Current Reputable Annodizers?

[bowcycle]

Going to throw a curveball here. What about cerakote/duracote a body, rail, frame, barrel. Is that doable? I know cerakote is very durable but i guess would limit someone to solid colors. Let me know your thoughts on this option as well.

Mike Denton does really good work with duracoat and is a great guy to work with. Definitely cheaper than ano, but has its limitations.

[JKR]

Good cerekote applicators can get pretty creative!

https://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/gallery/detail/40088/Cerakote-custom-cerakote-finish-on-this-sig-sauer-handgun/

[luke]

My .02 cents worth.
Keep in mind that all options other than anodizing are inferior finishes to some degree. Anodizing provides a protective layer on all surfaces of your parts. Also, with Cerekote even though they claim it's a very thin layer of paint you're still subject to the painters knowledge of the parts and how thick they lay it on. I have had Cerekoted parts come through my shop that had to be stripped to get them back to working spec because the paint was put on too thick. I use to powdercoat parts myself so I'm not suggesting cerekote is a bad idea but you're certainly gambling to a small extent that you'll have working parts when its all said and done, plus you're missing out on the full protection of ano. You may save a few dollars with the painting approach but you get what you pay for, if it's a DYI project with the Cerekote, I say do your research on the do's and dont's and go for it. Otherwise I recommend anodizing, its a far superior finish all around.

[jbtamu1011]

My .02 cents worth.
Keep in mind that all options other than anodizing are inferior finishes to some degree. Anodizing provides a protective layer on all surfaces of your parts. Also, with Cerekote even though they claim it's a very thin layer of paint you're still subject to the painters knowledge of the parts and how thick they lay it on. I have had Cerekoted parts come through my shop that had to be stripped to get them back to working spec because the paint was put on too thick. I use to powdercoat parts myself so I'm not suggesting cerekote is a bad idea but you're certainly gambling to a small extent that you'll have working parts with its all said and done, pus you're missing out on the full protection of ano. You may save a few dollars with the painting approach but you get what you pay for, if it's a DYI project with the Cerekote, I say do your research on the do's and dont's and go for it. Otherwise I recommend anodizing, its a far superior finish all around.

Thanks Luke for that bit of information of the differences. Also, thanks to everyone for all the other suggestions of different anodizers that are out there.

[bowcycle]

I want to second Luke's recommendation.
I have seen guys do powdercoating on mags and thought I'd try it to save some money. Tried it twice using two different shops on two different setups and neither one could keep things in-spec enough for the marker to work. So it ended up costing me more than if I'd just gone with ano from the start.
I get things duracoated when ano won't work because of the metal type (like the SL68 I'm having finished) or when I really need to cover pitting/major milling marks.
I do not recommend going with other options just to try to save money; just do ano.