gunkote questions

[73cj5]

hey guys,

i have a few questions.

i plan to gunkote an imbel fal.

here is what i plan on doing.

let me know if anything is out of order or in correct.

i will blast and park rifle.

after it comes out of park i will rinse it off with water and that is it, no oil:)

do i have to do anything to it before i gunkote? acetone it down?

i will then airbrush parts and let dry.

it is around 60 degrees in my garage. will this be a problem while applying the gunkote?

i will then bake at 350 for how long?

do the parts have to be suspended or can i lay them on foil??

after they come out of oven i will let them air cool.

i then will hilite letters and numbers.

i was using testors paints but had a problem with the red. when i wiped it off with alcohol it kind of smeared into the park. will i have this problem with gunkote?

i plan on parking bolt and carrier. i remember reading awhile ago not to gunkote the bolt/carroer due to headspace/fitting issues?

can i do them both or not? maybe just the carrier?

i know it is a ton of ?'s. any help appreciated.

thanks!

[Bearwhositshere]

Make sure when you are finished parking the rifle you get all the water off it. Bake it at 175 to 300 ( I prefer hotter temps) until it is dry and hot (Gun kote needs to flash dry onto the surface). let dry and bake at 300 degree for 1 hour(350 will cause it to discolour slightly) If you let the parts dry before baking you can put them on a rack or foil.

The main thing is to make sure there is no water or oil on the park before you shoot it (spray it)

[73cj5]

do i have to keep the metal preheated as i am applyling the gk?

if so,

how do you keep the barrel assembly warm long enough to paint it??

[73cj5]

also,

i have read a few light coats.

how many is a few???

[Bearwhositshere]

Originally posted by 73cj5
do i have to keep the metal preheated as i am applyling the gk?

if so,

how do you keep the barrel assembly warm long enough to paint it??
Well, it depends if your work area is cold you might have to stick it back in to get it up to temp but I really don't think 60 degrees will cool it off before you get it covered.

With gun kote you don't want to add too many layers (it is a thicker product then Moly Resin) I would say three or four passes is going to build a layer and maybe three layers (but this is subjecttive based on your delivery devise) you can do this in one session (i.e. three passes let stand for a few seconds (look at the coating to see if it has flash dried then apply second, third etc. you should be able to do this before the metal cools down, but if you are seeing the metal take more then a few seconds to dry then heat it back up.

[mtang45]

After park and rinse I place the parts in the oven at about 250 F for 20 minutes just to make sure all the water is gone. Take a few parts out of the oven at a time and spray. Gunkote dries pretty quick so multiple coats are possible with the part still warm. I lay several parts out and spray one side. In 1 - 2 minutes they are dry to the touch, so I flip them over and spray other side. Much easier than trying to hang parts on wire. As you finish Gunkoting the parts just set them aside and get more warm parts from the oven. When all done spraying, crank oven up to 300 F and put all the sprayed parts back in for an hour.

Good Luck!

[awd51]

guncote says to have part 120. and very important dry before bake. i just did my frist and errors do show. however if you get it to hot or the other stuff as long as you do not touch you can just respray when it gets to 120 and bake again. i lke this stuff. and for me it works on the bolt and carrier. i did not put it on the cam surface so headspace did not change. luck dah

[dougjones31]

#1. Buy some rubber gloves to use while handling the metal while cleaning and painting, and baking.

#2. Hang the parts that you can. Clothes hangers are good.

#3. I use a heat gun, but you can also use a hair dryer to heat the metal right before you paint it. I used to heat the parts in the oven and then try to get them hung and painted before they cooled down too much. It does not work well. So I hang the parts then get my airgun ready and hit the parts with the heat gun and spray immediately. It may take a while to get the hang of how long to hold the heat on the parts to get them 120 degrees.

Doing it this way allows you to spray large parts, like a barrel, easier. You can heat a little section paint it and then heat the next section and so on. I also lay out small parts on a tray and heat and spray one side then let them dry good and then flip them over and heat and spray the other side. Use rubber gloves to flip the parts because oil from your skin will screw up the finish. Oh....and make sure to not rub your face with the rubber gloves on...gloves do not do you any good if you get oil on them.

3 thin coats should work well. Make sure you spray from different angles so that you get good coverage.

I like to sray a few coats then bake it @ 300 for @ 40 mins and then use a green 3M pad and 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out any imperfections. Then I spray a very light coat on top of that to get a good even finish. I usually spray the last coat from @12" away. I turn up the air on my airbrush and fog the paint onto the metal. You will get a finish that is not too shiney.

If you spray a thick coat and bake it it will come out real glossy because the paint never dried completely and while it is baking it melts into a smooth glossy finish. I hate glossy paint on FALs.

I hang as many of the parts as I can while baking them. Even though you let the parts dry real good before you bake then, you will still be able to notice small spots where the painted part contacted the pan it was baked on. I guess the heat transfer causes this. On small parts this is not usually noticable, but large parts should be hung.

Paint will wipe right off gunkote, so highlighting the lettering will be easy

You can park and gunkote the bolt and carrier. It will not cause any problems with headspacing. After you put the gun together and rack the action a few times the gunkote is going to wear from the contact points but it leaves moly in the pores to lubricate and protect.

Did I forget anything?

[bausch]

I run a heat gun over the parts between coats and before bakeing. When you are at the right temp. the coats will flow into your parts and dry almost on contact. Wear rubber gloves when turning the parts while coating

[50 cal]

I made hangers for my parts so that nothing touches them at all when they are coated then baked. Don't know if it really makes a difference, but it was for my own peace of mind.

I used 5/16" drill rod cut to length to fit in the oven and hung the parts from the drill rod by wire.