Duracoat for flashlights test done

To help the wife buy into this flashlight stuff I decided I needed to do something drastic. Believe it or not, she was not that thrilled when I gave her a 3C M@glight with Malkoff drop-in, UCL and stippled reflector. I thought it was a great gift....just because. She (as some have already pointed out to me) thought it was just a tad bit big. Great spill and overall light for power outage though!!

OK, so I got some Duracoat which is normally a firearms paint. Google Duracoat and you can go to their website if you wish. The nice part about this stuff is all you need is an airbrush and I recommend strongly connecting the airbrush not to bottled air (cheap, crappy connector..been there done that about two hours ago) but instead use one of those cheap screw on air filter/dryers in plastic and then connect all of this to your airbrush and pancake compressor. Then you will have a nice outfit.

This stuff just needs to dry overnight. No oven, no electrostatic, nothing but time. You can stick it in a 100 degree oven to cut drying time down a whole bunch (3 hours I think) but let's make it simple. Spray then let it dry. Easy.

OK, here are the shots with links for full sized pictures. Yes there is color differences between actual and these pictures. This is supposed to be a lanvender color. And it really is in person. This is a 2C M@glight.

First, a view from the rear.....



http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd94/reverding58/100_0555.jpg

OK, and now the front view.....



http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd94/reverding58/100_0558.jpg

Here are two different pictures of the same thing. A close up of the actual head. You will note that although you can't see it, I taped just a little before the threads although the bezel was just unscrewed and provided clearance along with the main part of the head was also unscrewed so that the main body would get the color. The tail cap was actually taped some.



http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd94/reverding58/100_0557.jpg

and one with flash on...



http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd94/reverding58/100_0559.jpg

Sorry that last one is a little out of focus. New camera, operator error.

I gave the flashlight a good scuffing with a 3m grey scotchbrite pad and then followed up with 500 wet/dry paper to ensure a good tooth for the paint. The duracoat help line suggested that just the scotchbrite would be OK, but I really wanted to see some scratching inorder to ensure proper sticking of the paint. I cleaned/degreased with Duracoats recommended cleaner/degreaser. Air dried for a couple of minutes and gave it the color coat. Would have been alot easier had I NOT used the bottle air and used my pancake compressor from the start. With 10 to 15 minutes of very light spraying the color went on OK, but did not gloss...closer to satin.

Gave things a little power dry with heat gun held about 18 inches away and fanned slightly for about 7 to 10 minutes. The garage was probably about 55 to 60 degress and it is 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile visibility so it is humid too. Since this is the first time using this stuff, unlike the laquer I use for wood spray finishing, this stuff seemed like it didn't car if it was cold or humid. Can't wait to try it again in the heat to find out what it really does.

On to the gloss finish. You can order a satin, semi-gloss or gloss clear from the Duracoat people to. I mixed both gloss and color as follows: 4 tablespoons of color/gloss, and one teaspoon hardner. I didn't use all the color (ran out of bottled air) but used all the gloss. It took 2/3's of the gloss to finally get it to raise a gloss. I just kept rotating and rotating the stick with the flashlight on it. Finally it started to gloss up and level out. I was getting worried for a time. I probably could have left it at the first sign of gloss because when I did quit I noticed it was seeming to settle out and gloss very nicely. I hope you can see the gloss on the pictures. I will try to use my older and more familiar camera tomorrow after it dries and macro the flashlight.

Hope anyone thinking of this gets a good idea of whats involved. Not much really....just make sure you use or borrow a pancake type compressor to do this, it would make it much easier. Overall, this stuff was easy and straightforward to apply and I am NOT a professional painter, refinisher or anything else.

Bob E.

Very cool! The big question is... how does the wife like it?

When I'm rich it would be cool to do one in their Urban MirageFlage.

I haven't given it to her yet, was working on a heatsink for it on the lathe tonight (still waiting for stuff from Hongkong to arrive), and wired up a VIP board for it. Finally got it to work properly.

The only words of advice I can suggest is if you go this route, you may want to wait a couple of days before you start messing with this thing especially if it is cold (like it is in the garage....should have brought it inside). It seemed good to go, but as I was working on the heatsink and taking out the switch to modify, the head stuck to a paper towel (new and clean) that I laid it on. It was there for about two hours. I will see in a day or two what happens when I hit this thing with some polishing compound or something like that to see if it buffs out like regular paint.

Oh, yes you can make a substantial investment in this but far less than all you would need to do powder coating and this has a kind of powder coat look to it.

Bob E.

I agree, the Duracoat looks great. A couple months ago I was looking for a new finish for my beat up FireFly3. Since I didn't want to buy the equipment myself, and I don't trust my painting abilitites I had it Duracoated by Dawson Customs in Montana. (dawsoncustoms.com) They did a Great job!

Before





After

I promise you someone with the proper facilities and training could do wonders with this stuff. I can see now I need to make some sort of an oven to bake this in. Just 100 degrees for 15 minutes can do wonders and that's what I should have done. I would imagine a cardboard box and a 100 watt lightbulb would have made a cheap, effective oven for the first try, but I think I will make a specific one that will be big enough for a 6 D M@g but not very large.

Your light looks great and now I know a lot more about this stuff after the first try. But if you don't want to screw around with it, it sounds like you have got a good place to recommend to all to use. I should just send them one and have them do it just so I know what a quality job should look like.

I assume that was the regular black with a gloss clear on top?

Bob E.

What? You don't have an oven in the kitchen?

Seriously, I've not cured Duracoat, but I've heated Kydex, cured polyurethane, and given epoxy and fiberglass final cures. My wife complains a bit, but it's not too bad. I preheat the oven to a couple of hundred degrees, turn it off and put the piece in. The oven will cool down slowly and the piece will cure without the chance of overheating.

Why didn't you get the Duracoat in a spraycan?

Tashenlampemann, are those little tritium spheres in the bezel of your FF? Pretty neat, where'd you get them?

Lukus, yes I have an oven in the kitchen but the last time I brought bearings in there to heat up to put on a shaft I had in the freezer (yes they just dropped together) she started loosing it. So I figure a small oven type thing I can have on a shelf in the garage specifically for flashlight curing would be the way to go.

The lavender color I had did not come in a spray can. Mainly the blacks and some browns I believe come in a spray can while all the colors (and you can mix them to get specific colors) come in bottles you add the hardner too and stuff. I am surprised how well it came out and am getting ready to do another this weekend.

Bob E.

Wow great pics cmacclel.

So we know it LOOKS great, but how durable is it? Has anyone tested that? Maybe see how much it takes to scratch it?

I wish someone could Duracoat 2 of my Orbs...

Drewfus2101 said:

Wow great pics cmacclel.

So we know it LOOKS great, but how durable is it? Has anyone tested that? Maybe see how much it takes to scratch it?

Click to expand...

Google is your friend there are 100's of reviews and articles written about duracoat

The Surace scratches andt is no stronger that regular anodized lights.

Mac

Was wondering, does duracoat on a flashlight interfere with heatsinking, particularly on the head of a light?

Bill

Mac, please tell me did you do that painting? If you did, how did you do the green one? I must know!!!

Bob E.

SafetyBob said:

Mac, please tell me did you do that painting? If you did, how did you do the green one? I must know!!!

Bob E.

Click to expand...

Bead Blasted Light

1) Base White
2) Electric Green
3) Install Mesh
4) Matte Black
5) Gloss Clear

Mac

Did you get the diamondback kit from Tactical Camo for those flashlights?

That is the only place I could find last night that sold that stuff.

Bob E.

SafetyBob said:

Did you get the diamondback kit from Tactical Camo for those flashlights?

That is the only place I could find last night that sold that stuff.

Bob E.

Click to expand...

It's just mesh plastic screening they use to protect round parts.

Mac

Very cool. I'm thinking about trying this out.

Some 3 years later, the two flashlights I painted lavender are still as beautiful as they were after I painted them.

I still have to try Mac's trick (yes, time has been more than at a premium lately), but I absolutely have to make another couple of duracoated flashlights.

Bluemarble, my only suggestions are, make sure your prep and cleaning are very good. Unless you have really good air, use some sort of moisture absorber in your airline to avoid moisture, and finally, after you paint it, put it away for a week (or two) to ensure TOTAL hardening of the paint.

Yes, it will be unbearable pressure to just assemble the flashlight when the paint may or may not be fully cured. Just do NOT give in.......this will be a test of your commitment to custom flashlight building. Good Luck.

Bob E.

I thought Duracoat took a month to fully cure.

Thanks for the great pointers!