Amerthane WB - a new product from PPG A water based primer & topcoat system that works

DISTRIBUTORS

Whangarei Paint Centre

Whangarei (09) 430 2414

Wairau Paint Centre

Auckland (09) 443 3430

PPG Industries NZ Ltd

Auckland (09) 573 1620

Grayson Auto Colour Centre

Auckland (09) 278 0685

Autolink Distributors Ltd

Hamilton (07) 846 1443

Linkup Paints (BOP) Ltd

Tauranga (07) 571 8921

Complete Paints Ltd

Napier (06) 843 1122

Total Paint Supplies Ltd

New Plymouth (06) 769 9415

Total Body Shop Ltd

Wellington (04) 586 6681

Paintco

Nelson (03) 546 6660

PPG Industries NZ Ltd

Christchurch (03) 384 0255

Rainbow Paints Ltd

Dunedin (03) 474 0659

Southern Paints

Invercargill (03) 218 4664

With a quiet confidence PPG Industrial Coatings New Zealand, the local arm of international paint and coatings manufacturer PPG Industries has launched a new water based primer and topcoat system called Amerthane WB which will be of interest to many in the trades, especially those involved in the solid wood, MDF and ply market. JOINERS Magazine took the opportunity to talk with Grant Pedersen Technical Manager at PPG’s R&D Unit in Auckland for the past ten years and Adrian Armstrong, Technical Sales & Training about this new system.

“We have had the top coat in use for a while now but after extensive testing we now have a compatible water based primer for those who want to use a fully water based system.” comments Grant.

“What makes this significant are the technical issues we had to overcome to create this system. For example, as you know water in contact with MDF type product is not good so the challenge was to create a protective film without changing the dimensional stability of the MDF. We have had a system for clear coatings for a couple of years called Amerthane 500 and now we have Amerthane WB for a fully water based colour paint system.”

The launch of this system has been the outgrowth of changes in the marketplace in recent years what with the health and safety issues involving solvent based pints.

“With the scaling up of water based paints we see not only the health aspects but ease of clean up with water based, a far lesser issue of safety of onsite storage and an emerging cost effectiveness through economies of scale as more and more is now being used.” continues Adrian

“It is an effective alternative to solvent based paint in many applications.” The use of water based paint has been particularly popular in the flat to semigloss with the satin finish being the most effective. There has been a move from open booth spraying to closed booth where temperature, humidity and air movement can be controlled: a necessary process for water based to be successfully applied.

Another exciting change will be the upgrading of the existing PPG Merlin paint matching software to the Global Paint Manager software used by PPG worldwide which already has some 40,000 colours with 1000 colours available already in Amerthane WB to all PPG distributors and direct customers. “Most of our time in future will be looking at validating colours used in both the solvent and water based paints. This will cut down in turn the time taken in the colour matching process.” observes Grant. “The Amerthane WB system offers excellent durability as well as mechanical properties such as UV resistance. As research and development continues, we believe Amerthane WB represents the best current water based system in the market.”

Ernie Dumper National Sales and Business Development Manager who with Grant Pedersen started this project some five years ago comments “This water based paint system is a game changer for those in the joinery, cabinetmaking, furniture and kitchen manufacturing trades. The market wanted a system – primer and topcoat – and PPG have now delivered.”

For further information contact PPG Industries or one of their approved distributors.