Flake white . . . mull your own?
 

When I was learning how to paint, Dutch Boy White Lead was still a paint-store staple, for painting houses and making putty. My dad (and many other painters we knew) liked it for priming canvas, and used it on the palette as well. When I was in school, I found two 50# tubs of it in a local paintstore on close-out. That was nearly forty years ago, and between us, used out of that stock for nearly thirty years. By then, as you might imagine, I was pretty used to it as a studio "staple".

As true flake white (basic lead carbonate) continues to disappear from common use, and as even ten years ago, the lead whites that were available were not to my liking, I began mulling my own lead white.

It's a small chore, and it does take time away from the easel, but the effort is worth it to me, and I have succeeded in replicating the handling character of the old canned lead white.

One problem is to guage the amount of material, so that you can fill a large tube without waste. I use the following proportions:

400 grams of white lead, mulled into 62 grams of black oil fills one large studio-size tube. I work the pigment and oil first with a large palette knife, then use a muller and slab. I like to have the mass set overnight, then mull again before tubing.

Whiting (calcium carbonate) can be an interesting additive for lead white, it increases transparency and promotes a loopy, ropey texture. Of course it's not necessary to mull in black oil, any good quality linseed oil will yield excellent paint.

Thanks Richard,

It is a problem to get the Flake White in my country because somebody think that I eat it, or something ;)

I will try to make some lead white powder following an old recipe. It should be quite simple since it has been done for thousand of years.

I have to go now, it's late, but I will follow up on this tomorrow.

Lead white powder has been made for more than 2000 years and basically the same way.

You take a thin sheat of lead and roll it loosely to fit into a ceramic pot. The buttom of the ceramic pot is filled with vinegar or acetic acid and the lead roll stand on something so that it don't dip into the vinegar.

The vapour from the vinegar attack the lead and erode it. To promote the process the ceramic pot is placed into a heap of farmyard manure that will produce heat around 40 - 50 degrees Celcius for 4 - 6 weeks. The manure also produces carbon acid that helps the eroding process.

This process was going on in big scale with many pots and in small rooms so that the acid could work on the lead.
The lead will turn into white powder and only a thin core of lead will be left.

What we need is: lead, ceramic pot, acetic acid / vinegar, carbon acid, heat 50 degrees and a box around 1 cubic meter.

Any suggestions?

Rather than a sheet, thick wire was looped in a loose spiral, or "buckles" of lead were formed and suspended. This increases the surface area. I'm no chemist, but I think what is formed is lead acetate, which was referred to as "sugar of lead" because of its crystalline structure. Many of the ancient caveats regarding which pigments discolor and fail, or which cannot be mixed with lead white originated because of the acidic nature of lead whites prepared this way. I believe what you outline was known as the "Dutch process". Kremnitz white owes its name to the variations on the process that were employed in that middle-European city.

The "buckles" need to be scraped of the efflorescence of "white lead", and the precipitate washed thoroughly, then pulverized before mulling. Working this process will expose you to possible absorption of lead in a way that painting at the easel with lead white never would, so be very careful handling the material, so that you don't breathe the dust. Wear protective gloves too..

Although I have a 25# brick of lead, this is going deeper into the problem than I'd care to. I sure wish you could simply obtain dry pigment, Allan. Good luck!

PS- no problem obtaining plenty of manure, though! . . . ha ha ha.

I can see my self standing in it, to my knee's, trying to make fine art. :bewildere

I imagine that I can find or make an isolated box or maybe I can place the system beside my heater. I have an oil burner in a separate room with a rather high temperature. I think that I will try that first to see how it works.

Then there is the problem with the smell of vinegar, but maybe it is not that bad.

The final factor, adding Carbon Acid, can be overcome with a small fermentation system. The gas from the fermentation is Carbon Acid that can be lead into the pot via a tube.

I don't have to fill the house with manure then :)

I imagine that I can take the lead under water to brush the powder of. I will be very carefull when I handle the lead.

It's great troubble to find out how to do it the first time, but I think that it is simple to do again later.

I will not be able to buy lead powder anywhere around here, so I will have to keep a high spirit for my self.

Allan,

If I am not mistaken I can buy white lead pigment in the place I buy my calcium carbonate and other pigments. I think. I have heard they sell it in pigment form because in paint form (Flake White, Cremnitz White or any other name it comes in) it is also prohibited (funny how our laws can be sometimes). If I can procure some, would there be a problem for it coming into customs of Denmark? Or do we also have to place them in small packets and hide them in tissue boxes or underneath coffee ground?

Carlos,
thank you for being so helpful, but I am afraid that there would be a problem with customs.
I asked my Artist Materials Shop if they could get some Flake White from W& N in England, they ordered it, but got the measage that W& N was not allowed to send it into Denmark.

I am not optimistic about the costums.

A few years ago I bought some Litharge (Yellow Lead powder) at the local pharmacy. I have used it to cook Black Oil.
Maybe I should ask them about White Lead Powder, it won't hurt.

Othervice I think that I have found out how to make my own Lead Powder in an uncomplicated way, I even got some pieces of ordinary lead foil/plates, so that should not be a problem.

Allan, I'm really wishing there was a way to send you white lead pigment. I'm sure before long, it will become unavailable in the USA too, so looking ahead, I bought a sizeable quantity, and I feel like some kind of miser. I'd gladly share with you, if I could just send it without red-tape. With all the concerns of terrorism and drug trafficking, it surely wouldn't do to tempt the authorities with contraband pigments!! (Honest, officer . . . it's not cocaine . . . too heavy! See? - Hey! Put down that gun!)

It just occurred to me that depending on what you're using for a source of lead to make your own might not be pure lead ? For example, automobile wheel weights and fishing sinkers are usually alloyed with some zinc, sometimes tin and antimony too. I don't know how that would affect the reaction.

Do you happen to know the wherefore of the reaction that results in lead carbonate? Reaction with the acetic acid in vinegar will make lead acetate, I'm sure . . . yet this is how the "old masters" did it . . .

Richard, thanks, I'm afraid of guns too :thumbside :thumbside

The lead that I have is a roll of plumbers lead, it's soft. I am not very knowledgeable about chemistry, so I have no way of knowing the contend of the lead but I suspect that it is fairly clean lead.

The vinegar is not a very strong acid and I guess that it erodes the lead because the lead is basic. It will take 4 - 6 weeks before the sufficient ammount of powder is formed.

I found the recipy in an old Danish encyclopedia and figured out how it should be made with the possibility's that we have now a day's.

My plan is to get a large plastic bucket + a smaller one to place inside it. This small one I will place the lead and vinegar into. I will make holes in small squares of lead and hang them on a stainless steel string resting on the top of the small bucket, so that the lead is hanging over the vinegar.
I will place a lid on the large bucket and conduct the carbon acid, from the fermentation, into it.

And cross my fingers ;)

Hi Alan.

Please, after you start the process let us know what's going on, will you? I am always curious about chemistry. Especially when it comes to pigments.

Good luck.

Ant

Sure Ant,
I will take pictures and tell about my experiences. I hope that it is that simple as I think it is.

It is now 2 - 3 weeks ago that I started this test.
I had no experience with the process so I wanted to see how fast it works. I filled

Allan, you probably have more info than this link provides:
http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lead
I thought this reference provided a link to another article that described the process, and noted that spent tanbark was used to bury the jars of lead buckles and acetic acid . . . dunno where that went.

The article stated that lead carbonate would efflorsece from the buckles with such abundance that sometimes it burst the clay vessels! All references seem to indicate that Carbon dioxide is a necessary atmosphere for the chemical reaction, rather than the introduction of carbonic acid (?)

Looks like a promising start!

Richard,

As I said, I am no chemist, and I am a little confused now.

The introducing of carbon acid to mix with the vinegar fumes will promote the chemical reaction. That was what I said, based on an artichle (in Danish).

You are probably right that the fumes should be called Carbon Dioxide, because it is also named CO2.
The CO2 is formed by the fermentation of the manure, and that is also the reason why it sometimes contains Hydrogene Sulphide that can miscolor the lead powder. Wherefore the manure is often replaced by used tanbark that did not miscolor the lead.

Another way of bypassing the problem of miscoloring was to get the CO2 from a brewery, leading the air from the fermentation directly into the room where the lead was.

I have read about 2 other methods to produce CO2.:
One is to simply drop some Baking Powder into the vinegar, that will produce CO2 into the room where it should be. CO 2 is more heavy than air and will stay in the bucket.
The other is to add HCL Hydrogenclorid, thinned, into crushed Marble, it also produces CO2.
The Baking Powder model is the most tempting.

What do you think?

Ha ha, Allan, what I think is I sure wish I had some knowledge of chemistry . . . although so often, a general knowledge isn't "enough" when applied to a speciific problem, and I doubt if the Dutch manufactureres of lead white in the 17th century knew chemical formulae and theory . . . they sure enough knew how to make it, though.

You are providing a more complete picture of the process for me, and I much appreciate that. It's really interesting to note the presence of sulphur compounds (and the subsequent problems with "contaminated" lead white) arises from the use of manure in the process . . . that makes a lot of sense.

I'm pretty certain you'll discover a process that's both workable on a small scale (without having to move into a brewery or a tanning shed or be behind a dairy) that will produce high quality basic lead carbonate!

If I run across any more pertinent lore or advice from chemists, I'll pass it on!

I imagine that the white lead pigment was first seen on some lead that was laying on a dunghill or maybe in connection with some sour vinegar.
These observations would easily lead to the conclutions necessary for the process that has been used for more than 2000 years. It was described by Greek Dioskorides 2200 years ago that it was made the same way and used for medicine !!!

Bad news / good news !
 

Hi all,
I feel that I owe you to say that I have cancelled the project of making my own lead white.

The reason why, is that a Danish lurker was so kind to inform me that I could order Chremnitz White / Michael Harding, from a Danish artist color shop.

Do'nt tell anybody, but I managed to order and get it in the mail, the real thing.

Thank you, Christoffer of Copenhagen, for helping me out on this.

I like the stuff, it has another feel than Titanium White, it is warmer and blends softly. I especially like it for skin color.

By the way, I managed to make a handfull of lead white powder and I will mull my own paint one of these days and try not to lick my fingers.

Hey, Allan, your secret's safe with me !! What good fortune. We sure don't need to spend any more time on studio maintenance and materials preparation than absolutely necessary . . . although you can't be painting every waking hour, such things cut into painting time eventually.

Yes, lead white has very different characteristics from other whites. Once you're "hooked", there's nothing else like it! Harding makes fine paints.