Bronze powders in paints, plastics and inks

The name ‘bronze powder’ is a misnomer as the metal itself cannot be used for bronze powder production at all. Bronze powders are produced from pure copper, and from various copper/zinc alloys and from aluminium. By varying the copper and zinc content of the alloy, different shades of gold can be produced. Bronze powders are of a flaky character; however fine they are the particle structure remains flaky. To retain this structure only the highest grades of electrolytic copper and zinc are used. With even a lead content of as low as 0·05% the powder would form into granules long before the desired state of thinness had been reached. It can therefore be said that bronze powders, by the very nature of their structure, can not contain lead or metals of a similar character, other than in traces. Being composed from pure copper, zinc and aluminium, they are anti‐toxic and harmless to health.