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Brambles

Brambles

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West Kootenays B.C.
Talked to Barret today, his one location has moved and he's having a new webpage designed so until its up and running he can be reached at

(780)398-2678
or
(780)995-2394

Or you can PM Murdoc here on CGN

Finally got my S**T together and ordered the webbing spray from him and a few other colors
 
I just picked up some Stainless Steel Armacoat to refinish a 1911 slide and a few parts like beavertail and hammer. In the instruction, it asks to sandblast the surfaces to be coated so that the enamel will adhere better. Now I don't have a sandblaster nor does anybody i know, so my question is, do most people use the finish without sandblasting or am I the odd man out not having a sandblaster at my disposal :(. I bought the product with the understanding that you can do this at home. Ive delayed using it because i was going out looking at getting myself equipped with a sandblaster but it seems to get the proper SCFM for sandblasting i need to buy a huge compressor Rig which is just not in the cards right now. I thought i could go out and get myself a 3 to 5 gallon compressor and run with that but you only get a SCFM of 3.7 @ 90 psi and the sandblasting guns run at a SCFM of 9 @ 90 psi.
I really want this slide and parts to come out really good. For those of you who have used this product before using the Preval Spray Gun. What did you do to prep the surfaces to ensure a nice turn out ? Using a 220 grit sandpaper as opposed to 220 grit sandblasting will leave streakish line on the surface as instead of a nice evened out "stippled" surface. Any help or tips would be cool. Also , im curious as to how you sprayed the gun. In my case, doing just the slide, i was thinking of quickly doing the inside then flipping it over and coating the outside, but by doing so i would be ruining the bottom of the slides coating. should i be doing one part, wait untill it dries, then do another side? Im just not sure if doing that will leave layer marks in the finish. I guess im a little worried here because i only have one crack at it and its my first time.

Sorry for the thread jack. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers
 
RDevigne said:
I thought i could go out and get myself a 3 to 5 gallon compressor and run with that but you only get a SCFM of 3.7 @ 90 psi and the sandblasting guns run at a SCFM of 9 @ 90 psi.
Click to expand...

With something small like a slide that compressor will work just fine,you just have to do a little bit at a time and wait for it to catch up.
 
I haven't sprayed metal with it yet, just stocks, but talking to Barret today you need to beadblast the surface first, the only product that you don't have to beadblast first to use is the Arma-Clear.

Armacoat goes on thin so you will notice scratch marks from sanding.

Not sure what you can do, other than keep looking for some individual who has a blaster or a company that will do it for you.

Does anyone you know at least have the compressor, you can buy a small cabinet sandblaster from Princess Auto, or King Canada for cheap, if you can take it to a buddies place and hook it up?

Now don't hold me to it, I'm just brainstorming, but you might be able to acid etch the surface, this should provide a surface that the product will adhere to better. Maybe someone will chime in.

Also you can try and Pm Murdoc
 
For the finish to adhere the best you should blast it with 80-120 grit aluminum oxide. Glass beads will make the surface look like the surface of a golf ball. Not what you want.
Even silica sand doesn't prep the surface right.
When I started refinishing we were using a 1/2 hp compressor with a 5 gallon tank. It worked although it was a long process.
Edit to add, hang the slide up with a piece of wire and spray it that way.
Does Armacoat recommend preheating the parts before spraying it?
 
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Thanks alot for all the info, I think i will ho ahead and buy a 5 gallon compressor and go with the sandblasting gun from Princess auto which is on sale for 9.99$ .

They don't mention anything about pre-heating the item being coated. They do however mention that putting it in the oven at 200 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes it will Cure the peice. Otherwise it apparently takes 21 days at room temperature to cure.

I've also seen what appears to be tanks epescially made for sandbasting. If I understand correctly, they are made so you can attach a smaller compresser like a 5 gallon tank compresser to it and it will act as a "support" tank. Im actually going to go to Princess Auto today and find out more about what options i have. Apparently you can also get certain types of sandblasting guns that will have a tank resovoir attached to it which is suppose to help keep that SCFM rating, meaning it can operate more efficiently with smaller tanks.

They recomend using 220 grit aluminum oxide if my memory serves me well. Im not really sure what kind of difference to the surface I can expect to see between 80 grit and 220 grit. Obviously one is a finer "sand" however im not sure if the higher the grit number or the lower the grit number corresponds to going finer or heavier. I guess the guy at Princess Auto is in for a barrage of questions :).

Thanks again for all the input, it has really helped out. If anyone has more tips or suggestions on preping the surface and tips on spraying on the Armacoat i'd really like to hear from you. Any suggestions that could save me from making a mistake or tricks to spraying on that perfect coat are pretty much priceless tp me right now.

Cheers :)
 
220 grit is finer then 80 grit. Same as sand paper.;)
Wear a good quality mask when you blast, even if you are outside.
 
aluminum oxide is expensive so you don't really want to be using just a gun, a cabinet would be better so you don't go spraying the stuff over you whole yard. Sandblasting gets everywhere.
 
That stuff is a huge PITA to work with,at least the matte was because it dries different shades due to slight distance changes of the sprayer..and it's sticky as hell,i still have some on 2 of my fingernails from a month ago!
Get an airbrush,that prevail sprayer is a piece of junk
Next time i'll just be sending it in,or using a different product
By different product i don't mean the stuff sucks,it's a great coating.Just something i can spray out of a can
 
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(Ronin) said:
That stuff is a huge PITA to work with,at least the matte was because it dries different shades due to slight distance changes of the sprayer..and it's sticky as hell,i still have some on 2 of my fingernails from a month ago!
Get an airbrush,that prevail sprayer is a piece of junk
Next time i'll just be sending it in,or using a different product
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ah crap:( , Im planning on doing the whole slide project this upcoming weekend. Ill post details on how it went. Hope the Stainless product doesnt dry in differnt shades like your Matte did. This time, i have no choice but to use the Prevail. IF it turns out horrbile, ill blast the finbish off and have it redone.

Thanks again for all the input. Got myself an expensive mask and a good pair of goggles. Im gonne try and get my hands on some sort of cabinet i can work with but chances are ill end up having to blast in the yard. I bought 3 containers of Aluminum Oxide 220 grit. ( Princess Auto has them for a 1.99$ each :) ) Im not to concerned about loosing the grit as i am concerned with the final turn out at this point. Once its done, ill post how it went with pics.

Cheers
 
how much is in each container? You will use a fair amount blasting a slide.
I'd get a 20L garbage can and hold the slide in the can a bit. At least you will recover some media if you need to redo a spot.
Set your air pressure at 40 psi for blasting and around 20-25 psi for spraying.
 
Defender001.jpg


I don't know if bead/sand blasting would have been better, but we used 400 grit sandpaper on my Defender. All you really need to do is rough it up a bit so the paint/enamel adheres. We did two coats using an airbrush and stencils.

The barrel and receiver had some pretty deep scratches prior to paint, but the two coats filled them up. You can't even notice them anymore, even with close inspection.

For such a small job, I wouldn't bother with bead or sand blasting.
Good luck and post some pics when its finished.
 
Anglinfool said:
For such a small job, I wouldn't bother with bead or sand blasting.
Good luck and post some pics when its finished.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what Armacoat recommends although I'm pretty sure they blast with 80 grit aluminum oxide.
I use 120 grit but I use gun kote. I'm gonna try some armacoat when I do my first cammo job..someday. :)
 
Brambles said:
Thats funny, Princess Auto wanted $60 for a bag of aluminum oxide last time I was there:confused:
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The 1.99 bottles i bought were the same size as the one that came with the Hobby Sandblaster Gun I bought. I'm not sure of the oz. of the bottle but nothing close to a bag full ;). I really wasnt expecting on needing that much to do a slide, I wasn't invisioning blasting the crap out of it but rather just short burst sprays to take out the smoothness.

Anglinfool, very nice job on the shotty. Im curious how much armacoat product you needed to coat it twice. If my slide turns out as good in stainless as yours did in camo pattern, ill be very happy. Did you cure the finish in the oven for 30 minutes as they recommend or wait out the 29 days at room temperature? ( im thinking you would have needed a big oven:redface: ). Also, how is the end result? does the coating feel good and resistant? The thought of also buying their clear coat to add even another layer of protection had crossed my mind but they say their product is very tough and wont scratch, fade or wear off easily over time.

This is my plan of attack, im going to soak the slide along with my other little parts ie: beavertail, hammer, slide catch and maybe even the trigger in an overnight Lacquer thinner bath, then after making sure everything is clean, go ahead and lightly sandblast the surfaces to roughen it up a bit. Then using either stretched out clothes hangers, twist ties or maybe even rigging up something with fishing line, im gonna hang the peices and as quickly and evenly as possible spray them. Then wait till the first coat dries and then spray them again with a second coat making sure to hit the areas that tend to receive more abuse. The slide to frame fit on my gun is already very tight so i'll have to be careful not to overly spray in the rails. Once everything is done, im gonna let it sit and dry. Once its dry enough to handle, im going to put it in the oven and cure the peices as directed.

Im hoping to get this done this weekend. If all goes well, I'll have some pics up to show the end result. :cool:

Cheers.
 
I'd wipe the stuff down after you blast it too just in case there is a bit of oil in your air system from your compressor, unless you have oil and water seperators on your system already, I also use a small dessicant water remover just before my gun to make sure the air is dry.
 
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