been that of application but product. Manufacturing techniques it will undoubtedly be resolved with have advanced beyond this crude in a few years. stage. While the chemical composi Latex paint is desirable not merely tions are essentially the same, the because it contains low cost water, physical properties have been vastly but because the polymers compris improved. ing the latex have molecular weights One of the important develop so great that no known solvent can ments in the field of new pigments dissolve them. The magnitude of was the introduction in 1918 of ti molecular size imparts resistance tanium whites. Since that rime the properties equal to no other known use of these compounds has increased resin. The ever growing use of vinyl enormously because of their excep and Vinylite latex resins is an indi tional hiding power. At about the cation of their recognized superiority. same time, synthetic iron oxides from Pigment Technology ferrous sulfate were developed, mak ing available quality pigments with ALTHOUGH most of the major advances in the paint industry less of the flooding and wetting diffi culties encountered with the natural have been in the field of vehiclesp; roducts. pigments, too, have contributed their The brilliant durable hues of At ChrHtmw in 1880 Murphy distributed J colorful booklet of nursery rhyitm and ttorios "for IrttJe carriafo mekere ond young ear builders." Label is aa illustrttioa from itory "Tha Car Peinters loy". phthalocyanine . blues and greens were developed during the late twen ties, setting new standards of per manency and light fastness in these cotore. A promising new use for fluorescent pigments in advertising has led to the recent introduction of many brighter and more durable hues. In contrast to the advances in {fig ments in general, dispersion tech niques have shown slight improve ment over the years. Despite the newest and most promising develop ment of "flushing" pigments directly from an aqueous to an oil medium, the paint industry has been slow in the use of new dispersion techniques. Partly because of the costliness of new equipment and partly because of the lack of trained engineers to tackle the problems, obsolete grind ing machinery has not been re placed. The three-roll and pebble mills still continue to provide the dis persion needs of the industry. In fact, the almost ancient stone mill is still used far more than the modern Kcenok or Banbury mixers. The efficiency of the pre-mix oper ation has been shown to be of ut most importance in attaining a good dispersion, yet more often than not, the mixers employed are hopelessly outmoded and inadequate. While the infrequent employment of engineers in paint plants is somewhat offset by the relatively large numbers of chemists employed, chemists arc not usually trained in unit opera tions, production techniques anil large-scale material handling. It is especially in these latter phases that the industry is still rather backward. Attempts have been made to over come equipment defects by a five use of dis]>ersion aids. Moderniza tion of dispersion techniques is one SAINT AND VARNISH PRODUCTION, OCTOBER 1951 19 0007-SWP-000007378 .V i I f v.;- Malting rooms in Hit Nawarfc factory of tos Morphy Varnish Co. of the great tasks that remain for : procedures in order to ascertain their the future. The more progressive suitability and usefulness. Also, the companies have recognized this and are slowly increasing the employment of engineers who are interested in dispersion problems. enactment of various restrictive laws, which regulated the sale of prepared paints, made analysis a necessity. " Even before the . phenomenal Solvent Trends growth of extravagant advertising T-J-IE edging out of turpentine as ' claim* characteristic of the twentieth 1 a reducer for paints^petro^ ""`"O', " had been the custom of leum-derived aliphatic*. and the ap- *" P"nt manufacturers to un- pcarancc of thc previously ; Scarre ii.-duJy c3USS^tc the ?"*"** of higher alcohols an&d -tc car quantities are perhaps the two,1 most notable events of the past.half-century in the solvent' field;;'Better ' Thw. Pamt omnimers were awakened to the need of legal ^protection. . Naturally, many of the analytical advances can be attributed fractionation techniques : have en to consumer groups and govern abled the petroleum producers to be come tremendous factors in the sue-' cess of our industry-. Commercial utilization of nitrocellulose, phenolics, vinyls and ureas, to cite but a : few examples, would have been im mental agencies. ' A more careful examination of the situation" shows that exaggeration was not general but mainly confined to' the inanufarturers of certain paste paints, ready mixed, and barn paints practical except for the introduc- . in which varnish was not the essen tion and large scale production at' reasonable prices of such widely tial ingredient. The paint specialty houses prided themselves on the ex used solvents as methyl ethyl ketone, butyl and ethyl acetate, and butyl al cellent coach and carriage paints, marine finishes and fine enamels they cohol. In their turn, producers of produced, and did not attempt to fermentation solvents have had to jeopardize their markets. A good keep pace technically in order to compete with these developments. And, of course, thc.nrwcst large-use solvent, water, continues in relatively abundant supply. many of these ethical manufacturers are still in business and today com prise the backbone of the paint in dustry. We need not dwell on the details of the tests which were developed since 1900. They are very well known. Despite the vast improve ments in techniques and the stand ardized methods developed by. vari ous specialized groups, such as the American Society of. Testing Ma terials, the Bureau of Standards, the Federation of Paint and Varnish Production Clubs, and many others, the industry continues to reiv largely upon the practical tests used since antiquity. No matter how precisely . the chemical arid'physical data arc recorded, the important tests arc such properties as drying timc.' film toughness, elasricity.^consistcnry"' working properties, adhesion, flow propciries andodor,*'/ . Consider many of/the-;-analytical problems faring the industry today. Nothing has yet; replant actual, ex posure conditions in the prediction of durability. The value of accelerated weathering, saltspray *f exposure, tropical chambcnfiand hthcr devices should not be underestimated, as they give preliminary data in a qualitative way. The question of film elasticity also is subject to much dispute. Wit ness the controversies raging on coldcheck data. Now each time you pick up a technical journal you read of a new group reporting its investiga tion on "Factors Governing Ad hesion of Paints." The time and value of the effort designed to rc- Chemical and Physical Testing LET u s consider now the factors which stimulated the develop ment of accurate chemical analysis of paint products during the past fifty years, a development which was hardly foreseen in the early 1900V. In those days, because of the relative stability of formulations there was very little need to critically analyze a finished paint product, aside from the usual and most obvious prac tical tests. However, with the avail ability of an ever increasing number of new, promising, and potentially valuable raw materials, it became necessary to set up elaborate test This laboratory n Hw Newark (actary of too Morphy Vamhk Co. war probably tint in too indintiy. It otaa sat ap h 1176. 20 0007-SWP-000007379 reduction in quality which causes nevertheless, the role that scientific grief to both producer and consumer. research and development has played The consumer must be made to real in the progress of the industry can ize that in paints as well as in auto hardly be overestimated. The giant mobiles you cannot buy a Cadillac strides toward better finishes could for the price of a Ford. not have been made without the con Fifty years age, the salesman was centrated programs of the innumer lucky indeed who had a good dur able laboratories of the companies in able white enamel; the forerunner the surface coatings and allied fields. of today's industrial finishes. Colored Not to be overlooked either arc the varnishes were made by grinding contributions of -other industries, such pigments, as the iron oxides, who, in an effort to find outlets for chrome yellows and greens, English their products and hy-products, have vermillion, prussian blue, ultrama created many hew raw materials for rine, para red, and lampblack, bone- the paint industry. Besides new items, black and asphaltums--for black-- the old products were improved as a into varnishes. But a good, durable normal consequence of competition. Stirring in driers in At nuking nI fine (rinding jspans for Murphy epoch colors. white enamel--that was a rarity in- The cooperation.of the raw material . deed. Titanium dioxide pigments ' suppliers* laboratories and the appli- were not of importance until the start - cation and service laboratories of the .of the third decade-of the century, paint manufacturers' has resulted in place the educated fingernail must, and even then three-quarters of the many of our currently used formulas.. be staggering. pigment was blanc fixe and only These, together with the growing Control Testing twenty-five per cent was titanium number of government laboratories, dioxide. Lithopone was widely used are responsible for the bulk of the ON- the other hand, raw material in vehicles such as rosin varnishes or, control has become more pre sometimes, in rosin alone, for indoor cise. Although the number of availflat wall paints. White lead and specification finishes, setting higher standards of excellence than ever before. able paint materials has multiplied white zinc were, therefore, the prin Government divisions, such as the itself many fold; the freedom from cipally used, hiding pigments for Regional Research Laboratories of natural products and: the yagaries white enamels, as well as for out the Department of Agriculture, The common to unrefined; products'of door house paints. If* extreme care Department of the Army, The De nature has actually tended to un were taken in the choice of raw partment of the Navy and the Bu shackle the paint industry. The in materials and in the manufacture of reau of Standards, as well as pri troduction of synthetic' raw mate varnishes, relatively pale end-prod vately sponsored research organiza rials has introduced an element of ucts could be made. However, the tions, such as the Midwest Research, uniformity which can relieve the cost was almost prohibitive. Thus, " Southern Research, Battclle and the production department of many there were but two choices for mod Mellon Institutes, are also advancing headaches. An alert and well erately priced vehicles for the glossy our progress. The number of educa equipped laboratory manned by a white enamels. First, the use of tional institutions taking an interest well trained chemist can, with little damar cut in turpentine--this ma in the surface coatings industry is effort, keep a firm control on incom terial produced soft finishes with constantly increasing. A few of these ing raw materials. poor durability and gloss retention. arc the University of Cincinnati, With the armed services becoming Baking, especially over iron, one of New York University, the Univer the largest consumer of paint, the the largest outlets, improved the sity of Michigan, Polytechnic Insti need for control is apparent. The film qualities greatly. Second, the tute of Brooklyn, Northeastern Uni general trend toward rigid specifica use of bleached shellac with litho versity and the University of Louis tions is widespread; large industrial pone and, later, titanium dioxide, as ville. In addition, industrial associa users are being forced to issue air the pigments. This finish gave excel tions such as the Federation of Paint tight specifications sts well as estab lent results for most uses of the day. lish laboratories to enforce them. The detailed tests necessary to gain government acceptance are becom The zinc and lead whites could not be used because of the acidic char acter of shellac. Thinning tke lint varnish with turpentine end pumping it to the receiving tanks. ing a major cost factor to both the Today there arc several vehicles government and to the paint manu which are virtually colorless--ac facturer. rylics, vinyls, nitrocellulose lacquers It should be pointed out that some and ureas--which can be used in the of the blame for cheaper grades of manufacture of white industrial en paints must be placed squarely on amels. the shoulders of the consumer. For mulating for price without sacrific Role of Research ing quality is one of the important functions of the successful develop ment laboratory, however, it is the IT is true that some of the old house paint formulas, as well as various other types, compare advan reduction of cost accompanied by a tageously to those of the present, but FAINT AND VARNISH PRODUCTION. OCTOBER 1951 21 0007-SWP-000007380 0007-SWp '000007381 and Varnish Production Clubs and ist for assistance in marketing' their the National Paint and Varnish As products, by adding the unique pro sociation have stimulated scientific tective and decorative assets of fin progress. ishes. Whole groups of products have Years ago it was unheard of for been adapted to organic coatings, several paint men to sit down to recruited from such varied former gether to discuss their mutual prob .coating systems as pom-lain and lems. However, with the growing * metal plating. technological advances, the need was Increasingly, organic coatings are recognized. The National Paint, being called upon to perform greater Varnish and Lacquer Association, feats of protection in situations hith founded in 1933, was the outgrowth erto considered impossible, for ex of almost fifty years of trade organ ample, corrosion inhibition, anti ization development. The work of fungicide applications, chemical re the Association in fostering standard sistance and outdoor durability. ization, ethical practices, research, Yes, it is true that manufacturers and in representing the industry be in many diverse fields are turning to fore the -state and federal govern the paint industry for finishes that ments, cannot be overestimated. The -will make their products attractive, names of such men as George Heckel, practical and less expensive. And it Ernest Trigg and Henry Gardner is also true, as stated above, that in bulk large in the recounting of the contrast to fifty years ago, .many yean of ' the development of the more raw- material manufacturers Association. depend upon the paint industry as a " For over a quarter of a century consumer for their - raw material the technical men of the industry products and by-products. Thus -the have been represented by the Fed petroleum distillers sell tremendous eration of Paint and Varnish Pro quantities of solvents--aromatic, ali duction Clubs. An outgrowth of the Rubber Sec tion of the American Chemical So phatic, and- oxygenated--to : pro ducers of finishes as do the synthetic organic chemicals companies. Dye ciety, the Paint and Varnish Divirion stuff houses scll thcir products for has, since 1927, been an instrumental incorporation into stains. Coal tar medium in fostering the scientific producers have a lucrative business advancement of the industry. supplying solvents, dyes, and innum Numerous trade journals, weeklies erable intermediates for the manu as well as monthlies, attest to the facture of resins and plasticizers. The growing interest and technical ad trend toward - diversification has . vancements that is pushing sales of brought many new companies from paint and allied products to new far afield looking toward paint, var heights. nish and lacquer as an outlet for As a result of this increased scien their wares. For example, Shell tific activity, more and more indus Chemical Corporation now produces tries are turning to the paint chem glycerine, a vial constituent of alkyd resins, from petroleum, a province once exclusively that of the soap makers. Large portions of such di verse agricultural crops as flaxseed, soya beans, even oat hulls (from which is produced the solvent and resin intermediate, furfural), and grains (to produce alcohol), find good markets in the coatings field. Many metals, among them lead, zinc, chromium, cobalt, manganese, cop per, and titanium, find important outlets in pigments and driers. All of these industries have a great collective interest in the scientific progress of the paint industry. For, as research has given us better coat ings, ever increased quantities of finishes have been produced. It seems probable that 1951 will be the fifth consecutive billion dollar year for the industry. '' As a.further consequence of the growing complexity of the paint in dustry, the character of the paint salesman has'also been altered.. The salesman of today must be a tech nically trained man who has spent years in the laboratory learning all phases of paint manufacture. The future holds great promise for such a man. All in all, the paint industry is a dynamic, rapidly growing baby, with the future before it. It is gradually feeling its way as an integral part of the chemical industry and slowly re jecting the old fashioned, empirical ways. With the accelerated pace ret by the mobilization and armament program, the progress of the next fifty years may very well dwarf the giant steps of the first half of this century. MODEtN PLANTS