Blackplate can be used for container manufacture, using the techniques of welding or cementing for the production of the sod seam. Both its surface have to be protected by applying synthetic lacquer, otherwise rusting easily occurs.
Blackplate is no longer black. When new and clean, it is almost indistinguishable from tin plate to a passing observer.
It is called blackplate because in the days when it was rolled by hand, it acquiring a thin coating of black oxide which was left on the surface and not dissolved away in acid.
Blackplate is not used widely because of its tendency to rust rapidly, its spoor chemical resistance and its poor reflectivity, which creates decoration difficulties.
Blackplate for packaging