X-mag reanno tolerances

[cyrus-the-virus]

Just wondering, how well would an X-mag or an SFL mag take to being reannoed?

just wondering

Cy

[Chaos_Theory!]

They re ano fine. Theres not much to worry about since the main part of the gun (the valve) is a totally seperate part. The only real thing to worry about is the steel ring inside the body. Mags are some of the most tolerant guns because of their design. They can have a decent amount of thickness added or taken away and function great.

[gruntbull]

Actually with X's and E's some of the bodies are a different alloy than the rest, they have a potential (Not definitive) to become different shades of the same color.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Very true, i was gonna post that but focused on tolerances because of his thread title. Most seem to come out great with a few exceptions. The main ones that come to mind are going_homes mags.

[Tao]

Very true, i was gonna post that but focused on tolerances because of his thread title. Most seem to come out great with a few exceptions. The main ones that come to mind are going_homes mags.

Whats with the alloys and anodizing then? Different colours? I would think this would be a good thing for a faded anno job?

[Chaos_Theory!]

Yeah the colors turn out different shades among parts because of the diff alloys. Most ive seen have come out fine but a few were obviously diff shades.

[Tao]

How about barrels? Should the anodizing to the inside of a barrel be left as is when the rest is anodized?

[Chaos_Theory!]

Depending on what anodizer you go with they will plug the barrel so the inside doesnt get re anodized. Others anodize the whole thing. This will change the bore size a little bit and gets rid of the glossy finish inside as well. Dont worry though, there is no noticable difference in performance.

[olinar]

i think the alloy difference doesnt apply to darker colors such as black though. correct me if im wrong anyone.

[Chaos_Theory!]

Im pretty sure color doesnt matter. The colors just bind different with the diff alloys. going_home had a mag or two with blue (which i consider a darker color) go wrong.

[maglover728]

Depending on what anodizer you go with they will plug the barrel so the inside doesnt get re anodized. Others anodize the whole thing. This will change the bore size a little bit and gets rid of the glossy finish inside as well. Dont worry though, there is no noticable difference in performance.


How do they plug a ported barrel?

[mostpeople]

How do they plug a ported barrel?


Very carefully and time-consumingly.

I would think it would be relatively easy, but then again I know nothing about the whole process other than there is acid involved and stuff :)

[gruntbull]

we dont plug ported barrels, we have done it but to do it you are looking at a few hrs of work, that isnt cheap.

[mostpeople]

but you can re-anno x-valves right?

[cyrus-the-virus]

but you can re-anno x-valves right?

no you can't, sorry.

Ok now say I got an SFL X-mag body and I wanted to reanno it, would I lose any of the detail on the gun when I reanno?

How about if I get it pollised rather than dusted?

[Chaos_Theory!]

SFL Xmag body, what? lol

Anyway, no you wouldnt lose detail on the gun.

Im pretty sure either way (dusted or polished) it wouldnt make much of a difference.

[trevorjk]

but you can re-anno x-valves right?


yes you can. HOWEVER! if you do, you void any and all warranties on your valve.



Ok..lets talk the basics of anodizing. A standard anodize is .001". Lets make that .0009 for argument stake. 2/3 of that layer is on the surface, so 1/3 is sub surface. Most companies when having thier parts anodized a Type II anodize dont worry about using the anodize to bring the part into tolerance. So when you go to re-anodize a part and strip it, you are removing 2/3 from the surface, and 1/3 from the actuall part itself. So in reality when you remove the anodize you are only removing .0003" of coating from the part. so when you rebuild the part with the new anodize your part has only shrunk by .0003". If you do have tight tolerances, it can effect it, but only after several times of stripping and re-anodizing. I actually recommend that you only do it 2-3 times for the high end marker that does have tolerances that need to be kept in check. You can do it more than that, but you are taking a risk. This risk is compounded by not using the proper aluminum stripper to remove the anodize layer. The home brew methods of oven cleaners, and lye dont have the grain enhancers and additives that keep the etch from removing aluminum also. Even with my commercial grade etch, you can still damage parts if your not paying attention. So if you have the stock anodize right from the factory, you can anodize it again. So yes it is both myth and fact.

so yes, you CAN re-anno your valve. how ever do it more then 1 or 2 times you WILL have problems. i HAVE seen re-anno'd valves work flawlessly after 1 reanno with origional o-rings

[maglover728]

Do you HAVE to strip the old anno first of is this a over coat process? If it is stripped first, then the re-anno of the barrel, pluged or on, shouldn't even make a difference, right?

[trevorjk]

Do you HAVE to strip the old anno first of is this a over coat process? If it is stripped first, then the re-anno of the barrel, pluged or on, shouldn't even make a difference, right?


yes it needs to be stripped. and that is where you truly lose the aluminium during annodizing. because anno is 1/3 in the aluminium and 2/3 of the color is on top of the aluminium. so if the thickness of the anno on top of the aluminium is .006 then there is .003 of the anno color physically in the aluminium which needs to be stripped off just to reanno.

understand?