I’ve searched for the answer to this question but can’t find it.
I’m thinking pretty hard about Cerakoting my latest build. I’m going with the oven cure Cerakote. My question is this: Do I need to do anything in particular to my base coat to get my camo pattern to stick to it? Do I cure the base coat, then spray my camo pattern over it or do I need to scuff the base coat first?
Thanks for any and all info.
From what I understand, Cerakote doesn’t like to stick to itself after it’s cured. It’s a pretty slick coating. Others with more knowledge on the subject may want to chime in. I believe the proper procedure is to “semi-cure” the base layer before adding other colors. Roughing the original surface a bit is definitely advisable to help the Cerakote adhere, but I’m not sure about roughing cured Cerakote to apply more on top of it.
As stated, yo must re-prep the surface again. i.e. remove the first layer and preferably hit the metal with media.
I think there’s some confusion… there’s no Cerakote on it now. I have a clean, brand new upper, lower, barrel and hand guard. I’m planning on media blasting everything. Coating it with FDE Cerakote. Then airbrushing on a camo pattern.
Do I need to fully cure the first coat, then scuff it. Or partially cure it then scuff it with steel wool or something for the camo pattern to stick to the first layer that I sprayed on?
Ah, gotcha. Do all colors of your camo or whatever, THEN bake to cure. Try to keep the metal warm (at least room temp) throughout the whole process. The quicker you can get the coating done before baking the better, but you should be fine.
So should I let it set for a few hours before I spray my camo pattern on? From what I’ve read Cerakote stays wet to the touch until you cure it. I guess I won’t be using tape to tape off my camo pattern then huh?
Thanks
Call the Cerakote folks, they can give you that information.
(866) 774-7628
Thanks man I appreciate that. But I’m deployed to a place where phone calls are kinda hard to come by. Kinda why I asked here.
Ok…thanks. I shot them an email. But I would still like some opinions of other people that have shot this stuff before on how they do it.
Your help is appreciated.
Different colors should be “flashed”, or semi cured for 15 minutes @ 150 degrees before adding another color.
gator is correct, or you can also do a “wet on wet” application of all colors at once if you pattern is to be free-handed…good luck.
I got an email back from Cerakote…here’s their advice:
Flash cure for 15 minutes at 225 degrees. At this point you can tape and stencil for your camo pattern. Flash cure each additional layer you spray on. Spray lightly so you don’t make “hard lines” that look like stickers. Then final cure the whole thing when you’re done with your camo pattern.