is cerakote the right choice

Loiq

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Quick Caviat I run a cerakote certified company but do tell people that sometimes it's not the right coating. This thread is more a show and tell and also be honest about the products limitations.

quick background cerakote/ guncoat and a few other ceramic paints where developed inititally in the petrol chemical industry, they are extremely hardwearing, thin film... a few microns thick... you should be able to cover a bolt and nut and they should still be able to fit together. at sometime after it's development someone went hang on.... and used the product to protective coat all manner of things. It's uses are still expanding the colour range is getting bigger every few months...

the paint fall into two catagories with a sub catagory

oven cure - two part paint, can be a pain to use benefit quick turnaround for clients around 70 colours

oven cure - "extreme" used mainly for firearms, assorted production kit used in very agressive environments. It's even tougher but has limited colours...

air cure - is the simplest to use, it's premixed least hassle but takes longer to fully cure out. High Temp applications such as exhausts use this type of paint. around 40 colours

now for some pictures
 
We've built a few film props for different folks usually these are to make mulitple pieces as replacements for actors who tend to loose stuff all the time...

or this for a very cheap production, they need a non firing prop gun. I did their paperwork and handed this over to the props master...

it started as a broken blank firer, we checked this changed the firing pin channel which was drilled out that stopped it being a blank firer and then we got the props department to make a solid barrel / allowing actors to rack action... (obviously there's the VCRA to consider, we advised them of this and the paperwork reflected the best practice. it had no barrel and so could not load or discharge blanks or other live ammo)

get the thing to bits, prep and spray in armour black...

job done.... the benefit it's the simplest air cure and there was time to get it sorted
 

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ducati exhaust custom the client wanted to refresh the second system he'd bought there's heaps of images... for this I just picked a quick selection
 

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few more just to show the results this is the glacier black very high temp paint... it's a beautifully foregiving paint lovely silk finish....

Glacier Black gets used in top fuel dragsters we've sprayed tons of this stuff.... it's by far my fav paint.... the heating element is there's to get the items warm, all the guidelines are based around the US data sheets (the UK isn't that warm, dry etc... so we give things a boost)

is cerakote good for this application, totally... but, it's really thin and any damage scratches etc. if the stuff is second hand then it'll show up... so you might need to repair/ polish then retreat the areas...
 

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air head exhaust system.... we get loads of this type of restoration the risk is pretty simple.... when I get the item in the blastig cabinet and get at it... I can totally destroy it... so it's a matter of being careful...

I handed some dude his Laverda exhaust back in a plastic bucket as the paint was the only thing holding it togther...

but this was a really nice piece really solid and looked really nice when done...
 

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They use Cerakote on “silencers” (sound moderators) such as these from RDS Indutrie

https://www.rdsindustrie.net/produits/silencieux/

Anyone who’s used one will know they get seriously hot !


I work with ASE utra these are the strongest all steel units on the market.... this was a low IR signature paint for use in anti sniper situations.... (but that's another story)

there's also sand coloured toys...
 

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cerakote can be used for pretty much anything, the only thing that limits it's application is creativity the size of your drying space or the process oven. We sprayed a sign for the local council in a high gloss anti vandal paint.... once prepped and done nothing else sticks to it... which is really mad when you think about it...

so in loads of applications, however at times powder coating is better... especially if the engineering is abit iffy....

We've sprayed bike frames, if the frames are beautiful in bare metal they'll look lovely when coated... however it can be very unforegiving.... show up all the welds and just look abit shit...

but clients love it... while I look at it and think oh dear...!

this is tungsten finish it's got metal flakes in it can glitters in bring light... nice (but not my cuppa tea) punter loved it....
 

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that's enough for a start....

brake calipers being restored, these have some specific tolerances on the inside so need to be treated with some care...

the client wanted them to remain looking aged so the details of the casting was nice to show as the paint is so thin...
 

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Jobs I've turned down, a parts restoration on a 1948 somehting Land Rover Mk1. short wheel base something. I need to find a picture of it... The owner wanted to have certain bits and pieces customised, my position was it's worth 20K now. If you go off spec and make it a custom car it'll be worth less.... The Land Rover perverts if you show it will mark it down, as not original. I strongly advised against doing anything to it which would damage the original elements and value of the car.

I also turned down a film job for a machine gun rebuild, my answer was pretty simple is the film about the machine gun or the actors..? the lady from the art department was taken back, we had a longish chat about it and after doing a test shoot (filiming a short clip) to demonstrate they agreed that is looked better left alone... Historical pieces are that, they've aged and scifi props need more work as they are part of the construction of the plot... must find a picture...
 
tungsten and graphite black combo

document the object, do the swatches so I know what was agreed. have a look, prep as required, mask as required, spray and wait or spray and cook...
 

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for the observant one's you'll see I had the swatches wrong... DOH..!

this was a very old remington 1100 the chap wanted it tricked up for shooting on the salt marsh.... the action became tungsten the barrel barrel, magazine cap black...

the alternative to this paint would have been have it refinished at a cost of over £300 or have it sprayed at around £200.... the shotgun was worth about £250 in the poor shape it was. Worse it wasn't anything note worthy so the cheaper option was totally correct in this instance...!

and it made it look like a new item... (bit two tone drug dealer, but the chap was really happy)
 

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Is the treatment corrosion resistant?
Ages ago I was buying some carbon part from Sandbar composites for my HP2 and had a nice chat with him and he mentioned some coating process that was corrosion free that he was using to restore a bike. I forgot the name, but his description of it was very similar to the one in your first post.
 
a pair of airhead exhausts....

when things start of badly... once we treated a hole started, that had to be chased around with the welder till it closed up and looked solid... then one chap wanted the end left normal other wanted his blacked...

again using glacier black, it's really good forgiving and better still self levelling, the most important thing is get the base right and applied in one hit, then when it's drying it'll really lock into the material/ itself and your away with it....

when it goes wrong the paint will shatter off...

that is usually because I wasn't agressive enough in the blasting cabinet..!
 
helps if you upload the pictures :blast
 

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assorted other pipes some in tungsten
 

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Been considering this for my pannier frames as I think powder coating would scratch too easily when taking the panniers off and on.

What do you think Lo-IQ
 
Is the treatment corrosion resistant?

that's one of the main features of the paint, it's very high resistence to both abrasion and corrosion... they did some tests the data is abit messy to interpret unlesss your an egghead but on the whole it's hard as glass...

the main caviat is motorcycle exhausts are low to the ground and exposed, so it's very similar to being in a grit blaster... it will wear off at some point so cerakote forms a good basis of preventing wear and tear... The headlight covers on my 4x4 have done 50,000 miles on motorways... and are now starting to show signs of stone chips...
 
Been considering this for my pannier frames as I think powder coating would scratch too easily when taking the panniers off and on.

we'd need to measure the thickness of the powder coat and then I could estimate the fit as this is thinner and if that would make the panniers rattle...... (that would drive me up the pole) I think it comes down to personal taste...

but from what I've seen it would be as hard...
 


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