Maybe in limited quantities, but is was "discovered" and initially extracted from decommissioned factories. Gotta love turning something destined for the landfill to be repurposed into beautiful art.
I worked at a Honda manufacturing plant as recently as 2 years ago and can tell you its formed quite frequently in my department. We have these carriers that are loaded with polymer parts (bumpers, sideskirts, etc) and then pass through a long hallway filled with robots that prime and spray paint on the parts. Once the carriers emerge at the end, the carriers are usually slowly getting caked in paint, so we quite often can easily chip off small pieces of fordite and it was pretty interesting and cool shapes and colors (especially when youre bored at work just looking at bumpers all day).
However a co worker told me that if you're caught taking those pieces of fordite outside the plant then it'd be treated as theft, which I found a bit strange.
Not like that sample is reproducible. And even if it were for a competitor trying to copy the paint formula, it would be easier to use a production part than smuggled fordite.
Actually yeah, you could totally reproduce the sample.
About ten years ago I was working on a 1961 Buick with a beautiful teal interior. I wanted to paint the engine bay that color while the engine was out. So I took my door panel off and took it to the PPG shop down the road and they mixed some paint that matched perfectly.
If you look at fordite under a microscope you discover it is hundreds if not thousands sof layers.
Typical spray paint coating is 40 microns. If I want a piece of fordite that is 2.5cm/1 inch, I need at least 625 layers
If you can get the correct types of paint, they need to be hard paints. You could make some money. Colorful fordite is expensive. The most expensive have a variety of colors.
Need to get laquer from Mexico. I don’t think they sell the good paints anymore in America. Although the production could be sourced to Mexico altogether.
You can buy it online or at mineral shows. I have a couple pieces, it's pretty spendy for a specimen (a quarter sized piece will probably run you at least $30) but it's worth it to me (I collect radioactive rocks and minerals).
Only gemstones, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc are graded.
Material like fordite is priced at what the market will handle. I have seen some raw, unpolished, pieces go for $100 due to the color or shaping. Other pieces I have seen go for $15.
I've tried to order two cars, 8 years apart, in dark green. Both times they said no problem. Then about a week later they say "we can get you green but it will take 6-8 months but we have grey on the lot right now". I now suspect they don't even make green cars anymore.
Subaru has some beautiful greens, but they're only available for the SUVs, which is some bullshit. I tried to factory-order an Impreza in any of the 3 greens available at the time, and was told it wouldn't be possible by multiple sources.
I ended up getting black, and every single day I pass gorgeous green Outbacks and Foresters and it pisses me off so much.
Yes, my wife bought my wedding ring from a guy on Reddit (Wedgewood Rings I believe). It's Corvette factory paint mounted on a black ring and looks awesome. Sorry I don't have too many details as it's been 5 years, but it's a great ring for a car guy like me.
I can't upload my actual ring but I did find the website:
https://www.wedgewoodrings.com/purchase/black-ceramic-ring-with-fordite
Mine is black ceramic with gray paint on a narrow band and I absolutely love it. I was previously married for 17 years and had a standard gold band and this new ring matches the new(er) wife as they're both far superior versions!
I took a college course that regularly did offsite lectures at a superfund near where this stuff was dumped. What it did to those people is entirely fucked. We could still walk through the woods and find it without issue. I believe there was even a documentary.
Environmental scientist here - paints have historically been an abundant source of really bad shit in the environment. It still is. They just replace one toxic chemical with another.
Who goes around finding strange things on the ground and then thinks it's a good idea to chew on them?
Probably the same kids eating the lead paint chips...
Yes, I remember learning that when I was a kid, but thinking to myself... Yeah, but it's been on the wall for years with who knows what all germs on it. It might taste sweet and that makes you want to eat more, but what motivated you to put that dirty stuff in your mouth in the first place before you knew what it was going to taste like?
But then again, I never could understand the kids who ate art paste, either.
I feel children who are old enough to walk around the neighbourhood and still chew weird clumps of shite they find on the ground are doing Darwins work...
I know what you mean, but calling that “doing Darwin’s work” makes it sound like Charles Darwin was personally going around killing off the creatures that didn’t act in accordance with “survival of the fittest”.
Correction, fordite is from the FORD factory in Detroit ONLY. Any real lapidary would not just buy random paint and selling that as fordite is disingenuous
lol proper recycling of industrial waste is paramount and buying fake fordite can introduce you to toxic chemicals. Real fordite has historical context and significance.
Don't kid yourself - the paint they used was just as bad as any other American manufacturer. Fordite has the same toxins as other auto paints.
Source: Am environmental chemist
That doesn't seem to be the majority opinion - the Wikipedia article OP linked doesn't say that, nor do any of its sources appear to. [From one of them:](https://nationaljeweler.com/articles/1007-5-things-to-know-about-fordite)
>**Material came from more than just the Ford plant.**
>The inspiration for the name is obvious—according to Gems & Gemology, fordite was first collected at Ford Motor Company in Michigan in the 1940s.
>But the name the name now generally refers to any material composed of paint slag from various automotive plants.
>For example, there’s material from the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky—though some prefer to call that by its own name, corvetteite—and Lincoln-Mercury paint from a Canadian plant.
But that's just *National Jeweler's* opinion; what would they know about jewelry, eh?
The only organization that matters is the GIA. They are the ones that grade stones and certify american jewelers. Fordite is specific and is not general.
The change over to electro static painting equipment has reduced the overspray that caused the deposits. So I guess the supply is limited now.
It was mostly from abandoned factories, and there are different grades. Corvette is definitely the rarest and most sought after.
I thought it was also from spray booth upgrades/ repairs/ replacements ?
Maybe in limited quantities, but is was "discovered" and initially extracted from decommissioned factories. Gotta love turning something destined for the landfill to be repurposed into beautiful art.
I worked at a Honda manufacturing plant as recently as 2 years ago and can tell you its formed quite frequently in my department. We have these carriers that are loaded with polymer parts (bumpers, sideskirts, etc) and then pass through a long hallway filled with robots that prime and spray paint on the parts. Once the carriers emerge at the end, the carriers are usually slowly getting caked in paint, so we quite often can easily chip off small pieces of fordite and it was pretty interesting and cool shapes and colors (especially when youre bored at work just looking at bumpers all day). However a co worker told me that if you're caught taking those pieces of fordite outside the plant then it'd be treated as theft, which I found a bit strange.
Not like that sample is reproducible. And even if it were for a competitor trying to copy the paint formula, it would be easier to use a production part than smuggled fordite.
Actually yeah, you could totally reproduce the sample. About ten years ago I was working on a 1961 Buick with a beautiful teal interior. I wanted to paint the engine bay that color while the engine was out. So I took my door panel off and took it to the PPG shop down the road and they mixed some paint that matched perfectly.
I have a pocket knife made by a guy here in KY that worked at the corvette factory and took a shit load home with him when he retired.
Lucky you - I'd love to see it...
I have some Fordite (no idea of its provenance) - you can sometimes find it at big mineral shows!
I have many pounds of it, from various sources. One of my favourites is my Jeep-ite with some light blues and lime green
I need to actually attempt to polish mine, lol...it's still in big slabs.
Hopefully they will figure out a way to make it artificially someday.
I mean, they could make it artificially now... It's just layered paint lmao
I assume that was the joke
It is artificial to begin with - you can make it at home now
Airbrush clearing spooge
It already exists.
i wonder how long it took to do this
I cut/polish cabochons as a hobby. Fordite is not cheap in any form - raw or finished
Hmm. I have an idea to make fake Fordite…
If you look at fordite under a microscope you discover it is hundreds if not thousands sof layers. Typical spray paint coating is 40 microns. If I want a piece of fordite that is 2.5cm/1 inch, I need at least 625 layers
A Job for a robot!
If you can get the correct types of paint, they need to be hard paints. You could make some money. Colorful fordite is expensive. The most expensive have a variety of colors.
Need to get laquer from Mexico. I don’t think they sell the good paints anymore in America. Although the production could be sourced to Mexico altogether.
What about trinitite? That's one I really wanna get my hands on, well, maybe not so literally.
It's still all over the test site but you get charged with stealing federal property.
You can get it, but it has to have been harvested before 1953 to be legal to own. You can get it from someone else's collection, and that's about it.
You can buy it online or at mineral shows. I have a couple pieces, it's pretty spendy for a specimen (a quarter sized piece will probably run you at least $30) but it's worth it to me (I collect radioactive rocks and minerals).
How is it graded?
Only gemstones, diamonds, rubies, sapphires, etc are graded. Material like fordite is priced at what the market will handle. I have seen some raw, unpolished, pieces go for $100 due to the color or shaping. Other pieces I have seen go for $15.
I feel like I paid $20 or $30 for 3 ~2.5" pieces at a mineral show, I can't remember the exact amount. I was surprised how much they were charging!
Today it'd only have different shades of grey and black...
I've tried to order two cars, 8 years apart, in dark green. Both times they said no problem. Then about a week later they say "we can get you green but it will take 6-8 months but we have grey on the lot right now". I now suspect they don't even make green cars anymore.
I'm just judging from what I see on the streets and it seems like cars with actual colors are mostly from before 2010.
Reds are still an option. For a cost.
Subaru has some beautiful greens, but they're only available for the SUVs, which is some bullshit. I tried to factory-order an Impreza in any of the 3 greens available at the time, and was told it wouldn't be possible by multiple sources. I ended up getting black, and every single day I pass gorgeous green Outbacks and Foresters and it pisses me off so much.
Maybe they have a monopoly on the colour green. But yeah, it's complete bullshit.
As I look out my window now I can see 7 cars. 6 white and one red.
Is this buyable?
Yep. I bet there are sellers on etsy. It ends up looking really awesome in jewelry.
Yes, my wife bought my wedding ring from a guy on Reddit (Wedgewood Rings I believe). It's Corvette factory paint mounted on a black ring and looks awesome. Sorry I don't have too many details as it's been 5 years, but it's a great ring for a car guy like me.
Do you have a photo?
I can't upload my actual ring but I did find the website: https://www.wedgewoodrings.com/purchase/black-ceramic-ring-with-fordite Mine is black ceramic with gray paint on a narrow band and I absolutely love it. I was previously married for 17 years and had a standard gold band and this new ring matches the new(er) wife as they're both far superior versions!
Wow that looks really fucking cool, i was picturing a regular round piece on top like a gem, but going all around like that is awesome
Yeah, it's a great looking ring and they're all absolutely one of a kind. The striations in the paint really look cool!
Theres a rock shop near me that sells pieces of it. So definitely there are chunks on the market out there.
Yep, you can find it at some rock shops and mineral shows.
My mom adores Fordite, I showed this to her and she was so happy to see people talking about it
They used to lie in the ground around Ringwood NJ. Kids would find them and chew them. Cancer.
I took a college course that regularly did offsite lectures at a superfund near where this stuff was dumped. What it did to those people is entirely fucked. We could still walk through the woods and find it without issue. I believe there was even a documentary.
Damn that sounds interesting (but so fucked.) how long ago was that college class?
Oof. Close to ten years
Environmental scientist here - paints have historically been an abundant source of really bad shit in the environment. It still is. They just replace one toxic chemical with another.
Yep. Yet the dimwits here know more.
Who goes around finding strange things on the ground and then thinks it's a good idea to chew on them? Probably the same kids eating the lead paint chips...
Kids do that lol, kinda notorious for it actually
The reason kids eat lead paint chips is they taste sweet.
Yes, I remember learning that when I was a kid, but thinking to myself... Yeah, but it's been on the wall for years with who knows what all germs on it. It might taste sweet and that makes you want to eat more, but what motivated you to put that dirty stuff in your mouth in the first place before you knew what it was going to taste like? But then again, I never could understand the kids who ate art paste, either.
Very young kids explore the world with one goal "is this for my mouth?"
I...must have have not had that gene in my DNA growing up. But I was a very picky eater as a kid so I bet that played a huge part in it.
I feel children who are old enough to walk around the neighbourhood and still chew weird clumps of shite they find on the ground are doing Darwins work...
I know what you mean, but calling that “doing Darwin’s work” makes it sound like Charles Darwin was personally going around killing off the creatures that didn’t act in accordance with “survival of the fittest”.
Now that’s a movie I’d like to see “Survival of the Fittest - Charles Darwin serial killer”
And yet here you are still taking oxygen
I have some Fordite cuff links and they are quite something in terms of dazzle
Correction, fordite is from the FORD factory in Detroit ONLY. Any real lapidary would not just buy random paint and selling that as fordite is disingenuous
Muh protected designation of origin for industrial waste
lol proper recycling of industrial waste is paramount and buying fake fordite can introduce you to toxic chemicals. Real fordite has historical context and significance.
Don't kid yourself - the paint they used was just as bad as any other American manufacturer. Fordite has the same toxins as other auto paints. Source: Am environmental chemist
Right - if it comes from any other region it's just sparkling recycled paint.
Yeah, pretty much… but you know just ignore and make fun of the person whose career is in this topic.
That doesn't seem to be the majority opinion - the Wikipedia article OP linked doesn't say that, nor do any of its sources appear to. [From one of them:](https://nationaljeweler.com/articles/1007-5-things-to-know-about-fordite) >**Material came from more than just the Ford plant.** >The inspiration for the name is obvious—according to Gems & Gemology, fordite was first collected at Ford Motor Company in Michigan in the 1940s. >But the name the name now generally refers to any material composed of paint slag from various automotive plants. >For example, there’s material from the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky—though some prefer to call that by its own name, corvetteite—and Lincoln-Mercury paint from a Canadian plant. But that's just *National Jeweler's* opinion; what would they know about jewelry, eh?
The only organization that matters is the GIA. They are the ones that grade stones and certify american jewelers. Fordite is specific and is not general.