SEDL / STP / STP500-EB / STP37156S

Oil Absorption of Pigments

Sward, GG

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1972

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Abstract

A common preliminary test applied to a pigment is mixing it into a paste with linseed oil. The test gives a rough idea of color and texture and, if done quantitatively, tells how much oil is needed to make a stiff paste. According to some authorities the oil absorption (OA) test predicts consistency of ready-mixed paint. Mills [1] writes “When equal volumes of paste (oil absorption paste) are thinned with equal volumes of thinners, the resulting paints have equal consistencies.” Stieg [2] shows that OA by the rubout method, expressed on a volume basis, is proportional to critical pigment volume, judged by uniformity of flat alkyd paints made with varying percentages of pigment, or determined by the Asbeck-Van Loo method.