Annodization or Powder Coat?

[Automagrt666]

Hey everyone, just had a question if powder coating was a bad idea for my marker body and should I just go with Annodization? Also, if that's the case, anyone know a place that will annodize it for a fair price? don't want to have to sell my kidneys to get it done heh. Thanks! :dance:

[Shingo]

I plan to send my mag to Grunt Bull Anodizing (http://www.gruntbullanodizing.com/) when I have my setup all complete and when I have $$$.

Quote that I got from them seems pretty reasonable.

~Shingo~

[Automagrt666]

What was the quote?

[Shingo]

It depends on the job they need to do on your gear and the # of colors and style you need.... I was looking into a two color (one solid color per piece) dust finish on everything but one polished part... for ten pieces... quote received the next day = $80

It's best to contact them and ask for a quote for the job you need.

~Shingo~

[thefool]

anno ftw. I just got a tank up and running. PM me if you need a quote.

[SR_matt]

rainman229.com does awesome work. i payed under 100 bucks to get my mag, barrel tips, and couple other parts anoed 1 color. less than a week turnaround and shipped back to me.

-matt

[don miguel]

contact nate2k191 he has an awesome powder coat on his emag. I love it. check it out: (sorry for the big pic) ask him where he got it done. NATE YOUR MAG IS SWEET!
http://students.its.txstate.edu/~kp1143/IMG_2980.jpg

[warbeak2099]

That powdercoat was done by Ken at K&K Customs. He pc'd my gun too before I had Luke re-PC it. That was just cause look had to match it to a different peice and said he might as well re-do it. Ken does a great job and he's reasonably priced.

[Automagrt666]

I plan to send my mag to Grunt Bull Anodizing (http://www.gruntbullanodizing.com/) when I have my setup all complete and when I have $$$.

Quote that I got from them seems pretty reasonable.

~Shingo~

I checked out www.gruntballanodizing.com and I'm extremely impressed with their work. To just make my gun and trigger frame matt black it's only 32$! Thanks Shingo :) :dance:

[Shingo]

I checked out www.gruntballanodizing.com and I'm extremely impressed with their work. To just make my gun and trigger frame matt black it's only 32$! Thanks Shingo :) :dance:

No prob... ;)

~Shingo~

[Tym]

I assume you're talking about the entire marker..

Powder Coating:

I would stay away from powder coating unless you REALLY REALLY NEED a %100 flat finnish.. Powder coating usualy (Even in a few fragile layers) Takes up quite a bit of extra room. This will make your gun seem thicker (cause it is) and will cause you nothing but problems when it comes time to re-assemble your marker. Things will not line up, things will not "fit" right... You will end up using much force, chipping your powdercoat, or having to sand/file parts to fit with counter-parts.. A good powder coat is usualy about the thickness of a plastic 2l pop bottle. And 4 - 5 times as hard..

Keep that in mind when it comes time to put your marker together, both parts powdercoated? times the coating thickness by 2, and that's how much EXTRA room your powdercoating will take up.. Basicaly it's like adding thick shims on every part of your marker, it will for sure cause you nothing but problems.

That being said, Powdercoating is Very brittle, almost like a layer of ceramic.. powder coating IS very prone to chipping/cracking..

Anodizing:

This is the meathod most people use on markers.. The finnish, at best is your selected color with a dull metalic shine, because you're anodizing, you're not adding layers of paint, you are actualy changing the crystal structure of the top layers of the metal.. As well as adding pigmentation.. This adds zero or VERY VERY little thickness to your metal, therefore the marker will be the exact same to put back together..

The resulting finish, depending on the process, is the second hardest substance known to man, second only to the diamond... And since the color is not paint, It will not chip or crack, or any of the stuff paint does.. But since anodizing is actual top layers of the metal, if you scratch it hard enuff, it will reveal the silver color of your base metal..

It's up to you, people swear by either or, and will tell you one or the other is junk..
I say if you don't %100 need a %100 flat finnish, Anodizings pro's out-weigh powdercoatings.. And the powder coatings cons are VERY VERY big cons..

My opinion? Anodizing :)

[Mechanic79]

If you want truer white you have to powder coat.

Any contact info for a quality powder coating place? I'm looking for a glossy or close to gloss as possible white to blue fade. And should the raw aluminum be ano'd first or doesn't it matter?

[gnnr]

[QUOTE=Tym]I assume you're talking about the entire marker..

Powder Coating:

I would stay away from powder coating unless you REALLY REALLY NEED a %100 flat finnish.. Powder coating usualy (Even in a few fragile layers) Takes up quite a bit of extra room. This will make your gun seem thicker (cause it is) and will cause you nothing but problems when it comes time to re-assemble your marker. Things will not line up, things will not "fit" right... You will end up using much force, chipping your powdercoat, or having to sand/file parts to fit with counter-parts.. A good powder coat is usualy about the thickness of a plastic 2l pop bottle. And 4 - 5 times as hard..



You seem to know alot about it. It's off topic but: on the old stainless mag bodies the feedneck looks soldered on. If so, would the heat required for powder coating melt the solder joint.

[SR_matt]

those necks should be welded. you can solder stainless but normaly you either braze or weld it and for something like a feedneck it would almost have to be welded

either way if it is soldered it may melt if the solder is a low temp solder and the powder coat is a high temp one.

but as long as it hasnt been altered from stock it will be welded and powder coat will not harm it

-matt

[RehKal]

those necks should be welded. you can solder stainless but normaly you either braze or weld it and for something like a feedneck it would almost have to be welded

either way if it is soldered it may melt if the solder is a low temp solder and the powder coat is a high temp one.

but as long as it hasnt been altered from stock it will be welded and powder coat will not harm it

-matt


Question about an Automag RT, this seems to be the appropriate place to ask about it for the moment.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/RehKalMurloq/PaintballStuff/automagRT.jpg

Just bought this off ebay today and as you can plainly see it is in bad need of either annodizing or powder coat.

My question is this. How much of these markers like this are steel? Cause the anno doesn't work with steel right? Powder coat may be the only way for me to go with this one...

[SR_matt]

my mag history isnt really good but im 99% sure that is SS

stainless steel doesnt need a coating on it, if it is all scratched and ugly you should polish it. if you really want it to be colored you can go with powdercoating but for the money and time you are going to spend on it and then getting it to fit right you might as well just buy a ule body

for steel your options are basicaly heat coloring (not bright colors and limited), powder coating (issues have been gone over) and some steels can be colored in salt pots (lots of heat and certian salts give bright colors but it might make the steel a softer temper)

if it was mine i would invest in some buffing wheels (plus bench grinder to use the wheels with if you dont have one) and some bufffing compounds

-matt

[RehKal]

Hrm. That's upsetting because I really like that particular body. I've been told that powder coating is actually pretty good, really hard to remove. A biker friend of mine says that you can hammer on it without hurting it, it'll bend the metal long before it'll do anything to the coating. Just have to prevent the coating from getting inside the body where the valve and bolt goes. Probally block off the feed neck as well.

[SR_matt]

where the rain mates up to the trigger frame and body will also be an issue probably thats the big issue there

-matt

[Freebird]

Hrm. That's upsetting because I really like that particular body. I've been told that powder coating is actually pretty good, really hard to remove. A biker friend of mine says that you can hammer on it without hurting it, it'll bend the metal long before it'll do anything to the coating. Just have to prevent the coating from getting inside the body where the valve and bolt goes. Probally block off the feed neck as well.
also have to mask off where the body meets the rail, If you get powder coat between the rail and body, it may throw off the body alignment enough to where you would start to get bolt stick.
because the bolt/body are no longer in near perfect alignment.

[Mechanic79]

OK, i think I've had just about enough of powder coating from this thread. :cuss:

I will have to make-do(?) with the "almost white" anodizing. :cry:

I have a tough project that I would like to get completed. :shooting:

[NastyNate]

http://www.houtsenterprises.net/dur_faq.html

Duracoat is something to consider...

[RehKal]

http://www.houtsenterprises.net/dur_faq.html

Duracoat is something to consider...


hmm.. Looks promising. I think I shall try it. :D Thanks for the link!

[SkinnyHare]

Question about an Automag RT, this seems to be the appropriate place to ask about it for the moment.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/RehKalMurloq/PaintballStuff/automagRT.jpg

Just bought this off ebay today and as you can plainly see it is in bad need of either annodizing or powder coat.

My question is this. How much of these markers like this are steel? Cause the anno doesn't work with steel right? Powder coat may be the only way for me to go with this one...

your trigger frame, body rail, foregrip, foregrip rail, and sight rail are all aluminum and safe to anodize. the main body however, would need to be powder coated if you wanted to make it black... or whatever color you were thinking about. like everyone says you'll be taping off quite bit to prevent it from getting inside the mainbody and where the body rail joins underneath.

what did the previous owner do, dump it in front of a sand blaster or something?

[RehKal]

your trigger frame, body rail, foregrip, foregrip rail, and sight rail are all aluminum and safe to anodize. the main body however, would need to be powder coated if you wanted to make it black... or whatever color you were thinking about. like everyone says you'll be taping off quite bit to prevent it from getting inside the mainbody and where the body rail joins underneath.

what did the previous owner do, dump it in front of a sand blaster or something?

The entire marker was painted with a thick brush on type of paint. All the rails and the body were completely coated in it. the paint is still there where all the parts mate up together.. which leads me to believe powder coating doesn't cause too much trouble on the outside of the body.

To remove the paint they used sandpaper, or something similar. Then went around all the hard edges of the rails to remove the anno from them. I hate how it looks so i'll probally get duracoat so I can paint things the way I like.. and do a better job of it.. The paint on the marker looks like it was brushed on too thick.. and it ran in places.

[SkinnyHare]

you might be able to completely disassemble it and just let it soak in stripper for a bit to get the rest of the gunk off. i bet if you could buff the aluminum afterwards and get rid of the sandpaper gouges it'd still ano quite nicely. if you do end up going for a powder or duracoat i'd like to see how it turns out. i've been thinking of doing that for a couple of my mainbodies, either a powder or PTFE, but i'm still a little hesitant.