Re: Flat black paint

The mention of the "lumpy part with no oil" in this
message got me to thinking. I have never actually
tried this for preparing the inside of a pinhole
camera, but I know from printmaking activities that
high-quality printing inks are extraordinary for their
high ratio of pigment to oil, especially lithography
inks. Black lithography ink can be like tar. This
stuff sticks to metal, too. Someone might give this a
try, although, as I say, I don't know if it would
work. It would have to be brushed on. For reference, a
trick that printmakers use to remove oil from oil
paint (so that it's suitable for printing is to
squirt a whole tube into the center of an old
telephone book and to close it up and leave it a week
or two. The paper absorbs most of the oil and the
pigment can be scraped out.

I think I have mentioned this before, but for making
pinhole cameras I have had success using that black
masking tape that is sold in photo stores. It is flat
black and slightly textured. It seems quite light
absorbent. It has the advantage of involving no mess
and being adaptable to just about any surface or
shape. The disadvantage is that it can be tedious to
cover large areas with it.

Colin

--- Michael G Heath <mgheath@raha.com> wrote:
> Out here in Africa, I've found the flattest black
> paint available is called
> "blackboard paint", used to paint blackboards for
> schools. Much less
> reflective than any other paint I've used. As with
> most flat paints, you
> need to use the lumpy part at the bottom of the can
> (without stirring) that
> is mostly pigment with no oil.
>
> Mike
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Brian Reynolds <reynolds@panix.com>
> To: <pinhole-discussion@pinhole.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2000 3:30 PM
> Subject: Re: [pinhole-discussion] Flat black paint
>
>
> > Brahma wrote:
> > > Hello fellow pinhole camera engineers, which
> paint or spray-paint is the
> > > best and most matt for painting the inside of a
> camera?
> > >
> >
> > Krylon Ultra Flat Black is used by many ATMs
> (Amateur Telescope
> > Makers). It isn't really great, but it's about
> the best easily
> > available (in the USA) commercial flat black
> paint. In general
> > painting a surface flat black isn't the best
> method, but it is easy to
> > do.
> >
> > When checking a surface for "flatness" be sure to
> look at a glancing
> > (shallow) angle to the surface with a bright light
> source also at a
> > glancing angle. From face on most flat black
> surfaces look to be
> > non-reflective, but from an angle they reflect a
> lot of light.
> >
> > There was a survey of different surface treatments
> used to prevent
> > reflections published in an astronomy magazine.
> Flat black paint was
> > worst. Black flocking paper was better. Black
> velvet (with the knap
> > in the correct direction) was next up (although
> expensive). The best
> > surface treament was something mixed with flat
> black paint to break up
> > the smoothness of the surface. Crushed walnut
> shells (also used for
> > non-slip floor surfaces) mixed in with the paint
> worked very well.
> > Sawdust was OK, but it depended on how you got the
> sawdust. Some
> > methods of generating sawdust (table saws I think)
> wound up polishing
> > the wood, thereby increasing the reflectivity.
> Unfortunately the best
> > treatment wound up being the hardest to apply.
> >
> > --
> > Brian Reynolds | "Dee Dee! Don't
> touch that button!"
> > reynolds@panix.com | "Oooh!"
> > http://www.panix.com/~reynolds | -- Dexter and
> Dee Dee
> > NAR# 54438 | "Dexter's
> Laboratory"
> >
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>
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Received on Wed Aug 23 22:15:53 2000