wquiles
Flashaholic
We have several threads in this forum about powder coating, anodizing, etc., but few on actual comparing these various finishes, so I decided that since I am testing Moly Resin to replace my powder coating setup, that it would be helpful to others if I post my results as I go along. I will try to keep the thread updated as I add more comparisons, pictures, etc..
My considerations as to what to use are limited (admittedly, self-imposed limitations) since I have small children at home, and don't want to have stuff that is too dangerous, too many steps, various fluids to store in their own containers, etc..
I posted this in the Diving Sub-forum, but I will repost here in its entirety since it is a good way to express how "I" feel about these coatings I am comparing:
*************************************************************
In my opinion, for Aluminum, the best is to use no coating/paint, and have the piece processed with HA-III (hard anodized type 3).
The HA-III electro-chemical process "transforms" the external surfaces of the Aluminum, resulting in a new surface that is very tough, very resistant to scratches, salt, and many other chemicals. It is "the" best process for Al, and why companies such as SureFire and others that do military gear always use this process to protect the Aluminun pieces.
However, doing HA-III properly is very dangerous due to the strong chemicals used, and it is not what I would call a "trivial" nor "easy" process to do at home. Note that doing HA-III is "not" the same as those easy to use/apply hard anodizing kits that you can buy on-line => those are only for HA-II, or the "basic" anodizing which is very easy to remove/scratch, and provide little protection.
The next level down in protection for Al are the ones that use a special paint/coating which are baked - the same finishes being used a lot now-a-days for firearms, and firearm parts/accessories. There are various types, and you can find them by their trade names, the more populars being Cerakote, Duracoat, and Moly Resin. Just like with true HA-III, the metal preparation is ultra important, but you "can" do those at home on a small oven, and using mostly an airbrush. These finishes are much, much better than the plain anodizing, but a level down from HA-III (which again, it not a coating - it permanently changes the surface of the Aluminum!).
The next level down in protection comes from Powder Coating, and the basic type II anodizing (basic finish on a factory Mag-lite). Those are much easier to scratch/off or peel off compared to Cerakote, Duracoat, and Moly Resin. I have a full powder coating kit at home, and have tested the surface against basic anodizing and although it is better than the basic anodizing, it is not that much better - you can even dissolve powder coating by wiping it down with an easy to get solvent.
The last thing I will mention is the thickness of each process. The HA-III transforms the outer surface, and increases the size a little - enough to note on threaded parts, so parts that are going to be threaded should not have a very tight fit before HA-III.
Cerakote, Duracoat, and Moly Resin "generally" (depending on how it was applied/sprayed) create a very thin surface, small enough that firearm parts that were fitted prior to these coatings still fit fine after the coating, and this also means no problems on threaded parts.
Powder coating is the worst here - compared to the other processes above, it has by far the thickest coating, and threads have to be completely masked off. Fitted parts will not fit well after powder coating, so your results might vary depending how thick a layer you end up with, which can get even worst once you add a second later for protection [like UV layer] which is commonly added to powder coated parts to increase their resistance to weather and "outside" conditions.
Just my 2 cents worth.
*************************************************************
So again, I posted this above several weeks ago, and I am now showing some pictures of my experiments - I hope this is useful.
Here is the "equipment" I am using for applying the Moly Resin:
Although a two-stage, which some said were harder to use, I found it actually very easy to use, and easy to control the amount of "paint" being sprayed whether I was covering (need more paint), or touching up an area that did not get enough (need less paint). Very, very nice air brush, and easy to clean afterwards:
My practice area - a pizza carton/box:
Air pressure was set at the Badger-recommended 30psi. Here the air has been regulated, oil-filtered, and sub-micron filtered before reaching the air brush:
The first 3 on the left, have been coated with powder coating. If I recall the black used in the two left-most units was a "textured" finish, which feels very secure in the hand. The orange one is a smooth finish, so it is slippery. The two right-most tubes have been sand blasted to remove the original coating, and are ready to be "treaded":
Here I already have applied a "very" thin coating of Moly Resin Flat Black, and I have them curing in my oven (the other pieces are from the Wilton vise I am restoring - that will be a separate post). Again, a very thin coating - I am just getting started to play with it:
Once I lightly coated those two tubes, I decided to "torture" the finish on them, but to make it fair (and somewhat scientific) I have a "control" group composed of a light and dark OEM finish on the Mag (Red and Silver):
Here are close-ups of the other torture victims "before" the torture begins. Here are the 3 powder coated parts:
And the two tubes that have the very light coating of Flat Black Moly Resin:
Comparing the bright finish on the OEM parts, to the more "dull" Flat Black Moly Resin:
Comparing the 3x powder coated parts (left) with the two Moly Resin parts (right):
All parts compared prior to torture. From left to right: OEM red, OEM silver, textured powder coating, textured powder coating, smooth powder coating, Flat Black Moly Resin, and Flat Black Moly Resin):
Here is the "Torturator 2000":
The media is Rust-Cutting Resin, from Harbor Freight:
Here with a D cell for size reference:
Here the parts go in for their torture session:
And here is a short movie showing the action:
short movie of the Torturator 2000
This media is abrasive, and with the tumbling action is similar to using medium-coarse sand paper - it just basically scratches the surfaces as time goes by. I let the parts in there for about an hour, which I would estimate would be worst than 12 months of use.
Here are the pictures "after" the torture. First the 3x powder coated parts - they came out the worst:
The Moly Resin parts with the very thin coating faired better - but I need to repeat with a slightly thicker coat next time:
The factory Type II anodizing did really well, but it is hard to photograph, since it just got lots and lots of tiny scratches:
Will
My considerations as to what to use are limited (admittedly, self-imposed limitations) since I have small children at home, and don't want to have stuff that is too dangerous, too many steps, various fluids to store in their own containers, etc..
I posted this in the Diving Sub-forum, but I will repost here in its entirety since it is a good way to express how "I" feel about these coatings I am comparing:
*************************************************************
In my opinion, for Aluminum, the best is to use no coating/paint, and have the piece processed with HA-III (hard anodized type 3).
The HA-III electro-chemical process "transforms" the external surfaces of the Aluminum, resulting in a new surface that is very tough, very resistant to scratches, salt, and many other chemicals. It is "the" best process for Al, and why companies such as SureFire and others that do military gear always use this process to protect the Aluminun pieces.
However, doing HA-III properly is very dangerous due to the strong chemicals used, and it is not what I would call a "trivial" nor "easy" process to do at home. Note that doing HA-III is "not" the same as those easy to use/apply hard anodizing kits that you can buy on-line => those are only for HA-II, or the "basic" anodizing which is very easy to remove/scratch, and provide little protection.
The next level down in protection for Al are the ones that use a special paint/coating which are baked - the same finishes being used a lot now-a-days for firearms, and firearm parts/accessories. There are various types, and you can find them by their trade names, the more populars being Cerakote, Duracoat, and Moly Resin. Just like with true HA-III, the metal preparation is ultra important, but you "can" do those at home on a small oven, and using mostly an airbrush. These finishes are much, much better than the plain anodizing, but a level down from HA-III (which again, it not a coating - it permanently changes the surface of the Aluminum!).
The next level down in protection comes from Powder Coating, and the basic type II anodizing (basic finish on a factory Mag-lite). Those are much easier to scratch/off or peel off compared to Cerakote, Duracoat, and Moly Resin. I have a full powder coating kit at home, and have tested the surface against basic anodizing and although it is better than the basic anodizing, it is not that much better - you can even dissolve powder coating by wiping it down with an easy to get solvent.
The last thing I will mention is the thickness of each process. The HA-III transforms the outer surface, and increases the size a little - enough to note on threaded parts, so parts that are going to be threaded should not have a very tight fit before HA-III.
Cerakote, Duracoat, and Moly Resin "generally" (depending on how it was applied/sprayed) create a very thin surface, small enough that firearm parts that were fitted prior to these coatings still fit fine after the coating, and this also means no problems on threaded parts.
Powder coating is the worst here - compared to the other processes above, it has by far the thickest coating, and threads have to be completely masked off. Fitted parts will not fit well after powder coating, so your results might vary depending how thick a layer you end up with, which can get even worst once you add a second later for protection [like UV layer] which is commonly added to powder coated parts to increase their resistance to weather and "outside" conditions.
Just my 2 cents worth.
*************************************************************
So again, I posted this above several weeks ago, and I am now showing some pictures of my experiments - I hope this is useful.
Here is the "equipment" I am using for applying the Moly Resin:
Although a two-stage, which some said were harder to use, I found it actually very easy to use, and easy to control the amount of "paint" being sprayed whether I was covering (need more paint), or touching up an area that did not get enough (need less paint). Very, very nice air brush, and easy to clean afterwards:
My practice area - a pizza carton/box:
Air pressure was set at the Badger-recommended 30psi. Here the air has been regulated, oil-filtered, and sub-micron filtered before reaching the air brush:
The first 3 on the left, have been coated with powder coating. If I recall the black used in the two left-most units was a "textured" finish, which feels very secure in the hand. The orange one is a smooth finish, so it is slippery. The two right-most tubes have been sand blasted to remove the original coating, and are ready to be "treaded":
Here I already have applied a "very" thin coating of Moly Resin Flat Black, and I have them curing in my oven (the other pieces are from the Wilton vise I am restoring - that will be a separate post). Again, a very thin coating - I am just getting started to play with it:
Once I lightly coated those two tubes, I decided to "torture" the finish on them, but to make it fair (and somewhat scientific) I have a "control" group composed of a light and dark OEM finish on the Mag (Red and Silver):
Here are close-ups of the other torture victims "before" the torture begins. Here are the 3 powder coated parts:
And the two tubes that have the very light coating of Flat Black Moly Resin:
Comparing the bright finish on the OEM parts, to the more "dull" Flat Black Moly Resin:
Comparing the 3x powder coated parts (left) with the two Moly Resin parts (right):
All parts compared prior to torture. From left to right: OEM red, OEM silver, textured powder coating, textured powder coating, smooth powder coating, Flat Black Moly Resin, and Flat Black Moly Resin):
Here is the "Torturator 2000":
The media is Rust-Cutting Resin, from Harbor Freight:
Here with a D cell for size reference:
Here the parts go in for their torture session:
And here is a short movie showing the action:
short movie of the Torturator 2000
This media is abrasive, and with the tumbling action is similar to using medium-coarse sand paper - it just basically scratches the surfaces as time goes by. I let the parts in there for about an hour, which I would estimate would be worst than 12 months of use.
Here are the pictures "after" the torture. First the 3x powder coated parts - they came out the worst:
The Moly Resin parts with the very thin coating faired better - but I need to repeat with a slightly thicker coat next time:
The factory Type II anodizing did really well, but it is hard to photograph, since it just got lots and lots of tiny scratches:
Will
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