touch up on OP knucklehead black

[edgemont]

I need to touch up the following parts. Where does one get knucklehead black?

Late 1937/1938 Frame

1946 knucklehead wheels and tanks

Someone sanded spots on the OP tanks and the spots are now rusty and I really don't want to over paint the entire tanks because they look great.

Thanks!

[Peter Cooke]

From John Pierce

http://hdpaint.tk/colors/1946.html

[edgemont]

From John Pierce

http://hdpaint.tk/colors/1946.html

Thanks for the link!

[exeric]

As I have said before; black is black, is black and it's the easiest paint to match because there are no shades or hues of black. If there is any hint of color, it is not black. Harley-Davidson used black paint which you can get from any of the automotive paint suppliers like PPG, Nason, Sherwin-Williams, etc. The problem you will have is making fresh paint match what is around it and there are many textural factors that can make that difficult. The original paint was rubbed, polished, and micro scratched naturally over time and that is hard to duplicate. Also, H-D applied a very thin coat and that is also very hard to duplicate. In short, color isn't your problem, but application of paint, and finishing that paint is where the art of restoration, faux finish, or plain old "fake" lies.

[Rubone]

As I have said before; black is black, is black and it's the easiest paint to match

I disagree on this. Very few black paints are actually black. Just talk to any paint and body guy, they are really tough to match.

[T. Cotten]

As I have said before; black is black, is black and it's the easiest paint to match because there are no shades or hues of black...

Yeah, right.

If there is any hint of color, it is not black.

Poor man's chromatography would be to soak a paper towel with solvent and put a drop of paint upon it. It usually separates into a rosette of many colors, as "black" requires many colors to absorb most wavelengths of light. Different productions of paint will separate differently, and it doesn't take a spectrometer to see it on the final finish.

In short, color isn't your problem, but application of paint, and finishing that paint is where the art of restoration, faux finish, or plain old "fake" lies.

Fake is the easy part!

...Cotten
PS: I hate paint.

[edgemont]

50 shades of black!

Trying to figure out what to do about another paint situation. More than a touch up.. Got a beautiful 46 frame and sheet metal set that someone wanted black and red. But I want to get it all back to black. What would you do?

Some kind of self etching black first? Sand everything? Don’t know where to start with this one..

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[edgemont]

The motor going in this 46 isn’t perfect. Has shabby mount repairs and such. So I’m not looking to win any shows. I just want to build something I can ride and stare at all the time. Something that looks like this..
B0990CC1-E336-4310-BA78-309DBB989809.jpg

[exeric]

Black is not a color; a black object absorbs all the colors of the visible spectrum and reflects none of them to the eyes.
Carbon black has no color. If a paint guy is trying to match something called black, then he is matching a color, not black. If you want to argue, find someone else.

[Rubone]

"In the visible spectrum, black is the absorption of all colors. Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced when no visible light reaches the eye. Pigments or dyes that absorb light rather than reflect it back to the eye "look black". A black pigment can, however, result from a combination of several pigments that collectively absorb all colors. If appropriate proportions of three primary pigments are mixed, the result reflects so little light as to be called "black". This provides two superficially opposite but actually complementary descriptions of black. Black is the absorption of all colors of light, or an exhaustive combination of multiple colors of pigment."

[edgemont]

So do I focus on the finish and not the color if black is black? Flat, matte, gloss? If I want to get an original look, do I tell the paint guy to do a matte black finish knowing it will age quicker and look more original? I have a polaris scout as my daily with a matte black finish and it aged quick. Even looks good dirty. The more I ride it, the better it looks.

[T. Cotten]

So do I focus on the finish and not the color if black is black? Flat, matte, gloss? If I want to get an original look, do I tell the paint guy to do a matte black finish knowing it will age quicker and look more original? I have a polaris scout as my daily with a matte black finish and it aged quick. Even looks good dirty. The more I ride it, the better it looks.

Well, Edgemont,...

"Original" was 'gloss'. But if you want to make it 'authentic', then some quadruple-aught (0000) steel wool can easily take away the sheen of fresh paint.

Then just rub it out however you please, to give it the 'warmth' of Duty and Time.
Then let Nature and The Highway do the rest.

Exactly matching any paint is impossible if the chemistry is different: A urethane, acrylic, or whatever can never reflect light the same as lacquers or whatever EPA-doomed paint the Factory used, seventy years ago.
The whole science of spectroscopy is based upon that.

Your eye is the only one that matters...

....Cotten
PS: I have always hated paint.

PPS: With all due respect to your "paint guy", even he might suggest a rattle-can, just to cut his losses.

[exeric]

"In the visible spectrum, black is the absorption of all colors. Black can be defined as the visual impression experienced when no visible light reaches the eye. Pigments or dyes that absorb light rather than reflect it back to the eye "look black". A black pigment can, however, result from a combination of several pigments that collectively absorb all colors. If appropriate proportions of three primary pigments are mixed, the result reflects so little light as to be called "black". This provides two superficially opposite but actually complementary descriptions of black. Black is the absorption of all colors of light, or an exhaustive combination of multiple colors of pigment."

Edgemont is trying to come up with a usable paint, and application for his knuck project. I strayed from his question, and conversations like this become bullshit, and a pissing contest that I probably started and if that is the case, I apologize. Tom is correct about using a spray can of black paint, as that would probably be as good as any other "black" paint.

[edgemont]

Edgemont is trying to come up with a usable paint, and application for his knuck project. I strayed from his question, and conversations like this become bullshit, and a pissing contest that I probably started and if that is the case, I apologize. Tom is correct about using a spray can of black paint, as that would probably be as good as any other "black" paint.

I learned some things from this thread about black paint theories, how to age paint with steel wool and what the correct finish was back in the day. Nothing wrong with some friendly debates.

I've done some work with a rattle can of black automotive paint on my old BMW that came out great. I'll do the same with the touchup because I can take my time and work it.

Thanks!