Best hammertone paint for restoration

[MTB]

Trying to find the best hammertone finish with new paint. The paint I have seen for sale looks nothing like the 30's and 40's paints. Anyone know where to get these? Thanks. I am restoring a Mills Bonus horsehead with gold hammertone.

[oldslotman]

only two I know of is Hammerite and Rustoleum. Trying to get that 30s/40s look is hard if not impossible. They just don't turn out like the old finish.

[MTB]

only two I know of is Hammerite and Rustoleum. Trying to get that 30s/40s look is hard if not impossible. They just don't turn out like the old finish.

I have tried both of those...they are ok-but look nothing like the original.

[SLOT DYNASTY]

The best Hammertone and Wrinkle finishes were made by Illinois Bronze, but they are long out-of-business. It had identical
results to the original machine finishes, and a wide variety of colors. I still have some of the old stock, but never know if it
will still be good the next time I use it, as these two types of paint do not have a very long shelf-life. I guess that I have been
lucky with where I store my old stock? Not sure. Keep my fingers crossed every time I want to use one. I only use it on my own
machines now, because it is almost like gold. I generally use the Rust-oleum brand on customer jobs, but the results are still
not the same as before, plus, they have discontinued some colors. I have also used the Hammerite brand, but the finish does
not turn out the same as originals, as the texturing is much finer. I have had excellent results with using the Hammerite on
automotive jobs, as it is very durable, and long lasting. You can even spray it right over rust. Not that I would choose to do so.
It is especially good, for repainting the metal parts of outdoor furniture.
So, for the time being, the best game in town, will have to be Mr.Rust-oleum. Unless someone on this Forum has another source.

[sam2002]

Do an automotive search for restorations just saw a page where they shot some type of silicon over the paint and it gave a nice effect of the hammered finish . They had also mentioned shooting the top of wet paint with WD 40 presumably. Had a good effect but did take some practice .

[rtmccurdy]

Not to make matters worse on the restoration of the Horsehead Bonus...I have an original unrestored 5-cent bonus and it looks like Mills even used a hammer finish on the red area around the bonus feature and the lower casting details. Deep gold hammer on the cabinet, back door, back bonnet, handle bottom, and on the top and bottom castings!

[sam2002]

Does anyone know what this type paint was called back in the day? Perhaps there is a recipe stashed somewhere?
We all know that due to the big bad EPA as well as CARB here in Calif. that we are no longer able to have such goodies .
My thinking is it was not called hammer tone but was known as something else . It may have had properties similar to say a Zola-tone which I believe is a combination of alkyd and water base paints .
I have been doing some reading on an auto forum of some experiments with WD 40 . I thought no if I were experimenting with laying a coat of WD over wet paint I'd load an airbrush with WD as opposed to shooting the WD straight from an aeresol container . The big complaint I read about using WD over wet paint was the inconsistincey of the spray pattern .

[MTB]

The best Hammertone and Wrinkle finishes were made by Illinois Bronze, but they are long out-of-business. It had identical
results to the original machine finishes, and a wide variety of colors. I still have some of the old stock, but never know if it
will still be good the next time I use it, as these two types of paint do not have a very long shelf-life. I guess that I have been
lucky with where I store my old stock? Not sure. Keep my fingers crossed every time I want to use one. I only use it on my own
machines now, because it is almost like gold. I generally use the Rust-oleum brand on customer jobs, but the results are still
not the same as before, plus, they have discontinued some colors. I have also used the Hammerite brand, but the finish does
not turn out the same as originals, as the texturing is much finer. I have had excellent results with using the Hammerite on
automotive jobs, as it is very durable, and long lasting. You can even spray it right over rust. Not that I would choose to do so.
It is especially good, for repainting the metal parts of outdoor furniture.
So, for the time being, the best game in town, will have to be Mr.Rust-oleum. Unless someone on this Forum has another source.

. That must've been where I got mine from Illinois. It was a long time ago but I remember the match was great to the original finish

[MTB]

Do an automotive search for restorations just saw a page where they shot some type of silicon over the paint and it gave a nice effect of the hammered finish . They had also mentioned shooting the top of wet paint with WD 40 presumably. Had a good effect but did take some practice .

[MTB]

Do an automotive search for restorations just saw a page where they shot some type of silicon over the paint and it gave a nice effect of the hammered finish . They had also mentioned shooting the top of wet paint with WD 40 presumably. Had a good effect but did take some practice .

I did see something regarding that WD-40 process I'll have to read about that more in depth ...maybe that's the answer