"Patrick Turner" wrote in message
...
snip
I just spray paint some gear, and that's good enough for a one off where
somebody wants a black item.

Patrick Turner.

Hi Patrick -
Try this as a cheap & quick alternative to powdercoating (I'm not patient
enough to go out & buy a new can of spray paint - my latest chassis is,
thus, a hideous refrigerator white...):
use "epoxy" spray enamel, almost any will do, but stuff like "motorcycle
case paint" is really easy to spray & has tons of pigment.
After ~20 mins, put the chassis in *your kitchen stove*, set it at 180F,
leave the door cracked about 1 inch, and let the whole thing sit there for
an hour or so. Take out *carefully, hopefully with some screws or wires
you've used to suspend the chassis while spraying*, the paint will still be
(possibly) tacky. quench with cold water under the kitchen tap. You'll be
*amazed* at the hardness & adhesion of the paint. I first discovered this
after using motorcycle "Case Black" on a bike, which I laid down (on
pavement) & slid about 100 ft. Right on the sidecover which was painted &
baked. The paint was not even ground through!
Baked enamel used to be a standard before powder coating, and, while a bit
messier & more wasteful, the finish is equally durable & requires no
rub-out. If you have a spray gun, automotive stuff like Starthane (I'm
talking 10 yrs back, when i still did cars - there are probably better
products out now) & hardner, Emron, which is older, a bit tougher, but
nowhere as 'purty (both toxic as hell - a charcoal mask helps, but painting
has caused me much more brain damage than all the recreational chemistry,
which filled my "misspent" youth... The cans tell you to use "full body
respirator suits"... I never owned one.) are the way to fly. Get out of
thhe kitchen if you bake those...
Anyhow, try baking - you'll be impressed. Oh, and yoou can get etching
primers in spray cans, too - it looks like you're spraying nothing, but,
especially on Aluminum, they're a must (some spray paints, like "case
black", already contain something similar, so just aluminum cleaner & water
wash is plenty (if you want to be real cheap, heavily diluted Crystal Drano,
followed by a detergent /water wash give you both cleaning & surface
etching, just make sure it's, like a teaspoon per gallon, and take out the
chassis as soon as all of it is "fizzing", or you'll have too much slime &
too little chassis left... Drano's a bad-ass base, use heavy rubber gloves,
and a bucket of clean water to rinse anything which lands on your skin.
Have fun. Oh, there's a cool self-anodizing site, can't remember the
addy, but it's a no-bull approach, using commonly available stuff, 'except
for the anodizing salts, which are pretty cheap & come in more colors than
you can shake a stick at.
-dim