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Art & Inspiration Fordite or Detroit Agate

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by unkledaddy, Dec 24, 2014.

  1. unkledaddy
    Joined: Jul 21, 2006
    Posts: 2,865

    unkledaddy
    Member

    Fordite: A Jewel Made From Layers of Old Car Paint

    Fordite, also known as Detroit agate, comes in bright colors and psychedelic swirls, and are often crafted into eye-catching jewelry. But fordite is not a gemstone, rather it is dried paint that built up, layer upon layer, in factories that painted automobiles long ago. Especially in Detroit, and hence the name.

    Before painting cars became an automated process, they were spray-painted by hand. Overspray in the painting bays gradually accumulated on the tracks and skids on which vehicles rested while they were painted. Over time, hundreds of layers of paint in myriad colors would build up in the ovens where the cars’ paint was hardened under high heat. Eventually, the build-up paint would become obstructing, or too thick and heavy, and had to be removed. No one can say for sure when the enamel paint slag left the plants, but possibly some crafty workers with an eye for beauty took them home and fashioned them into beautiful jewels.

    fordite-5[6].jpg
     
    302GMC, Hotrodmyk and lothiandon1940 like this.
  2. Zerk
    Joined: May 26, 2005
    Posts: 1,418

    Zerk
    Member

    Is there such a thing as Buickite? Or Pontiagate?
     
  3. Pretty cool. I'll have to get some for my wife - she makes jewelry.


    Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
     
  4. unkledaddy
    Joined: Jul 21, 2006
    Posts: 2,865

    unkledaddy
    Member

    Shift knobs?
     
    fourspeedwagon likes this.
  5. scotts52
    Joined: Apr 7, 2008
    Posts: 2,769

    scotts52
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  6. R Pope
    Joined: Jan 23, 2006
    Posts: 3,309

    R Pope
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    Imagine some poor archaeologist a thousand years from now finding some of this stuff.......I can imagine the theories his peers will come up with to explain how they formed naturally! Haha!
     
  7. greazy john
    Joined: Oct 13, 2007
    Posts: 457

    greazy john
    Member

    Used to work at Volvo truck in ohio and we still sprayed them with humans, used to take the racks and chip off big chunks and make key chains out of them . Turned out pretty cool. Long time since then...........
     
  8. '52 F-3
    Joined: Sep 30, 2007
    Posts: 914

    '52 F-3
    Member

    this stuff is cool..........i think i want some to make something out of,
    [​IMG]
     
  9. Bam.inc
    Joined: Jun 25, 2012
    Posts: 661

    Bam.inc
    Member
    from KS

    A whole set of shift knobs & dash knobs would be cool.
    Any makers? Sellers? Maybe Hamb store Fordite Knob sets would be cool?
     
  10. unkledaddy
    Joined: Jul 21, 2006
    Posts: 2,865

    unkledaddy
    Member

    Key chains sounds like the ticket John.
    Hope the ankle is mending like it should and Merry Christmas.
    I'll holler.
     
  11. oldolds
    Joined: Oct 18, 2010
    Posts: 3,466

    oldolds
    Member

    I doubt it would stand up to being a shift knob. Keychain, dash knobs, or jewelry would be ok. It is hard but brittle. Not really a good bond between colors.
     
  12. I've got the sphere machines, and could turn knobs. One problem is finding large enough chunks to work with. That material is getting hard to find, and is bringing some high prices.

    Another thing. Fordite is fairly soft, (about Mohs 3 or 4), and would scratch or break easily. It'd be beautiful on a trailer queen show car, but wouldn't stand up to daily driving.
     
  13. Crusty Nut
    Joined: Aug 3, 2005
    Posts: 1,834

    Crusty Nut
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    My jeweler wife made me some knobs several year back
    [​IMG]
     
  14. olcurmdgeon
    Joined: Dec 15, 2007
    Posts: 2,289

    olcurmdgeon
    Member

    Crusty Nut, the dash knobs are great!
     
  15. unkledaddy
    Joined: Jul 21, 2006
    Posts: 2,865

    unkledaddy
    Member

    Yeah Crusty Nut..............really nice knobs!!!
     
  16. you can get almost the same thing from the floor of shop where they glass surf board but being fiberglass it is a lot harder
     

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