[TheForge] household poisons

[Catherine Jo Morgan]

Quote: I am just going to play devils advocate here for a second, while
I do agree,
any overexposure to solvents is bad, and I do extensively use a full
face
respirator, but there are way more toxic things than solvents under your
kitchen sink, some of them more carcinogenic, if you read the fine print
or
the non-existant print than you can even believe.[End quote]

Yes, I agree. That was one of the more disturbing things I discovered in
researching the chemicals I was using or considering using in the
studio. I couldn't avoid discovering that most home air quality is
actually worse. One chemist wrote to me to mention that he works with a
lot of toxic chemicals in his lab, with care of course, but that he
forbids any liquid fabric softener to enter his home because it's so
toxic.

Re my conclusions about finishes - for most purposes I ended up with
General polyacrylic - easy to brush on, passed adhesion tests well,
works over the DTM (direct to metal) paint I chose (a Rustoleum brush-on
commercial DTM.) But for a really matte finish, or a high gloss finish,
other water based finishes are better. I'll check my records and post
tomorrow. 

By the way, a good way to begin testing clear coats is on a sheet of
glass. (Tape the edges with electrical tape first, for safety.) You can
tell some things about the clearcoats on glass, that would be harder to
discern on another surface. Since most clearcoats require 3 coats, or 2
minimum, set it up so you can see each coat separately. Sometimes a
finish that looks great in one coat, looks worse on the second - or the
reverse.

Then whatever finishes pass this first screening, are worth trying on
your metal (or wood.)
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Catherine Jo Morgan
Morgan Sculpture
Iron and mixed media vessels
cjmorgan@hemc.net
706-754-3812

online artist journal: http://radio.weblogs.com/0120691/