RAL is a colour matching system used in Europe which is created and administrated by the German RAL gGmbH[1] (RAL non-profit LLC), that is a subsidiary of the German RAL Institute. In colloquial speech RAL means the RAL Classic system, mainly utilized for varnish and powder coating but nowadays you will find reference panels for plastics too. Approved RAL items are furnished with a hologram as of early 2013 to make unauthorised versions challenging to produce. Imitations may show different hue and colour when observed under various light sources.
RAL Colour Charts are best for use in reference to choose a suitable colour for painting using powder coat colours although other tools like RAL Colour Swabs and RAL Colour Control Cards tend to be more useful.
A RAL Colour Chart is perfect for hanging on the wall for general reference as well as for use when discussing power coating colours on the phone. However, they are not perfect for use within the workshop, especially if they are pinned for the wall. This is when RAL Colour Swabs and Control Cards are available in.
A RAL Shade Swab is keen on colour coated plastic with each fan detailing an alternative RAL Tone & Colour. This fan is ideal for use in the task shop as well as off site as well as at a customers factory when discussing important powder coating decisions. The RAL Shade Swab can be put upon an item to give a much more accurate representation of the intended finished powder coating to me put on the metal component. Most Swabs have several hundred colours on them offering a complete variety of colours, shades and tones available as powder coated finishes, and the RAL Swab will help you to determine the preffered selection of powder coated finish.
However, the limitations in the RAL Shade & Colour Swabs are almost as tight as those of the RAL Tone Charts pinned to the office wall. The little Swab tabs which can be generally only 100mm long and 40mm wide do not provide an exact colour match, just a close representation. This is when a RAL Colour Control Card is necessary.
The Colour Control Card is a large specially prepared colour coated card prepared from the paint manufacturer. powder coating Colour Cards give you a perfect match up against the manufacturers paint and may be kept as reference for later colour matching exercises. RAL Coating Cards are compatible with permanent colour references for technical documentation in addition to legal contract referencing. Whilst all colours might vary slightly as a result of changing powder coating environments and respective nacmlk regimes, the Ral Shade Card is regarded as the definitive reference for paint matching against RAL Powder Coating Colours.
Ral Colour Swabs can be found in the K7 format which shows 5 colours per fan finger, and thus is really a cheaper fan type and also the K5 which includes more fan fingers every one of which is focused on one particular RAL tone, shade or colour. Ral Colour Charts are for sale to purchase within the C&S Processing website at great rates.
In 1927 the German Reichs-Ausschuß für Lieferbedingungen und Gütesicherung (Imperial Commission for Delivery Terms and Quality Assurance) invented a collection of forty colours beneath the name of “RAL 840”. Before that date manufacturers and customers were required to exchange samples to describe a tint, whereas from that point on they might depend on numbers.
In the 1930s the numbers were changed uniformly to four digits and also the collection was renamed to “RAL 840 R” (R for revised). With tints constantly included in the collection, it absolutely was revised again in 1961 and changed to “RAL 840-HR”, which includes 210 colours and is being used to this day. In the 1960s the colours received supplemental names in order to avoid confusion in the case of transposed digits.
As “RAL 840-HR” covered only matte paint the 1980s saw the invention of “RAL 841-GL” for glossy surfaces, restricted to 193 colours. A primary criterion for colours within the RAL Classic collection is to be of “paramount interest”. Therefore, a lot of the colours in it are used on warning and traffic signs or are committed to government departments and public services (for example: RAL 1004 – Swiss Postal Service, RAL 1021 – Austrian Postal Service, RAL 1032 – German Postal Service).