How to Cerakote a Gun for a Beautiful Look
Cerakote can easily be seen to be the new way of gun coating today. This type of finish has been popular over the years to find many people now looking to get one for their guns. The work of the cerakote coating is to help with giving the gun an appealing appearance and still a protective coating. So, are you looking to make your gun look its best? If that is the case, then you have to consider learning how to cerakote a gun from this guide.
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What is Cerakote?
Cerakote can easily be described as a proprietary finish that was designed and made by the company Cerakote. Most of the time, the finish is used on guns as a way of making them to look better in every aspect. You can get different types of finishes on the market right now. It is all about choosing the one that you think works great for you. The best part is that you can easily apply the finish at home, so long as you know how to do it.
What you’ll need
- Cerakote kit
- Bore plugs
- Degreaser
- Air brush
- 100-grit aluminum oxide blasting media
- Curing oven
Instructions
1. Degrease before sand blasting the parts
Of course, you will have to take the gun apart before you can start the degreasing process. Take the time to make sure that you understand the process of disassembling and reassembling your gun. You do not want to end up with a model that you do not know how to put it back after the coating is done.
With the parts separated, you need to start with the degreasing first. The work of the degreasing process is to remove any oils from the surface of the parts. Without removing the oils might make the parts to hold the some particles from sand blasting, which would lead to scratching when assembling or operating the gun later on.
2. Blast the parts
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As for the blasting, you would be advised to use 100-grit aluminum oxide at a pressure of 80 PSI. You still have to be careful so that you do not end up eroding the shallow markings on the gun. Take your time to ensure that you get to remove all the excess media from the different parts. The chamber and bow are supposed to be plugged with the rubber stoppers so that you can prevent any fouling. Once you have blasted the part, make sure it is wrapped in a newspaper so that you get to prevent any marring to the finish.
3. Invest in a curing oven
At some point, you will have to cure the parts with heat so that the coating sticks to the surface appropriately. This calls for having an oven for doing the process. You could invest in a large oven toaster for this process. You might be using the same to cure more gun parts in the near future if you are a gun enthusiast.
4. Prepare and apply the cerakote finishing
You now have to prepare the cerakote finishing as instructed on the label. Make sure to add a hardener to ensure that it can easily attach on the gun parts with ease. You need to have an airbrush for applying the finish. Make sure to fill it with the right amount and texture of the coating. Keep the airbrush running at 40 PSI, which should be enough for the process. You are not to use the coating that is too thick, as it would cause dripping.
5. Hang the parts in the oven
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With the application of cerakote to the parts done, you have to hang the parts into the oven. Before you can turn on the heat, allow the parts to hang in the oven for about 30 minutes. During the whole time, make sure that the parts do not bump into each other while hanging.
Turn on the heat and keep the parts in the oven for about 2 hours keeping the oven at 250 degrees. This should finish the cure to perfection. After the two hours are over, you can now turn off the heat and allow the parts to cool.
6. Reassemble the gun
By now you should be happy with the type of results you get from the process. You will always play around with different coatings depending on what you like. This should give you a chance to enjoy the best type of gun coating ever. With the parts all cooled, proceed to reassemble the parts again. You have to apply a thin layer of oil before reassembling to help with the lubrication.
Conclusion
There you have it. You no longer have to keep on having a boring look of your gun when it is possible to change all that. Now that you know how to cerakote a gun, the next logical thing would be trying it out. Make sure to follow the steps if you want to end up with the best look in the end.
