Is it harder to make type III finish in black vs OD?

I figured market demands were the reason that most of Surefire's type III anodized finishes are in OD instead of black, until I noticed that the C3's OD finish is type III, but if you get it in black it's type II. SUrefire has other lights with a type III finish that are black. Wonder why they did this with the C3?

It may only be a $10 difference, but I am sure there are plenty of users (I'm not thinking in terms of CPF members) who don't mind about a scratched finish and see no reason to pay any extra for HA.

Regards,
Tempest

My understanding is that a natural Type III coating uses unadulterated material and is inherently quite strong. The black coloring that is added to it to make a black coating slightly weakens it and makes it more susceptible to wear.

Type II & Type III coatings can be either undyed or dyed.

Type II coatings are thin, ranging from .0001" to .0010". By comparison, a sheet of copier paper is .0030".

Type III coatings run from .0010" to .0060".

If a Type III coating is dyed, it must also be sealed, which adds another process step and additional cost. Because the Type III process produces a much thicker coating, it also takes longer to perform.

Wonder why they did this with the C3?

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Only Surefire knows

Since natural is easier, I wonder why we don't see more lights with type 3 natural?

Gnufsh said:

Since natural is easier, I wonder why we don't see more lights with type 3 natural?

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Because the so called natural "hard-anodized" feature you hear getting thrown around so oftern by Asian manufacturers, are not really Type-III.

Outdoors Fanatic said:

Because the so called natural "hard-anodized" feature you hear getting thrown around so oftern by Asian manufacturers, are not really Type-III.

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Well it's not a thick layer.

LukeA said:

Well it's not a thick layer.

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Hard anodize, such as used on Arc and Surefire light is actually thinner than so called HaII, and bonds with Aluminum. I don't have my facts in front of me, but I have seen this mentioned on CPF several times over the past 5 years. I need to research.

Bill

Type III is done in a refrigerated tank, and at much higher current than Type II. After dyeing appearance can vary greatly with the coating's thickness which is a function of time/current. Black vs nat. adds very little to the price an order, in my experience!

I personally favor a .001"-.002" build, and have my own "secret" sealant process, which results in a bronzish olive drab.

Larry

Bullzeyebill said:

Hard anodize, such as used on Arc and Surefire light is actually thinner than so called HaII, and bonds with Aluminum. I don't have my facts in front of me, but I have seen this mentioned on CPF several times over the past 5 years. I need to research.

Bill

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I've read that many times as well. It seems also that the HAII is thicker while being less resistant.

tvodrd said:

Type III is done in a refrigerated tank, and at much higher current than Type II. After dyeing appearance can vary greatly with the coating's thickness which is a function of time/current. Black vs nat. adds very little to the price an order, in my experience!

I personally favor a .001"-.002" build, and have my own "secret" sealant process, which results in a bronzish olive drab.

Larry

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Yeah, but black makes them harder to find in the dark, when you need a light...

PhotonBoy said:

My understanding is that a natural Type III coating uses unadulterated material and is inherently quite strong. The black coloring that is added to it to make a black coating slightly weakens it and makes it more susceptible to wear.

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I have not read this before. However, my recent experience with a black Novatac p120 gives reason to accept this could be true. The finish doesn't seem to be holding up as well as I had expected. Hardly anybody complained about the olive version. Still, my black Fenix's are doing just fine. If Fenix isn't really using an anodizing process, I like what they are doing better than Novatac with black.