Gunsmithing Cerakote tip?
- Thread starter TresMon
- Start date
Parts you can't hang with a small piece of wire I typically hot-glue a 6" long bolt or any sort of handle-type "thing" to a part of the piece that isn't visible. Hot-glue comes right off when you want it to.
I'm no pro though, so someone might have a much better suggestion than that!
I'm no pro though, so someone might have a much better suggestion than that!
I will wrap a small wire or paper clip around bolts to spray the exposed heads or through the pin holes and then I can just use that same wire to suspend them from a wire rack in the oven to cure. I will also poke the bolt etc through a piece of paper or masking tape to avoid over spray, I then flash it in the oven for 15 minutes or so to harden it just a tad and stop flowing before I remove the paper/tape. Too much longer though and the tape glues will leave gross glue remnants or the paint will cure to the paper leaving a gross edge once cured.
The best method will depend on the part.
The best method will depend on the part.
And the hot glue would last through the oven phase without letting loose and dropping the part on the bottom of the oven?
Good point. The oven-cure series would need wire most likely in some fashion. I haven't done small parts with the oven bake method though - just stuff I could hang in some way.
I use the hot-glue method for the air-dry (C-Series). Screws and such I usually just stick in cardboard - things like that.
The C-Series has held up surprisingly well next to the H-Series. Not quite as tough they say, but way better than expected!
A lot of guys that use the oven-cure with polymer (Glock for instance) will use a lower temp (175F or so) but extended the bake time. It seems that most glue sticks melt at would 240 F. Never tried it, but perhaps the lower temperature in the oven would work?
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Tried 200 couple days ago but was in a hurry and didn't experiment further. Just tried 175 and it still melted. Believe these are just the standard 350 degree sticks but maybe not. Simple enough solution that I might try to find some higher temp sticks.
On a related note, I tried one of the disposable Preval sprayers and it worked great. Only issue was too little volume for the 6oz jar and it sucked air when tilted. Found some smaller cups and will give those a try on something bigger next time around.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Preval-9-oz-Complete-Spray-Gun-267/202533738
On a related note, I tried one of the disposable Preval sprayers and it worked great. Only issue was too little volume for the 6oz jar and it sucked air when tilted. Found some smaller cups and will give those a try on something bigger next time around.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Preval-9-oz-Complete-Spray-Gun-267/202533738
Hemostats and alligator clips are all good ways to hold small parts.
My best tip for applying cerakote is to look into KG Coatings
Get on eBay and buy a dozen hemostats.
Take your dremel and grind semi-circles in the jaws.
Wrap a piece of wire around the handle and make a hook so you can hang it in the oven.
Keep a few hemostats to grind for special circumstances.
Take your dremel and grind semi-circles in the jaws.
Wrap a piece of wire around the handle and make a hook so you can hang it in the oven.
Keep a few hemostats to grind for special circumstances.
I've on occasion used small, rare-earth magnets to hold items that aren't able to be securely held by a wire (and are ferromagnetic), and have spot (like the end of pin) that doesn't need to be coated.
The alligator clips work good, get some lengths of drill rod and tack weld however many you want on. Now you have something that can handle mutiple small items.
A piece of thin fairly stiff cardboard works great for ring cap screws and such too. I cut up the empty latex glove boxes for that. Take your piece of cardboard, poke however many holes you want in it, then push each screw through. Easy to handle and coat the heads and bottoms of screw(s) holding just the cardboard. After curing, pop out screws, throw away the cardboard.
A piece of thin fairly stiff cardboard works great for ring cap screws and such too. I cut up the empty latex glove boxes for that. Take your piece of cardboard, poke however many holes you want in it, then push each screw through. Easy to handle and coat the heads and bottoms of screw(s) holding just the cardboard. After curing, pop out screws, throw away the cardboard.
I only use heat cure so my advise is based on using stuff in the oven. I've tried the small alligator clips, they work but the heat will weaken the springs so consider them disposable. All the magnets I've tried lose their magnetize when exposed to that much heat. Binder clips work well but just like anything the heat will kill the spring action eventually. Thin wire works but is sometimes fiddly to get just right and is my normal go to. I've made jigs out of aluminum for parts I regularly work with which is the best answer.
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