- Joined
- Aug 8, 2009
- Messages
- 41
FRAME COATINGS: as I understand it I have several alternatives: (1) PAINT as per original factory, some sort of enamal or Imtron ? aircraft paint. Relativily cheap and easy to touch up nicks. Easily masked off, Medium thickness and easy to control. (2) POWDER COAT, Expensive, limited colors, signifigant thickness buildup requirering careful masking or chipping. Difficult to touch up small nicks. (3) Industrial HARD CHROME process. Expensive. Possible thickness buildup (how did the original Matisse frames get around this problem?). Very corrosion resistant! Looks nice. (4) PARKERIZE - difficult to find large enough tank to submerse entire frame. Chemicals are corrosive and require heat to work with. Difficulties from a practical stand point as lots of outdoor room and tank fabrication required with a heat source. Coating is very thin, on order of a few thousands of an inch but Parkerization holds oils in it's porous surface and looks differend, sort of a charchole or deep grey matt colour. Parkerizing is not completely rust proof and can be scratched or worn off and is hard to touchup. (5) GUNCOTE - commericial trade name for a spray on coating for firearms. Must be baked at normal oven temperatures (300 F) but is thin, 0.003" to 0.005", very hard and durable and can be touched up without having to redo the whole frame. About the same cost as enamal paint but some sort of temporary oven would need to be built. Colour selection is limited but not bad.
Has anyone experiance with the pros & cons of different coatings for the frame? Any other suggestions?
Has anyone experiance with the pros & cons of different coatings for the frame? Any other suggestions?