Has anyone ever tried Cerakote?
I have known about it for as long as I have been P/C but never paid attention to it, till today at Fabtech.
The finish is so much nicer than powder, IMO. Curious to anyone’s opinions on it.
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i believe you’ll need a whole different gun setup to shoot it. its more like a thinned out paint that you bake like PC but more durable.
I just ordered some elite series cerakote to do a 1911 for a friend. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I know the prep is more meticulous than powder. Parts have to be degreased, blasted, degreased again and handled with gloves to prevent transferring oils from your hands.
Correct more like automotive paint setup. They have both bake and air dry
is that need to be baked? and whats a 1911?
I would love to hear your thoughts. What I saw at the show was really really nice
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A 1911 is a firearm. The Elite series and the H series both are catalyzed and need to be baked. Elite is 1 hour at 300f and H series is 2 hrs at 250f. They also have the C series that is air cured, but it’s not as durable as the baked versions.
The coating is super thin and will not cover flaws or sanding scratches.
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That is one plus of powder
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Cerakote is durable but not as durable as powder coat. It will show wear markers on any part of a part that is being used, touched, rubbed against something else regularly. Cerakote makes firearms look pretty for people who do not use their firearms. People who use their firearms know it’s gonna wear off eventually.
What kind of set up do you have to shoot the cerakote?
Well, the display they had at the show would disprove that theory. They had a piece of sheet that was coated and they bent it right back round on itself and no flaking or anything. Have you not had that same result?
You need a spray gun and an oven to cure it.
I’m planning to use my harbor freight detail spray gun and turn my powder coating oven down to 300 degrees.
Well my experience with coated firearms would disprove their advertisement
Reading your comment again are you saying an items was coated then after coating bent back on itself and did not crack?
What I’m talking about is actually using items as intended. Take a firearm cerakoted and go do a year of training and match shooting. Most of the coating will be fine. Some of the coating will be deteriorating. I personally have never seen Cerakote flake off. I have seen wear marks between contact points and touch points such as were people hold there firearms, rub on holsters and the like. Its a very thin durable coating. It’s still a coating
I use the f series. I started with one of their starter kits. Gives you everything you need to get going.
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This went pretty good for the first time using Cerakote.
The prep was more than I would have done for powder, but most of it probably isn’t needed for signs. I had to make sure there was no oil left on the parts, so it got cleaned with acetone and then blasted. Then it got sprayed with brake cleaner and gassed out in the oven twice.
I didn’t have the right measuring equipment for mixing, since the ratio for this was 18:1 and you only need a small amount. You really need a small syringe to measure the catalyst.
It was easy to spray on with the cheap harbor freight detail sprayer. This version gets baked at 300f for one hour
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part temp just like powder?
What did you think of it so far?
I would assume that is part temp. I just left it in for a little over an hour.
It’s nice stuff, but the colors are limited. I wouldn’t use it on except for things that need more durability and a thinner film thickness than powder.
It takes longer and costs more than powder.
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I might have to give it a try, thanks for posting your results
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