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Duracoating
- Thread starter curtis K
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2009
- Messages
- 161
I spoke to the guy at Lauer weaponry about this last week. It is suppose to be really tough stuff, the only down side for me is the cure time of 30 days.. They do have a bake on Duracoat but it chips easier.
That's all the info I have.
That's all the info I have.
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2010
- Messages
- 226
Duracoat is a good thing. Yes it takes a long time to air cure, but you can speed that up by popping the work into the oven, which is a different process than using their oven-bake coating.
I have some duracoat ready to do a pistol as soon as I get some free time.
If you want to get a lot of info from a lot of people who've used it, the gun forums are your friend.
I have some duracoat ready to do a pistol as soon as I get some free time.
If you want to get a lot of info from a lot of people who've used it, the gun forums are your friend.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2009
- Messages
- 240
I have done alot of guns with it, it is really tough stuff and they have a good selection of colors. (I did a pistol in purple and orange
for a woman.)
The big drawback is cure time, 30 days minimum. You can cure it in the oven but I always got poor results with that method. They have a different product that is designed to be oven cured.
for a woman.) The big drawback is cure time, 30 days minimum. You can cure it in the oven but I always got poor results with that method. They have a different product that is designed to be oven cured.
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2009
- Messages
- 161
Well, I asked them that exact thing. They say the temperature doesn't matter, its a chemical reaction and it takes 30 days.
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2010
- Messages
- 226
Yes no doubt the cure is a month. It's like tung oil that way, except it's very fragile at first. Baking sure speeds up the time you have to wait before handling, and doesn't hurt it as far as I can tell. It's just housepaint with the "secret ceramic sauce" lol.
- Joined
- May 27, 2008
- Messages
- 1,295
i duracoated my rem. 870 using the disposable air can they offer on the site. only a couple of runs, nothing major, and i'm not at all proficient with spraypaint. i'd imagine an HVLP sprayer and warmer temp would've yielded better results... it was in the 40's and damp when i used it.
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2001
- Messages
- 4,589
I've been testing it around the shop and recently gave a test knife to a customer and he's been pretty happy with the finish.
He's been using it for about 6 months now so I need to check back and get some post-use pictures to see how it's holding up.
As with any finish the key to success is the preparation, I've had best results by blasting for best adhesion but don't use glass bead. Glass leaves a polished finish.
He's been using it for about 6 months now so I need to check back and get some post-use pictures to see how it's holding up.
As with any finish the key to success is the preparation, I've had best results by blasting for best adhesion but don't use glass bead. Glass leaves a polished finish.
- Joined
- May 28, 1999
- Messages
- 2,606
I'm using Gunkote and Molyresin right now, really very different product from Duracoat but the same prep rules apply.
#1 most important thing, CLEAN surface before applying the coating. Whether or not you blast, or use some alternative, the steel must be 100% free of oils before spraying. This means pick up a box of nitrile gloves at home depot/harbor freight/mcmaster carr or somewhere. Use them any time you handle the blade after final degreasing. Hot water and dish soap work very well, just make sure you dry the blade with a hairdryer or compressed air before it can rust. A non-residue brake cleaner from the autoparts store works very well too. Carb cleaners are not a great idea for anything but cleaning junk off before proper degreasing.
Ideally you'll abrasive blast for adhesion, glass beads don't work very well compared to sharper media. While the beads may leave what looks like a rough surface, it's usually peening and polishing where each bead hits.
If you have glass beads up the wazoo and you're intent on using them, use the highest blast pressure you're comfortable with so that the beads break up and cut the steel on impact. Some folks have had success using the coarsest glass beads and high pressure, duracoat is more forgiving of surface than the stuff I use so it's probably fine. You can "get away" with just having a very clean smooth surface, but chipping and peeling will be more likely if the knife is used hard.
Silicon Carbide, Aluminum Oxide, Starblast, Starblast XL, and Biasill are the commonly available medias that will give the best results. Use a grit between 70 and 120 at 40-70 psi (lower for aluminum, high for 60+ RC steel). I recommend the coarser end of the scale for fixed blades, 120 is what's recommended for firearms parts, and I can blast with that without altering dimensions or removing fine roll marks on a gun. Since duracoat goes on much thicker than gunkote and hides coarse blasting easily there's no reason to use the fine medias. The hardest medias like Aluminum Oxide and SiC will work fastest on knife steel.
If you can't or don't want to blast the blade, an acid etch is highly recommended. Done right the adhesion is just as good as blasting, however there's not as much surface area for the coating to grab onto so it's still just a backup plan. Blasting + acid etch can give the best results, but adds another step to screw up. It may leave a film you have to clean off, and if you don't neutralize the acid completely before coating it will cause problems later.
That's like 99% of the process right there, now all you have to do is spray it. Can't really help with that since gunkote is like water and duracoat is more of a paint consistency, I have no idea if an airbrush would even work. Probably best to use a regular paint sprayer. If you go with an airbrush, go with a cheaper single action, external mix brush like a Paasche H, Badger 350, or the 10 dollar jobbies at harbor freight. Cleanup is much easier and if you manage to let the paint cure inside the gun it's usually not too hard to fix.
#1 most important thing, CLEAN surface before applying the coating. Whether or not you blast, or use some alternative, the steel must be 100% free of oils before spraying. This means pick up a box of nitrile gloves at home depot/harbor freight/mcmaster carr or somewhere. Use them any time you handle the blade after final degreasing. Hot water and dish soap work very well, just make sure you dry the blade with a hairdryer or compressed air before it can rust. A non-residue brake cleaner from the autoparts store works very well too. Carb cleaners are not a great idea for anything but cleaning junk off before proper degreasing.
Ideally you'll abrasive blast for adhesion, glass beads don't work very well compared to sharper media. While the beads may leave what looks like a rough surface, it's usually peening and polishing where each bead hits.
If you have glass beads up the wazoo and you're intent on using them, use the highest blast pressure you're comfortable with so that the beads break up and cut the steel on impact. Some folks have had success using the coarsest glass beads and high pressure, duracoat is more forgiving of surface than the stuff I use so it's probably fine. You can "get away" with just having a very clean smooth surface, but chipping and peeling will be more likely if the knife is used hard.
Silicon Carbide, Aluminum Oxide, Starblast, Starblast XL, and Biasill are the commonly available medias that will give the best results. Use a grit between 70 and 120 at 40-70 psi (lower for aluminum, high for 60+ RC steel). I recommend the coarser end of the scale for fixed blades, 120 is what's recommended for firearms parts, and I can blast with that without altering dimensions or removing fine roll marks on a gun. Since duracoat goes on much thicker than gunkote and hides coarse blasting easily there's no reason to use the fine medias. The hardest medias like Aluminum Oxide and SiC will work fastest on knife steel.
If you can't or don't want to blast the blade, an acid etch is highly recommended. Done right the adhesion is just as good as blasting, however there's not as much surface area for the coating to grab onto so it's still just a backup plan. Blasting + acid etch can give the best results, but adds another step to screw up. It may leave a film you have to clean off, and if you don't neutralize the acid completely before coating it will cause problems later.
That's like 99% of the process right there, now all you have to do is spray it. Can't really help with that since gunkote is like water and duracoat is more of a paint consistency, I have no idea if an airbrush would even work. Probably best to use a regular paint sprayer. If you go with an airbrush, go with a cheaper single action, external mix brush like a Paasche H, Badger 350, or the 10 dollar jobbies at harbor freight. Cleanup is much easier and if you manage to let the paint cure inside the gun it's usually not too hard to fix.
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I've used it and then abused it, holds up well. In fact, I did a tactical/hunting style knife a friend used for cutting asphalt roofing shingles and while he destroyed the edge and scuffed things up, the duracoat survived. I had to sand it off anyway, since he wants it completely redone anyway after managing to put a few knicks in the edge on something he thought was plastic and turned out to be metal. Wanted to smack him but I just reground the edge till the knicks were gone and got the edge mostly back. I'll redo the duracoat and redo the wrap for the handle once he decides if he wants the same colors or something different this time. Then finish sharpening it before returning it to him.
The blade was the drop point tactical from knifekits.com. I really like the design and needed something for him asap not months later, I'm just getting to the point I'm planning to actually send a blade or two out for heat treating. Two months ago he would probably have laughed if I gave him made on one of my blades.
The blade was the drop point tactical from knifekits.com. I really like the design and needed something for him asap not months later, I'm just getting to the point I'm planning to actually send a blade or two out for heat treating. Two months ago he would probably have laughed if I gave him made on one of my blades.
