Making Mirrorized finish? Aluminum/or plastic

I would like to know how a mirrorized finish is put on an aluminum reflector. I have an SMO reflector but the finish inside is not as shiny as it could be.. So I would like to improve on it, and or know how it is done in the first place.

I would also like to know how this is done on plastic reflectors like M*g stock. I tried "chrome" spray paint, but even with automotive spray paints the actual color of the paint is more of a slightly shiny silver, not good for reflection at all. Any help is appriciated.

It's a metalized coating. Chances are you won't be able to get just one piece done. Pretty much everyone requires a minimum price/quantity & you won't find it cheap.

Really sorry, off topic, but I find your screen name very disturbing every time I see it. :shakehead I almost didn't want to post in your thread because of it.

It has been many years since I was heavy into scale modelling, but there is a company that will vaccum metallize custom model parts, like resin wheels and such. You'd send your parts in siliconed to a homemade tree, and they "chrome" them for you.

It's probably similar to a stock Mag reflector, sort of a thin brittle coating. I'm not sure if it works on metals as well, but it might.

I never sent my parts in, but used some that came through them, and it was very shiny, just like chrome.

Ah, I just did a search and they're still around, ChromeTech USA. I always wondered if their process could restore reflectors. I'll shoot them an email and let you know what I find out.

darkzero said:

It's a metalized coating. Chances are you won't be able to get just one piece done. Pretty much everyone requires a minimum price/quantity & you won't find it cheap.

Really sorry, off topic, but I find your screen name very disturbing every time I see it. :shakehead I almost didn't want to post in your thread because of it.

Click to expand...

Off topic reply: Sorry Dark, it is not ment to be anything offensive. Its actualy from the bible in the book of Revelation. I have had one other person say something like this about it before though. I guess I need to come up with some other name, somthing flashlight related perhaps. How exactly do you change your screen name anyway?
Thanks for reply.

LED Zepplin,thats a great link,I'll be very interested in what there response is.


vestureofblood,re-registering under another user name is a sure way to get canned,plus you'll lose your post count.As far as I know,the admins/mods only change usernames in very rare circumstances.I wouldnt worry about it.Usernames are a funny thing,mine is an abbreviation of a business I was going to start,as a hobby.Not knowing that,it seems really hickish.I think people think Hoss or Little Joe when they see it and I've gotten some strange responses,but who cares,and if yours is something your passionate about then dont worry about it.

As far as the reflector,the link LED Zepplin posted is probably your best bet,outside of buying the equipment yourself.mdocod mentioned he bought a machine recently to gold plate,and unless I'm mistaken,I think those machines can be used to chrome/silver plate as well.You might check with him and see if its something he could do.

-Michael

TexLite said:

LED Zepplin,thats a great link,I'll be very interested in what there response is.


vestureofblood,re-registering under another user name is a sure way to get canned,plus you'll lose your post count.As far as I know,the admins/mods only change usernames in very rare circumstances.I wouldnt worry about it.Usernames are a funny thing,mine is an abbreviation of a business I was going to start,as a hobby.Not knowing that,it seems really hickish.I think people think Hoss or Little Joe when they see it and I've gotten some strange responses,but who cares,and if yours is something your passionate about then dont worry about it.

As far as the reflector,the link LED Zepplin posted is probably your best bet,outside of buying the equipment yourself.mdocod mentioned he bought a machine recently to gold plate,and unless I'm mistaken,I think those machines can be used to chrome/silver plate as well.You might check with him and see if its something he could do.

-Michael

Click to expand...

Thanks Tex, If mdocod did get sutch a machine that would be a gift to us all. I am familiar with his quality work and fair prices already, so this may be of some use.

As far as my name the reason I was considering changeing is because I am ok with people dissagreeing with me or what I stand for, but the problem here is everyone seems to think that it means somthing it doesnt mean. Its not sinister or evil. But when others see it they are not sure.

As Led Zeppelin stated, you could have it coated. There are many companies who coat turbos and engine parts in a chrome type finish that is very thin and will not chip or scratch easily. I honestly do not think it will be cheap though unless you got them to do it with a lot of other items.

Ok I have come up with another solution, at least for the aluminum reflector. I have an SMO KD reflector that had a bulb explode inside of it whitch left some nicks in it. Stock the reflector also caused the beam to have some rings and imperfections in it. So what I did was I went to the auto parts store and got some 2000 grit sand paper and wet sanded the old finish off till it was all very smooth, and the factory machine marks that caused those rings were gone. Then using heavy rubbing compound I polished it further. When nearly all the scratching was removed I used a very fine polish several times to further polish it. Finaly I cleaned it with some rubbing alcohol to remove the remaining streaks left from the polish. The result is a better than factory (in my opinion)finish. The factory finish may have had a tiny bit more shine to it but for me this is good plus the rings are better. It is probly still not as good as a higher end reflector, but its fixed, and since I had the polishes already it only cost me 2.99$ for the sand paper. Here is a video showing how.
http://www.nyccnc.com/Herbie/HERBIES_BLOG/Entries/2008/5/3_Mirror_Finish_on_Aluminum!!!.html
The polishes I used were the heavy duty turtle wax rubbing compound, and for the fine I used NU Finish car polish because it gives the deepest mirror shine I have seen, however an even finer one may work better. I will try to post a pic of the new finish when I have a chance.

Edit: using a brass polish multiple times after this process significantly increased the reflectivity of the aluminum.

Any pictures of the KD reflector?

Ok here are a few pics.







Here are some beam shots from my M*g61 with the reflector.
This one is about 2.5 feet away.


This one is about 3.5 ft.





The pics of the reflector are not as good as I would like, but the beamshots came out ok. If I had known this was going to be a sucsess I would have done some before shots too, but I think the point is clear.

I could also use some help with the posting of my pics. I used that immageshack. Pics loaded to there site fine, but I lost something in translation. Once I loaded the pic to the website the only way I could get it from there to here was copy then paste. Obvously that is not the best way. Suggestions? Instructions (spesiffic)? Thanks.

TexLite said:

LED Zepplin,thats a great link,I'll be very interested in what there response is.
-Michael

Click to expand...

I spoke with Bob from ChromeTech USA today and his vaccuum metalizing process has promise for certain flashlight applications.

The coating is basically a vapor deposited metal between two layers of clear paint. I asked Bob if it was heat resistant, and he said, "To some extent it is, but how hot can a flashlight get?" Well, I'm assuming it would be fine for LED applications. He said that it would be possible to use hi heat paint, but it would not be cost effective for a few pieces as most of his work is for the modelling hobby.

He cannot strip metals, the chemicals he uses will eat them. But it is possible to coat metal parts.

Also, masking is possible, but the mask must not trap any air since it will go into a vaccuum chamber. So I'm assuming it would be difficult to restore a SF KT1 head as I wish to do. The knurling and scallops might not mask as required.

It does sound like individual loose reflectors can be done without need for masking, so this process may have some value for us.

He prefers to be contacted by phone if anyone wants to pursue this further:
Bob Shebilske, (608)274-9811, cell (608)712-8284.

If anyone does try this service, let us know how it turns out.

Nice find LED Zeppelin! I am sure if someone tries this and it comes out nice, Bob will be in for some serious flashlight buisiness.

Just noticed this thread. BTW, you can get all grits including 2.000 & 2,500 wetsanding paper at Amazon. vestureofblood, nice work. I'm just not sure of the oxidation risk of the polished bare aluminum reflector surface.

LuxLuthor said:

Just noticed this thread. BTW, you can get all grits including 2.000 & 2,500 wetsanding paper at Amazon. vestureofblood, nice work. I'm just not sure of the oxidation risk of the polished bare aluminum reflector surface.

Click to expand...

Thanks Lux,

Your participation is always appriciated. I like the honest answers, and your ability to raise questions I may not have considerd.
Earlier today someone sent me a pm stating that he is useing some bulbs (24v 250w I think) that are so hot they bubbled the finish on one of his reflectors. He is going to send me the reflector to be polished and see if it holds up better than the origonal. As far as oxidation, I think you are right that there will be some. However with the polishes I use it shouldnt be too bad.

Again I would also like to remind everyone this is not necisserily somthing I would reccomend doing to a new reflector. For me this is just one solution for fixing damaged reflectors