Paintball

[DeTrevni]

So, I got to thinking about various ways to color a Minimag body (of which I don't have, I was just contemplating things). They're stainless, correct? If so, then the only feasible options would be powder coat and Duracoat. But, I thought about the Aurora process, and that it fried a lot of aluminum bodies. I recalled a past thread where someone mentioned you could use the same process more effectively with steel.

So, is there a way to achieve the Aurora effect on a Minimag body? If so, why haven't more people done it?

[Schmitti]

Nope steel anodizes to form iron oxide.... which is red... sometimes black. But you can not induce a color effect to it like you can with aluminum when it is anodized (oxidized with the presence of a current and die/color).

E

[Mayvik]

Originally Posted by Schmitti

Nope steel anodizes to form iron oxide.... which is red... sometimes black. But you can not induce a color effect to it like you can with aluminum when it is anodized (oxidized with the presence of a current and die/color).

E

You can get a sort of aurora looking effect by case hardening steel:

[A.C. Basbas]

Wet-sand the finish off, and then wipe it down with urine and let it sit for a day or two. Repeat as necesary until you've got a finish. It's the coolest oxidized finish you'll get.

[HP_Lovecraft]

The "Aurora" is not annodizing, but plating.

Technically, you are vapor plating titanium, and in the process the titanium becomes annodized producing those rainbow patterns.

For aluminium, they take the extra step of vapor plating over a standard brass plating to help protect the aluminium from the voltage.

I've seen it on stainless jewelry, and knives. There are a few different places that do the Titanium vapor plating.

Another option is chomatic paints (like the stuff used on cars), but that would likely end up being more expensive, and less strong

[Chachi]

couldn't you do the same thing with ammonia?

[flyweightnate]

Is the Titanium a vapor deposition?

I have some drill bits that are cobalt-coated for use on hardened steels and the like. It has a very, very similar finish, sort of an oil-slick of greens, blues, and a hint of purple or gold in the right lighting, but the majority of hues in the green-blue spectrum. So I know it can be done to a high-speed (I assume) steel base. Mags shouldn't be to hard to do, just gotta find the right metallurgist to ask... hey, I think I'll actually ask my dad. He was an MSE major, got his Master's in it, MIT grad... I'm guessing he'll know.

[Robertsr]

Someone on AO did this. They got some industrial samples made up on RT parts. In fact, I think the RT made it here eventually.

The AO guys slammed him pretty hard though, since he didn't want to reveal his source, so he clammed up about the process and never went anywhere with it.

[Altec]

Originally Posted by A.C. Basbas

Wet-sand the finish off, and then wipe it down with urine and let it sit for a day or two. Repeat as necesary until you've got a finish. It's the coolest oxidized finish you'll get.

Really?

[HP_Lovecraft]

Originally Posted by Robertsr

The AO guys slammed him pretty hard though, since he didn't want to reveal his source, so he clammed up about the process and never went anywhere with it.

They were hard on him because he demanded extremely high prices, yet acted like it was some super secret process.

When I posted its "Just simple Titanium Vapor Plating", he sent me a very nasty PM that I didn't know what the hell I was talking about, and should STFU.

A bunch of people on PBN did small runs, mostly for small parts.

Aluminium is easier to do when with small parts since its easy to give it a very strong base plate, and small parts are... well.. easy to make. Cockers were so problematic because the somewhat complex shape meant it was difficult to get a perfectly thick base plate