Sanblasting and Powder Coating Flashlights ...

[wquiles]

so what all do you have in your PC set up. I want to invest in one for coating dirtbike parts and some things on my project that I showed in the CAD posting. Not sure what all I need to get started.

You basically need 3 things (besides the powder itself):
- sandblasting cabinet to prepare the part (but it can be home made)
- sandblasting gun/kit - applies the "charged" powder to your grounded part. You get what you paid for on this one - probably "the" most significant component.
- curing oven. I got a "dedicated" one, but an used home oven works fine. Just make sure it is "not" the same oven you use for food!

I however have found that the Ano looks great at first but then not so much. For example my 2007 bike has Black Ano'd forks and rear shock tube and they are now purple in the right light.

I talked over the phone with the guys I buy my PC stuff from (Powder Buy The Pound) and they explained to me that various powders have difference properties, and some are developed to do better in exteriors (long term exposure to the Sun). Call them, explain to them what you are after, and they will recommend to you the correct powder for your application.

Anodizing is incredibly thin ... about .002" average for the toughest/thickest HAIII. Even thinner for the "non hard" anodizing.

PC, ceramic, EN, etc. are many times thicker.

PC is even thicker, at between 0.002" and 0.005", which can/do mess up threaded areas or anything with a close tolerances.

However, I spent several hours the other night reviewing the Molly Resin, and it was impressive (to me) was that it only adds about 0.0002" to 0.0005" thickness -> so it is recommended for fitted gun parts as it will not affect functioning. That is very thin, yet offers incredible protection. Very cool!
http://www.johnnorrellarms.com/molyresin_about.asp

 

[PEU]

Very interesting. But Brownell's instruction pdf doesn't mention using the stuff on any metal other than steel.

I used electroless nickel on alu and brass and it worked like a charm, very smooth and even finish, color is almost the same as titanium. The shop worked mostly for the petroleum industry, but they did these parts to me because I guess it was fun to them to see their method applied to flashlights


Pablo

 

[saltytri]

I spent several hours the other night reviewing the Molly Resin, and it was impressive (to me) was that it only adds about 0.0002" to 0.0005" thickness -> so it is recommended for fitted gun parts as it will not affect functioning. That is very thin, yet offers incredible protection. Very cool!
http://www.johnnorrellarms.com/molyresin_about.asp

Which is the reason I bought some. A very thin, non-conductive coating might be useful in twisty designs where mating threads need to be insulated.

 

[wquiles]

Which is the reason I bought some. A very thin, non-conductive coating might be useful in twisty designs where mating threads need to be insulated.

Now that is an interesting angle that I did not think about it before. And I don't mean this as a challenge, but as a true inquiry: Have you been able to verify that the Moly Resin is in fact non-conductive? If it is true, since it is so thin, it "might" be a good isolator for mounting LED's that have a POS (+) contact on its base (like the Seoul P4's and others) where you would normally have to either have Anodizing or a "thick" layer of thermal epoxy to provide isolation. Since this stuff is tough and goes on so thin, again it "might" be a great alternative if its thermal resistance is not too bad/large.

 

[saltytri]

Good question for which I don't yet know the answer. I figure it was worth a few bucks to find out.

 

[wquiles]

Good question for which I don't yet know the answer. I figure it was worth a few bucks to find out.

Awesome. Once you do try the Moly Resin, please do post back in this thread so that we can learn from your experiences :thumbsup:

 

[JimmyM]

That looks great, Will!!
I'm coming over NOW with a bottle of whiskey and all my Mag bodies.

 

[olephart]

I've been using Norrell's for years on lights and other things (including plastics). I prefer it to the other moly coating products because it goes on thinner and mixes easier and protects better. It does not conduct, but I would hesitate to use it for that purpose on moving parts.

That's because it will wear to the base metal with continuous contact with hard surfaces. I think threads would wear through and make contact after awhile. I have one moly coated light that has been used heavily in a rough environment the last 5 years. I can see bare metal on all the sharp edges.

It doesn't bother me as it is simple to touch up if I cared about the looks. I wouldn't want to give the impression that it is an easily damaged coating. It's not, but, over time it won't hold up like hard anodizing. It is also has excellent heat radiation characteristics.

A cheap Badger air brush works fine and a dedicated oven is not necessary if you let it air dry for about a day before heating it up.

 

[wquiles]

That is great to know - thanks much for a real-world example, and what to expect.

I was on the phone earlier today with Barry and he was telling me that the electro-less nickel from Brownells "should" wear better than most of the resin-based stuff. Probably something else to try in the future as well.

 

[wquiles]

This morning I had some more time to "play" and learn about blasting and coating, and since I have a "few" Mag cut-outs, I have plenty of "victims" to play with :devil:

I started by doing a lighter blasting on the Mags - just rough up the surface (air pressure at 45 PSI). I think it is still too slippery/smooth, but since I got plenty of cutouts I gave it a try anyway - I need the practice with the PC gun!:

Cleaned them up good, then to the oven ...

Wait for them to cool off:

I am trying a different black powder, one that is supposed to do really well outdoors and under the Sun's UV:

My current PC setup:

Parts out of the oven, cooling down. Probably because I am still a newbe but I did spray them a little bit too thick this time. I am trying a couple of things with heat-resistant tape, both on the body and over the threaded area:

Here is the part with the tape in the body removed - need to be very careful about tape overlap next time:

Here is how the threaded area looks like when it was not taped:

and here the one that was taped (granted, not the best job possible):

The second from low-left to up-right was the only one tapped on the threads - still, they all still accepted Mag tailcaps with no problems. Since I did not spray powder directly at the threads from the bottom, it looks like the minimal overspray on the inside threads is just fine for the Mags:

Here is a good close-up of the new "Super Durable" black against the prior textured black:

Here from left to right: OEM black, Textured PC, Super Durable Black (which again came out a little bit too thick):

Personally I still like the texture black better - lower gloss, less slippery, and looks like it would hide scratches/dings better.

Will

 

[ninemm]

I definitely agree with you on the textured black. Looks better imo and seems like it would perform better too.

 

[olephart]

Looks like you are well on your way to a very professional finish. I like the textured finish, too. It did seem to fill in the knurling more than the gloss finish. Maybe that's just a matter of adjusting the amount of spray.

A few years ago I fitted a barrel for a guy in trade for Electroless Nickel plating a FN FAL bolt/carrier. It's had several hundred rounds through it and ya can't see any wear. Seems like pretty tough stuff and a very thin coating. We didn't polish it before plating. Just blasted and etched the parts. Turned out with a nice satin finish. I suspect the durability is directly related to the care taken during the prep work.

I've been trying to find out more about the Black Electroless Nickel process. I would definitely use it on flashlights if a satin finish can be produced. I've seen a few large shops that do it, but can't find any DIY info.

 

[parnell]

+1 on the textured.

 

[precisionworks]

We didn't polish it before plating. Just blasted and etched the parts.

I spoke with the chemist a few times during the EN development. He said that a smooth or polished surface gives the EN very little to "anchor" to, and that a blasted surface provides "tooth" for better coating adherence.

He also mentioned that in addition to blasting, parts could be tumbled or shot peened. Parts with sharp edges may also be vibratory deburred.

 

[mototraxtech]

the durable coat looks exactly like what my dirt bike frame is painted with. It is also VERY thick and kinda lumpy like that. Of course for a bike it is a good thing as it takes longer to wear though.

 

[wquiles]

I took a few more cut-offs to try new things and a new powder:

Here there are after blasting - this time I gave them a little bit more time under the blast gun than last time - they do look a little bit more "dull":

And to test more over the threads I got these (un-blasted) just to see how much can/could be built over the thread area:

These are the un-blasted pieces cooling off (I am again using the Black Textured Powder):

Here are the parts once cold to the touch. This Black Texture Powder is indeed very nice. And as expected, since these parts received powder directly on the threads, the baked powder does affect the threaded areas:

Here is the new powder that I am trying for a customer of mine:

My new setup - easier to clean without the small box:

Here are the Orange parts once cooled off. I must have done better than OK cleaning the black powder since I can't see no black dots/spots anywhere on these parts:

And comparing the Black Textured with the Orange:

Still lots to learn but making progress

Will

 

[mototraxtech]

those look great keep up the good work!

 

[ma_sha1]

I bet a textured orange would look nice:thumbsup:

 

[tino_ale]

I am not familliar with hard coating, do you have any good link describing what it is, how it works, what kind of machine/tool you need to make it ?

I also vote for the mate finish. Looks very professionnal :thumbsup:

 

[cmacclel]

Awesome progress Will it's only been what a year since you bought the PC gun Still trying to figure out what Sanblasting is?? Hmm I'll google it!

Mac