Gunsmithing Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
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Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
beads dont provide a sufficiently abraided surface, rather they leave micro dents.
As the others have stated 100-120 Aluminum Oxide is the prefered blasting media.
beads dont provide a sufficiently abraided surface, rather they leave micro dents.
As the others have stated 100-120 Aluminum Oxide is the prefered blasting media.
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
I know Cerakote Firearm Refinishing does aluminum oxide blasting, does anyone else know of any other refinishers who use aluminum oxide?
Thanks folks
I know Cerakote Firearm Refinishing does aluminum oxide blasting, does anyone else know of any other refinishers who use aluminum oxide?
Thanks folks
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
I've known of several shops that use screened play sand. Period. Parkerized or durakoted right away. I've refinished a dozen FN-FALS, several Colt 1911s, an Uzi SMG, some Stens and a handful of other projects this way. FWIW.
I've known of several shops that use screened play sand. Period. Parkerized or durakoted right away. I've refinished a dozen FN-FALS, several Colt 1911s, an Uzi SMG, some Stens and a handful of other projects this way. FWIW.
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
Whats the application? We use the media appropriate to the material involved and the end finish desired.
ALOX for surface prep for parkerizing, aggressive surface prep for SS metals to be directly coated (KG, Cero, Dura, etc.) and the like. Keep in mind that if you use the ALOX for steel it will retain some of the metal removed and if you then use it for deep matte SS or Al it will deposit some of the said residual metal on the surface of the SS or Al and cause it to yellow from rust. Clean media is a must for SS and Aluminum.
Glass bead is great for a satin finish on SS thats brighter, and less likely to scuff. It does removed any coatings or surface crud, but once it gets to the metal it can peen the surface a bit. This makes for poor take when parkerizing. It works wonders for cleaning and bringing back the satin finish of hard chrome.
There are others, like walnut, pecan, soda, sand, coal slag, and the list goes on... but they have inherit drawbacks. Price, lack of aggressive enough abrasive characteristics, enviromental impact. Play sand contains silicates, coal slag is...well... coal slag, and niether is good on the lungs (cancer and such). They should ONLY be used with a proper ventilation and recovery system.
I've never understood why so many here give final answers without qualifying the question. There are no absolute answers to ambiguous questions.
Whats the application? We use the media appropriate to the material involved and the end finish desired.
ALOX for surface prep for parkerizing, aggressive surface prep for SS metals to be directly coated (KG, Cero, Dura, etc.) and the like. Keep in mind that if you use the ALOX for steel it will retain some of the metal removed and if you then use it for deep matte SS or Al it will deposit some of the said residual metal on the surface of the SS or Al and cause it to yellow from rust. Clean media is a must for SS and Aluminum.
Glass bead is great for a satin finish on SS thats brighter, and less likely to scuff. It does removed any coatings or surface crud, but once it gets to the metal it can peen the surface a bit. This makes for poor take when parkerizing. It works wonders for cleaning and bringing back the satin finish of hard chrome.
There are others, like walnut, pecan, soda, sand, coal slag, and the list goes on... but they have inherit drawbacks. Price, lack of aggressive enough abrasive characteristics, enviromental impact. Play sand contains silicates, coal slag is...well... coal slag, and niether is good on the lungs (cancer and such). They should ONLY be used with a proper ventilation and recovery system.
I've never understood why so many here give final answers without qualifying the question. There are no absolute answers to ambiguous questions.
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
You provided a lot of very good and accurate information on blasting media, however I would like to comment on one point you made.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kenda</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I've never understood why so many here give final answers without qualifying the question. There are no absolute answers to ambiguous questions.</div></div>
The thread title itself posed a very specific question "Cerakote: Bead blast or aluminum oxide?"
In the interest of full disclosure I helped write and edit the Cerakote Applicator Training Manual for NIC, so my comments are basically the “party line”, others do things differently and as long as they're happy with the results, great; God Bless America. However, I felt it might help to explain the rationale behind NIC’s recommendation.
The correct answer, per the manufacturers recommendations, is 100-120 grit aluminum oxide. The specific reasons for this are:
1) To properly prep the substrate by removing rust, other finishes, contaminants, etc and,
2) To abrade the surface to allow the Cerakote to obtain maximum adhesion.
3) The recommendation on grit size has to do with the Cerakote having an optimum coating thickness of 1.0 mil and coarser grits would require more Cerakote to provide proper coverage and has less effective surface area for adhesion and finer wouldn’t provide sufficient pore size for the ceramic particle size to permit optimum adhesion.
4) Other media such as silicon carbide cut too fast and can ruin some parts, other media doesn’t cut as effectively, such as glass beads, which peens the metal and doesn’t provide the optimum/desired surface abrasion, etc, etc...
In short, for Cerakote, Aluminum Oxide 100-120 grit is the sweet spot for prep.
Regards
You provided a lot of very good and accurate information on blasting media, however I would like to comment on one point you made.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kenda</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
I've never understood why so many here give final answers without qualifying the question. There are no absolute answers to ambiguous questions.</div></div>
The thread title itself posed a very specific question "Cerakote: Bead blast or aluminum oxide?"
In the interest of full disclosure I helped write and edit the Cerakote Applicator Training Manual for NIC, so my comments are basically the “party line”, others do things differently and as long as they're happy with the results, great; God Bless America. However, I felt it might help to explain the rationale behind NIC’s recommendation.
The correct answer, per the manufacturers recommendations, is 100-120 grit aluminum oxide. The specific reasons for this are:
1) To properly prep the substrate by removing rust, other finishes, contaminants, etc and,
2) To abrade the surface to allow the Cerakote to obtain maximum adhesion.
3) The recommendation on grit size has to do with the Cerakote having an optimum coating thickness of 1.0 mil and coarser grits would require more Cerakote to provide proper coverage and has less effective surface area for adhesion and finer wouldn’t provide sufficient pore size for the ceramic particle size to permit optimum adhesion.
4) Other media such as silicon carbide cut too fast and can ruin some parts, other media doesn’t cut as effectively, such as glass beads, which peens the metal and doesn’t provide the optimum/desired surface abrasion, etc, etc...
In short, for Cerakote, Aluminum Oxide 100-120 grit is the sweet spot for prep.
Regards
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
Redcreek, forgive my haste. There's a lot of knowledge here, not just from end users, but from folks like you who help set the pace.
But, I've seen so many posts with inaccurate, misleading, and just plain wrong information that can risk damage to valueable equipment, and more importantly the safety and lives of the operators. I just get too agressive in my cause. Deep breath, step back, read twice. We all get a lesson.
Redcreek, forgive my haste. There's a lot of knowledge here, not just from end users, but from folks like you who help set the pace.
But, I've seen so many posts with inaccurate, misleading, and just plain wrong information that can risk damage to valueable equipment, and more importantly the safety and lives of the operators. I just get too agressive in my cause. Deep breath, step back, read twice. We all get a lesson.
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
Kenda,
I think we're both on the same page in wanting to get correct information out there.
I agreed with everything in your post, all very good and accurate information.
Just felt that sometimes it helps people to know the rationale behind a manufactures recommendation and that they dont just pull it out of the air.
So, I thought the additional, Cerakote specific, clarification would be helpful in this case.
Kenda,
I think we're both on the same page in wanting to get correct information out there.
I agreed with everything in your post, all very good and accurate information.
Just felt that sometimes it helps people to know the rationale behind a manufactures recommendation and that they dont just pull it out of the air.
So, I thought the additional, Cerakote specific, clarification would be helpful in this case.
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
Just want add Garnet to the list. I get #25 lbs of Garnet $10 cheaper than equal amounts of alox and it is very similar in performance and longevity.
Just want add Garnet to the list. I get #25 lbs of Garnet $10 cheaper than equal amounts of alox and it is very similar in performance and longevity.
Re: Cerakote: Bead Blast or Aluminum Oxide?
My supplier also has crushed glass.....but I have never tried it.
My supplier also has crushed glass.....but I have never tried it.
