xylenol as a flow control agent part 2 was composed of 120 parts xylene and 80 parts of curing agent a all parts were based on mass this formulation was used to coat steel panels which were allowed to cure at ambient temperature for 7 days 604 800 s coatings made from the epoxy resins were evaluated by the following tests to the ball end of a 2 lb ball pein hammer was attached a pad of cheese cloth composed of 8 plys the pad was saturated with methyl ethyl ketone mek and then rubbed across a coated substrate a constant back and forth motion is used allowing only the weight of the hammer to apply force on the coating a back and forth movement counts as one double rub this motion is continued until the coating is mared and or begins to be removed by the solvent effect this procedure can be found in paint testing manual by h a gardner and g g sward in the 12th edition 1962 pages 131 and 132 one part was modified when the coating is broken to the metal surface that constitutes a failure the results reported here are a pencil hardness that does not break the film but the next harder pencil.