A nice chunk of Fordite and what I made from it.
Over the past few months I have been able to make purchases and trade for several nice pieces of Fordite. I have blogged about Fordite in the past, but haven’t talked about it for some time.
A new supply Fordite cabochons ready for jewelry.
I thought rose gold and silver looked good with Fordite of this color.
Fordite is a generic term for the build-up of overspray on non-vehicle areas within automotive, boat, and private paint booths. Much of the paint, after it reached a certain depth, was removed from overspray areas and hauled to landfills. Some paint chunks were taken home by employees.
Designed shapes flow with the Fordite.
Eventually some creative individuals realized that this waste paint could be re-cycled (but we did not use the term recycle back then). It was discovered that the chunks of scavenged material were especially suited for colorful jewelry!
How did this guy get into this slab of Fordite?
As cars, for example, flowed along the assembly line on assembly stands they were actually spray painted by REAL people (not robots). The car bodies were mounted on assembly stands that transported them along the line. Overspray saturated these stands, walls, and pipe surfaces. Each car was a different color, so excess paint was sprayed on the walls of the paint booths to get it out of the sprayer. The sprayer was reloaded with a different color, and the procedure was repeated. Paint build-up could be an inch thick or more.
Side 1 of a Fordite.
Side 2 of the same Fordite. I like both sides so I’ll make it so someone can wear it with either side out.
I like this piece. It is rare to find green in Fordite.
You would think that paint certainly is not suitable for jewelry, but this paint from the 60’s and early 70’s was very tough. Remember that the enamel was baked after each color was applied, so while the vehicle was getting baked, so was the overspray on the assembly stand. Layers were baked over and over, perhaps hundreds of times. Also the paint contained lead. Lead was added to allow for speed drying, pigment, increased durability, to resist corrosion causing moisture, and to retain a fresh appearance. I’ve been told that the paint “flowed” better with the lead. Bottom line is that Fordite is tuff stuff. I use my diamond wheels to form this paint just as I do with other stones.
At an art show I had one lady ask me in a sarcastic voice, “Does this paint have lead in it?”. I could see she was just “testing” me, so I asked her “Why, are you going to eat it?”. My counselor and wife admonished me later, but it was fun anyway. I think back to all the lead paint I ate as a kid. I couldn’t resist the lure of paint peeling off the wall! It’s a wonder any babyboomer is still alive. Virtually ALL paint had lead in it “back in the day”. You can be sure that the small lead content of your jewelry is certainly not the biggest threat to your health!
By the mid-70’s public safety rules from various Departments, regarding health and job safety, were enacted limiting lead exposure in the workplace, and robots began painting cars using powder coating, virtually eliminating Fordite, as the paint no longer built up on the assembly stands. Fordite’s days came to an end when powder coating was mandated in most applications. There are still things painted the old fashioned way. Non-metallic body parts come to mind, so in some manufacturing you still can acquire layered paint pieces.
It’s amazing to me the variety in pattern that can be coaxed out of a single piece of Fordite. The real secret of Fordite is that it may not come out of a Ford Plant. I cannot tell where exactly where most of my Fordite came from (I often call my Fordite “Motor City Agate” if I do not know it’s source), and neither can 90% of jewelry makers, although some car collectors can actually match colors to old cars. I try my hardest to find matching color charts for my antique Fordite.
This rare antique paint is quite expensive to buy, if you can find it. It’s a great day when I find someone with a stash of this wonderful old material. You also could own a piece of Fordite jewelry or give one as a gift. A wide variety of folks admire the Motor City agates–because they love the bright colors, the cool designs, they worked for an automotive company, or they just love jewelry. This is a surprising media, and is a good conversation starter. Which is your favorite wire-wrapped Fordite pendant?
