I've got some aluminum magazines that were spray painted at some point. The underlying finish was scuffed prior to painting, so just removing the tan spray paint isn't going to look very good. Is there a spray finish that will stick well enough to work on magazines without blasting them down to bare metal, or not? I can blast 'em if I need to, but would prefer to avoid it if Gun-Kote or Aluma-Hyde II or something will work.
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Spray finish for magazines
- Thread starter DBotkin
- Start date
I have found that Aluma-hyde is a very good product, but if you paint over existing paint, the adhesion will only be as good as the previous paints adhesion. If the other paint is flaking off, Aluma hyde on top will flake off. I would try to remove most of the other paint with fine sandpaper.
Old Guard Dog
New member
Fix scratches
DuraCoat makes a product to fill in scratches and pits. It is called DuraFil. It is sprayed on and sanded level. Blasting is not required, but will help clean the surface and give a good tooth. You may be able to duplicate this without the cost with another product. I have not personally used this stuff, but I have seen it used on a DVD.
DuraCoat makes a product to fill in scratches and pits. It is called DuraFil. It is sprayed on and sanded level. Blasting is not required, but will help clean the surface and give a good tooth. You may be able to duplicate this without the cost with another product. I have not personally used this stuff, but I have seen it used on a DVD.
You need to be careful stripping aluminum. Some of the strippers react with aluminum, so do a test by dipping an aluminum foil strip half way in and letting it sit for half an hour and see how its condition compares to the undipped half when you withdraw it? If you have trouble finding a stripper that doesn't hurt the mags, Google up a jewelry making supplier and get some pure methylene chloride and soak it in that.
If you want to protect the magazines better, you can get the aluminum hard anodized. That finish looks gray, but is porous and the platers will dye it black and apply a silicone sealer. You could also paint it with Aluma-hyde, instead, but you need to be sure to ask the plater not to seal it if you intend to do that.
There are also kits and descriptions out there for doing your own anodizing, but I won't recommend it due to the sulfuric acid involved. It's a good bit of bother and the acid seems to have trouble leaving your clothes alone. The last time I messed with it, even in dilute form, I found these little holes appeared in the cuffs of my jeans after a few washings, and they kept growing. There must have been a splash I didn't notice. It's no friendlier to skin and takes a bit of safety preparation to work with.
If you want to protect the magazines better, you can get the aluminum hard anodized. That finish looks gray, but is porous and the platers will dye it black and apply a silicone sealer. You could also paint it with Aluma-hyde, instead, but you need to be sure to ask the plater not to seal it if you intend to do that.
There are also kits and descriptions out there for doing your own anodizing, but I won't recommend it due to the sulfuric acid involved. It's a good bit of bother and the acid seems to have trouble leaving your clothes alone. The last time I messed with it, even in dilute form, I found these little holes appeared in the cuffs of my jeans after a few washings, and they kept growing. There must have been a splash I didn't notice. It's no friendlier to skin and takes a bit of safety preparation to work with.
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Unclenick, thanks. I use Citristrip gel, which removes any kind of enamel, lacquer or oil finish but leaves the aluminum untouched. It's an amazingly good stripper, which doesn't stink up the house so I can use it indoors with no problem. Takes about 15-20 minutes to COMPLETELY remove the spray paint. It does not, however, strip the factory finish. I see from C Products' web site it's supposed to be a Teflon coating, so I'm betting nothing is going to stick very well.
I won't be going to any great length or expense on these - certainly not anodizing them! I could buy new mag bodies for under $10 each from the manufacturer. I can also just strip the spray paint and use 'em a little bit ugly. I just want to end up with dark gray or black mags, with a finish that won't strip off like the spray paint does. My big question is whether Aluma Hyde/Durakote/Gun-Kote and the others need bare metal to adhere properly, or not. I'll probably get a can from Brownell's, try it out on the stripped one, and if it doesn't stick well enough try sand blasting it and see how that works.
I won't be going to any great length or expense on these - certainly not anodizing them! I could buy new mag bodies for under $10 each from the manufacturer. I can also just strip the spray paint and use 'em a little bit ugly. I just want to end up with dark gray or black mags, with a finish that won't strip off like the spray paint does. My big question is whether Aluma Hyde/Durakote/Gun-Kote and the others need bare metal to adhere properly, or not. I'll probably get a can from Brownell's, try it out on the stripped one, and if it doesn't stick well enough try sand blasting it and see how that works.