PAINT FOR PROTECTION—1: Rational processes for steel protection

Introduction Virtually all our knowledge of the principles of steel protection by organic coatings has been gained during the past forty years and this probably explains why so many bad practices persist. It is well known that it requires more than a full generation entirely to remove deeply impressed traditions, and since paint manufacture and painting practice have only during this period slowly emerged from traditional crafts it seems likely that another ten or twenty years will pass before the scientific principles now understood will be fully incorporated into everyday practice. The disruptive effect of a world war which, while accelerating the acquisition of knowledge, often submerged truth by expediency, and the subsequent sterility produced by accountancy methods based only on historical misconceptions, led to a delay of 20 years. Much thought and effort is now being given to repairing the damage as can be seen by the frequency of corrosion colloquia, metal protection seminars and the like. Also during the last few years the steel industry itself has taken note of the painstaking work over some decades of its own Research Organization, while the paint industry has, through the stimulus of the plastics industry and its own raw materials suppliers, started to meet the challenge of the greater demands of the steel using industries. However, the paint industry generally is still far too prone to offer materials at a so‐called competitive price per litre, i.e. a cut price, rather than to sell the idea of the cost per square yard per year of adequate protection. Only when there is a true understanding of protection methods by both client and supplier, working with the painter, will full advantage be taken of the information and skills already to hand.