Acceptable Anodizing flaws?

[BigEvil]

Let me put it this way: go look at any random part that comes off PK Selectives line. It will be immaculate.

Want to put some money on that one Simon?

[Mongoose]

This is what I always have a problem with. (Christian this is not in reagards to you, just anodizers ) Anodizing IS an exact science. There is just a general lack of care/quality control when it comes to the paintball industry. Time and time again I see stuff leaving these shops that is not even remotely quality oriented. And the funny thing is, RARELY do I ever see an anodized product on a shelf at Wal-Mart with poor quality. And still again, many "professional" ano places are just bathtub setups in a garage. There is very little control in these places. And thats why stuff comes out shoddy. Are they precisely regulating the chem temps? Did they do the research to find out what type of aluminum allow was used to make your marker body/parts? Probably not. So they have already set themselves up for failure.

The aerospace industry gets stuff anod all the time. Do you think they put up with the same lack of care?

Let me put it this way: go look at any random part that comes off PK Selectives line. It will be immaculate. Because they work FOR professionals and thats whats expected. PB ano guys are used to dealing with 15-25 year olds and dont really care if you dont like what you got. Unless you make a stink about it.....

I hear what you are saying, and i can agree on most of it, however all those things you see at Wal-mart....for every ten on the shelf they threw away 3 due to defects and flaws.
No one Anno's in a bubble...so you will have variables that you cannot control and have to deal with. I can not agree that it is 100% science.

PK Selective huh.......... I've heard of them

[Drix]

Difference between wal-mart and the paintball world is the manufacture of product. Walmart's suppliers can throw away product that comes out shoddy because the consumer would never notice. I think you'd be pissed if someone threw away your e-mag lowers because the quality was not up to spec.

[BigEvil]

I hear what you are saying,

"I believe I hear what you are saying... "

[Warwitch]

Want to put some money on that one Simon?

You know what I mean. Do does it go back to the customer like that on the regular? And look at the track record over the millions of jobs done.

Of course places like Wal-marts producers throw stuff back. The point is they deliver GOOD products to the customer. They dont just say "well, thats how they came out.." and send them to Wal-mart anyways. PB ano guys have a knack for doing exactly that. And thats just not acceptable when you consider the amount of money invested on many custom markers.

The difference is that Wal-mart has the volume of business to actually hurt a company that doesnt provide results. Where as a (likely) one-time paintball ano customer taking his business elsewhere doesnt make much of a big deal.

Edit: youre right 'goose, its not 100% science. But its nowhere near a guessing game. These guys make it sound like Voodoo. The more control you have in ANY process method the less varied your results will be.

[cockerpunk]

the biggest difference between walmart products and our stuff is that the guys who anno walmart stuff have 3-4 months at the start of manufacture to dial in every detail exactly right. becuase they know the size, shape, metals, coatings, everything going into there tanks, they can exactly plan for the process and make it nearly error free with only a couple of iterations.

in paintball, those guys have no idea what alloys and of what quality are beign dunked in there tanks. they have no idea how well stripped and cleaned, and cleaned with what ... it all just goes in the tank, and its frankly a bit of crap shoot. this is one of the reasons i suspect shops take forever to anno crap, i think they give it 3 or 4 ties to get it close.

my emags anno looks like crap these days (its an OLD gun), but i have always hesitated becuase of the above mentioned things.

[C_losjoker]

at the end Mongoose let one get through and yep that will happen no matter who you are and how careful you are. What speaks volumes about you is that you step up, admit your mistake and make it right. And that is what Mongoose is doing, he is making it right, cased closed.

[Ratt]

at the end Mongoose let one get through and yep that will happen no matter who you are and how careful you are. What speaks volumes about you is that you step up, admit your mistake and make it right. And that is what Mongoose is doing, he is making it right, cased closed.

I concur.

[OPBN]

my emags anno looks like crap these days (its an OLD gun), but i have always hesitated becuase of the above mentioned things.

Honestly, I would 100% concur with this statement. Had I known the issues it would bring up, I would have just left well enough alone. So far, the following holes are too large and I am having to find alternatives or IMO Jerry Rig solutions: Negative pin hole, trigger pin hole, top drivers side grip hole, board mounting hole, and the bottom of the magnet hole in the frame is all but non-existent.

[Ando]

That's a lot of issues.

[OPBN]

That's a lot of issues.

I would agree. The question has been raised a couple of times as to whether the parts had been anoed prior. The finish on all the parts was factory gloss black prior to getting milled and beadblasted. I've also just noticed that the battery pack now wobbles quite a bit. I don't remember it doing this before.

[BigEvil]

. I've also just noticed that the battery pack now wobbles quite a bit. I don't remember it doing this before.

That's actually the new Venomous Designs Variable Geometry Battery Pack

[Ando]

I'm going to measure out a few of those parts that went out on yours and see how much meat is actually there. If what Spider-TW actually said is true about how much of the metal gets eaten, (I don't know myself, I would have to research that) then it would take a good 8-10 reanno's to get to where you are now if say the thickness of the magnet hole was .010 thick.

I don't see that many anno's as a possibility.

I'll get back with the measurements here in a few.

[Spider-TW]

A single type II ano pass can't eat much more than that 0.001. The pores get too deep and the layer starts to insulate the base metal from the voltage. You can always over prep though. Stripping is where you can loose more than a little.

[Ando]

Top magnet hole is .014in thick.

I know for a fact the lowers I measured got re-annoed at least one other time besides the original anno.