Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.245.23] on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 12:05:15 :
In Reply to: lf it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, posted by Jerry in Idaho [162.158.68.47] on Tuesday, June 14, 2016 at 11:23:21 :
Not too long ago you could still buy leaded artists paints from the fancy art supply stores (with many dire warnings). Also, there was a brand of very expensive, very good, sign paint ("One Stroke"?)for hand-lettered signs that still had some lead pigments. I still have one unused quart of Dutch Boy white lead paint that I'm saving for something special. It's interesting how much heavier it is than modern paint. Dutch Boy was the brand name of the U.S. Lead Company. The thing about lead in paint is that it actually reacts chemically with the linseed oil to make a harder coating (a thicker mixture of white lead and linseed oil was the common plumber's putty), whereas other pigments just color the oil but don't add any strength. Not sure what it was about red lead that made it so good for priming steel, but it sure makes it an expensive hassle to repaint a bridge these days, which is why the railroads never paint theirs any more. It's legal to let the old lead paint flake off on its own and fall in the river, but if they were to sandblast or scrape it they'd have to wrap a cocoon around the whole thing.
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