I want this gun silver.

[IndianaResident]

Its a shotgun that was pitted and stripped down to bare metal. I thought about maintaining that metal with oil or clear coat, but ultimately its still dimpled from the pitting and doesn't look great.

I tried some bake on silver coatings, but they came off with light use, so now its back to the drawing board.

Anyone have a source for nickle or metlife or some other shiny type finish for a firearm? This gun is not particularly expensive and does not have extreme tolerances of some others, so a place that isn't meant for firearms may be okay.

I actually thought about fine grain powder coating even....

Anyways, Muncie, Fort Wayne, Warsaw, or anywhere in the north would be great.

 

[RobbLG]

Gotta do it...




Then you can post after pics too

 

[jason765]

Gotta do it...




Then you can post after pics too

^^^^^
This

 

[IndyGunworks]

what bake on coating did you use? and did it get abrasive blasted (not bead) before it was coated?

 

[IndianaResident]

what bake on coating did you use? and did it get abrasive blasted (not bead) before it was coated?

I was hoping you wouldn't see this, since its the shotgun I almost had you do a few months ago.

It was relegated to the closet in favor of another project, and now its back. Should have gone through with it originally when I had the money set aside....

I used 3 different types of automotive paint. 2 were bake on and 1 was not. Irritatingly, 2 of the 3 work well and are very tough on the cut portion of the barrel (my practice piece), but not well at all on the other.

Having it painted silver (even dura/cera coat) isn't worth the money to me, for such a cheap gun, but I could probably shell out for something that still looked like metal (nickel, or what have you).



Pictures...no. It needs too much love, and its got like 7 brands of paint and clear coat on it in different spots for tests. I'll post pictures after its done.

[edit] It did not get blasted, this was a home DIY project. It was liberally cleaned with carb cleaner, then I used a degreaser....I forget what brand it was, but it didn't seem as caustic as the carb cleaner had been.

 

[printcraft]

Tech Line Coatings | Automotive ( Hi-Performance ) Coatings

I used this stuff with pretty good success on some motorcycle parts
a few years back. You blast the part, spray on the coating with a
small detail sprayer, bake it at about 400 or 500 and then, steel wool it
and polish with mothers polish or neverdull. Looks pretty slick when finished like a polished aluminum.

Cermakrome

 

[IndyGunworks]

I would almost garentee you that the reason it wasnt working to well is because it wasnt media blasted. for ANY spray on finish to really adhere it needs to be blasted.... the blasting creats little divots and drasctically increases the surface area the paint has to adhere to.

dont give up on the DIY yet.... either get it blasted next time, or rough it up w/ 320 or 400 gritt sandpaper.

degrease with acetone or MEC, not carb cleaner.... carb cleaner has detergents in it that can leave a film on the barrel.....

i suggest blasting it, scrub it w/ hot soapy water, rinse rinse rinse, then stick it in the oven at 300 degrees for an hour to sweat out any oil... let it cool, but not completly then degrease w/ acetone several times... now paint it w/in a few minutes while the metal is still warm.

hope that helps.

 

[gunman41mag]

I use BAR-B-QUE grill paint, it can handle over 1200*, Then spay down with good lacquer I've used it with good result

 

[243rem700]

I have had Franke Plating in Fort Wayne nickel plate some parts for a company I worked at. They had very reasonable prices and are tremendously helpful if you need a little advice on what type of plating or finish you are looking for.

 

[DarkRose]

I've got an old pistol I got off Gunbroker and I'm going to try electroless nickel plating.

Not sure you want to spend that much, from what I saw, the small kit (plenty to do my little pistol) would run around $90-ish... and probably have plenty left over for another... And I've got a cheap gun to test it on to see if I do any good before I move on to more expensive items...

As for a shotgun

Caswell Inc. - Electroless Nickel Kit

 

[tgallmey]

why not gold

 

[IndyGunworks]

I've got an old pistol I got off Gunbroker and I'm going to try electroless nickel plating.

Not sure you want to spend that much, from what I saw, the small kit (plenty to do my little pistol) would run around $90-ish... and probably have plenty left over for another... And I've got a cheap gun to test it on to see if I do any good before I move on to more expensive items...

As for a shotgun

Caswell Inc. - Electroless Nickel Kit

those DIY kits work well for small parts up to the size of a SMALL frame barrel or slide. Once you get any bigger than a couple of inches the diy kits are almost impossible to keep a strong enough steady enough current to lead to complete and consistant plating. i would NOT reccomend it for a full size pistol or anything larger. of course your milage may vary, but this has been my experience.

 

[IndyGunworks]

well i just looked at the link that i was commenting on and its not the DIY plating kit i thought you were refering to.... i have no experience w/ whats in that link, but it looks interesting nonetheless.

 

[IndianaResident]

I would almost garentee you that the reason it wasnt working to well is because it wasnt media blasted. for ANY spray on finish to really adhere it needs to be blasted.... the blasting creats little divots and drasctically increases the surface area the paint has to adhere to.

dont give up on the DIY yet.... either get it blasted next time, or rough it up w/ 320 or 400 gritt sandpaper.

degrease with acetone or MEC, not carb cleaner.... carb cleaner has detergents in it that can leave a film on the barrel.....

i suggest blasting it, scrub it w/ hot soapy water, rinse rinse rinse, then stick it in the oven at 300 degrees for an hour to sweat out any oil... let it cool, but not completly then degrease w/ acetone several times... now paint it w/in a few minutes while the metal is still warm.

hope that helps.

Alright, I'll go for round two, that process sounds less herky-jerky than mine was. I assume I should wear gloves for the handling?

I've got an old pistol I got off Gunbroker and I'm going to try electroless nickel plating.

Not sure you want to spend that much, from what I saw, the small kit (plenty to do my little pistol) would run around $90-ish... and probably have plenty left over for another... And I've got a cheap gun to test it on to see if I do any good before I move on to more expensive items...

As for a shotgun

Caswell Inc. - Electroless Nickel Kit

Love those projects. I'll keep that a second option, but lets see how DIY with good instructions works.

why not gold

 

[IndyGunworks]

yes, latex gloves are a neccesity. fingerprint oil WILL effect the durability of the finish.

 

[DarkRose]

well i just looked at the link that i was commenting on and its not the DIY plating kit i thought you were refering to.... i have no experience w/ whats in that link, but it looks interesting nonetheless.

It does indeed. The revolver I'm looking to try it on is a small frame, and with electroless, no current needed. All I have to do is get the revolver apart, which means finding (unsuccessfully so far) schematics/drawings/instructions on line. No dice as of yet, heh. Then get all the old plating removed (probably the car battery method) and buff/smooth/polish the gun first for a smooth "canvas" to plate on...

 

[GREEN607]

Here ya' go. This stuff I've seen "in action" and it will wear like granite....and it's a truely awesome looking finish. IMHO, it's the way to go, if you want shiny. You can even buy it in "brush-on".... and it cures w/o any streaks, etc. It is truely magic stuff.

The Official site of Thomas' Liquid Stainless Steel paint for Appliances – USA


On the other hand, if you were coming to the Indy area a couple times in the next couple months......I do gun finishes, both cold and hot traditional blueing (my own patented process) and I also do a couple finishes that I call 'Stellar Gun Metal Grey' & 'Stellar Grey II'... but neither of those is real shiny. More of an irridescent-looking finish. I guarantee my work for 3 years.... regardless of how much you use the firearm outdoors, in whatever kind of weather. My prices are ridiculously low, too.

Here's a link to my small gallery here on INGO... Lee

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/album.php?albumid=4933

Not trying to advetise here, but thought I'd mention it.

Edited to add, the photo that says "...on Que's barrel" isn't a reference to our mod here at INGO. It's a shooter named Que from Alabama.....

stellarmetals@live.com