Silver Frost

[Bob38S]

Could someone please enlighten me with regards Silver Frost. This morning I have been to 3 paintshops trying to buy Silver Frost - liquid or spray - NO GO :mad::mad:

I was told that it has been removed from the market [none could give me a reason as to why] and the only replacement is aluminium coloured paint - :mad::mad::mad:

I have very sweaty hands and rust on tools is a constant battle - even on those "stainless rules" [that a magnet sticks to like you know what]. Usually I de-rust with vinegar and then give a light coat of silver frost - this keeps most of the problem at bay.

Any ideas???

[durwood]

Silver Frost was a brand name, it was silver air dry enamel. In other words clear enamel with aluminium powder added. From memory it was made redundant when the paint company changed hands years ago. Most big paint companies in Australia are now owned by Multi Nationals.

As you don't need to match the actual colour any aluminium enamel (thinned with turps) household paint will do the same job.

Don't know what tools you are coating but as the silver frost would cover anything you applied it to why not get some of the of the material you dip the tools in which gives a plasic/rubber like coating as is often put on plier handles. It comes in a tin and you just dip the article in it and let it drip dry.

[Bob38S]

Thanks Durwood,
I must admit I'm not familiar with "aluminium enamel" or the dipping mixture you refer to.
I was using the silver frost on rulers mainly - it was very thin and would not fill the etching so all of the graduations could still be seen. I also sprayed [from a can] the handles of pliers/cutters and any tools which had rust prone handles - I even did the base plate of my Makita 9 1/4" saw as it was very "second hand looking" after I had done some fencing using treated timber.
Do you know a brand name for the aluminium enamel or who it is available from?
Regards,
Bob

[echnidna]

The original silverfrost used to rub off on your hands so it wasn't suitable for painting tools.

What about regularly polishing your tools with floor wax, that will keep rust at bay.

[Bob38S]

The stuff I was using was quite good - it would chip off or wear off in time. As to the wax - I've thought about this on a number of occasions but have been a little reluctant to use it as I'm concerned about transfer to timber which would lead to finishing problems - am I being overly concerned?
I use Silver Glide and Lanotec on my cabinet saw and jointer but rub it off with shellite before use - once again overly concerned??
Regards,
Bob

[durwood]

HI Bob,
Now that you have elaborated I can see exactly what you are doing.

What you need to coat the bits with is a clear coating such as they use on copper and brass to stop it tarnishing. The best one is a two pack one which dries real hard so it would wear well. "Copper Art" shops coat everything with these clears so the stock lasts without need to polish before selling. Antique shops also use it on old brass as do makers of furniture hardware (knobs,hinges etc) You can also get a pressure pack lacquer or a tin which may be good enough for you. Most are marketed as metal enamel/lacquer. Even normal Estapol would work, used it once on a brass box which lived outdoors lasted 10 plus years.

Any wax or oil would be less permanent and may transfer onto the wood making it a pest to finish with another coating.

Any of the aluminium enamels (Taudmans, Dulux etc) would be the same type of paint as silver frost but the ruler would be a lot easier to read if it had a clear coat over it.

The old silver frost had a high amount of aluminium flake compared to the resin it was mixed with so it did rub off as some was on the surface, as echidna mentioned. modern ones have less flake to the amount of clear so the flake sinks into the clear and is protected.

That also meant the flake was unprotected so it went black after a while. You can see the same effect on silver cars were the clear has broken down allowing the flake to be exposed to the weather. when you try to polish them your rag goes black.

Next time I'm at Bunnings I will see if I can track down the rubberised coating used to coat tool handles etc,

Is there anyone there who has some in to shed and can help Bob?

[Barry_White]

Why not try this product.

http://www.ship2shore.com.au/lanoguard.cfm

[Bob38S]

Thanks for your thoughts.
Bob