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Interior Design and Decorating Metal Interior Finishes
Types of Metal - Non Ferrous Metals
Gunmetal
Gunmetal is another alloy produced from tin bronze and zinc. It is very resistant to corrosion while being relatively strong. This is not used a great deal nowadays but was originally used for weapons because of these properties. Newer metals have superseded it in its traditional roles.
Tin
Tin is an expensive metal that is soft and weak, but has a high resistance to corrosion. It is used for plating steel sheet and as already mentioned is used as part of the alloy Bronze.
NickelNickel is another metal used for plating ferrous metals. It is white and hard and can be highly polished. You will often see nickel plated items as an alternative to chrome plated. ChromiumChromium is also very resistant to corrosion and is also used to coat ferrous metals as it resists corrosion and is also very hard. We see it used for plating various furniture and joinery hardware items as well as door furniture because of its bright appearance and resistance to abrasion. ZincZinc is another metal used for plating ferrous metals as it has good anti corrosive properties. Zinc is initially a bright metal, which tarnishes to a soft grey. We commonly see it coating old roofing iron, commonly known as galvanised iron. The coating is not a pristine finish and zinc will often been used as the undercoat to another more aesthetic finish such as a paint system or powder coating. You will hear the term hot dip galvanising used by engineers and specifiers to ensure that the base metal, usually steel is given a corrosion inhibiting coat. LeadLead is a soft dark grey metal. When it is freshly cut the cut edge will look shiny but quickly tarnishes in air. It oxidises (the metal reacts with the oxygen in the air) and forms an oxide as a coating. Lead used to be used extensively in buildings for drainage and flashings on the outsides of building openings and penetrations in iron rooves. This was because it is soft and malleable and could be formed around difficult shapes easily. Today these flashings are more often made of coated aluminium to windows and doors or flexible compound type gaskets to the roof penetrations. However there is one very important use that lead has especially for designers. Because it is so dense it is often used as a weight to the bases of drapes or curtains. As lead is soft it doesn't have much abrasion on the material. We will also use lead as a filling weight to table bases or candelabra or lamps and it is still used on a daily basis in lead light windows. It has many industrial uses too. |
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AluminiumAluminium would be one of the most used metals in the building industry today. From roof cladding, window and door joinery, to furniture, framing and entire components. It is semi soft and dull grey but can be highly polished. It is available in sheet form and can be used as a decorative cladding (perforations and embossing as well as items such as chair seats entire chairs and table tops. It is not recommended for items such as benches as it does scratch reasonably easily and reacts with some chemicals such as bleach, strong detergents and soda. It is also used to form a number of alloys. Aluminium can be protected by a process called anodising. This is an electrochemical process and forms a coating, which is integral but harder than the base metal. Aluminium should not be allowed to have cement or lime left on it (such as on a building site) as it will adhere to the metal and when removed stain and or scratch the surface. Because of this aluminium on a building site should be left with its protective coating on it (such as plastic) until all wet work is complete To Continue Articles on Interior Design and Decorating Interior Finishes - Metals select from below. Metals More Interior Decorating Finishes - MenuPaint manufacture, recognising painting defects, specialist paints Introduction to metals, types of metals, ferrous metals, non ferrous metals Decorative Painting, Faux Finishes, Decorative Finishes Different types of fabrics, their definitions, the fibers used in making fabrics |
In this Section:
Interior Design Finishes - Carpet Contents | Home Paint Information | More Paint Information | Wall Hangings and Flooring | Types of Timber | Metals | Timber Uses | Decorative Painting | Types of Fabric | Introduction to Interior Finishes | Carpet | Paint | Wall Hangings | Timber Flooring | Hard Flooring | Clay Based Flooring | Stone Flooring | Semi Hard Flooring | Types of Timber and Wood | Metals | Timber and Wood | Decorative Painting | Fabric Types |
Interior Design Finishes - Carpet Contents | Home Paint Information | More Paint Information | Wall Hangings and Flooring | Types of Timber | Metals | Timber Uses | Decorative Painting | Types of Fabric | Introduction to Interior Finishes | Carpet | Paint | Wall Hangings | Timber Flooring | Hard Flooring | Clay Based Flooring | Stone Flooring | Semi Hard Flooring | Types of Timber and Wood | Metals | Timber and Wood | Decorative Painting | Fabric Types |
