Alumahyde II/ Gun kote Questions Please Help!

Sorry this is about my AK (my AR's finish is fine) but i needed to post somewhere where it would be read by more people because i need answers and opinions from a lot people who have more experience then me!

I have a question, and a short story on gunkote and alumahyde 2 (brownels rattle can).

I bought a can of "Matte black" gunkote ($45) to refinish my WASR. I did not refinish the whole gun at first, i did the receiver cover and my mags, and gas tube. I cleaned, sprayed and baked, 1 hour at 300, and the matte black came out GLOSSY! :mad: Thank goodness i did not do the whole gun! Here's what it came out like:

Only receiver cover and magazine were gunkoted. The AK factory finish is shown for comparison.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...MATTE-2001.jpg

Notice with the parts installed how they look out of place and are GLOSSY. I tried to dull the shine with 0000 steel wool. The results were less then satisfactory
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j1...MATTE-2003.jpg


Maybe the pictures don't show it well, but i'm sure you can see the gloss! This is NOT what i wanted needless to say!

Anyway i have given up on wasting another $45 on gunkote and a can of alumahyde II on the way. From youtube videos from other people i think the alumahyde II will actually come out flat black (i should have bought the "Baking lacquer" they offer instead but its too late now and already invested more then i want to for a $490 gun).

Anyway a couple questions:

1. Baking ALumahyde 2? Alumahyde @ is an air dry finish. I am cleaning the oil off gun then spraying the alumahyde 2 directly over the old finish.
If you let it air dry it takes two weeks to dry. I don't want to wait that long. Several people on other gun sites have said you can bake it for 200 degrees for 5 hours to shorten the curing time. no one reported bad results after doing this. Question has anyone done this and how did it turn out?

2. I would like the receiver cover to be the same color as the rest of the gun. If i roughen the surface with steel wool, or some other abrasive (the only way you can remove gunkote is sandblasting, which i am not going to do) do you think it is possible to simply spray alumahyde II over the gun kote? do you think it will it stick? I have steel wool and 320 grit sandpaper, brake cleaner and acetone to work with. I won't be doing any k-phos or bead blasting, the abrasives and solvents are all i have got. If anybody knows anything at Lowe's or home Depot that would help i will run out and buy it, but what surface prep might make this work?

Please help! the ALumahyde 2 comes on Teusday, today is sunday!

I did the barrel on one of my bolt guns with Alumahyde 2 in green. It came out well but Im not sure how durable it is. I disassembled the rifle stripped it of greese with TCE and painted it with several very light coats of the product drying it between coats with my wifes hair dryer. I didnt rush and that was about a year ago it only has one little scratch in it so far.

The can says wait 24 hours before you handle it and it will continue to cure for several days but you can handle it after 24 hours.

I've painted several different items made from polymer and metal with Alumahyde II with very good results. I typically (especially this time of year) leave the parts in the sun for an hour or so to get hot before spraying and then continue to let them dry in the direct sun for a few days. The finish has proved pretty durable when I have done my part and kept my grubby hands of of the parts as they dry.

For a Wasr, I'd have probably Kryloned it flat black, but that's me.

thanks for the reply. As to the quote in brackets, i am asking opinions because i know what he says is not so.

I was having a lot of trouble getting the stock off the AK. They are in there very tight. I broke two screwdrivers trying to pry it out and gave up since it was clear there seemed to be no way to get it out without destroying it or wrecking my back (i live in an apartment and have access to better tools at work, but needless to say i am not bringing my AK in to work, period.)

anyway i posted this on AK47 files and some clever fellow posted how to remove the stock. I had googled everything but nobody had a better idea then this fellow.

Lastly, a stuck Romanian buttstock and how to remove it. They get stuck I think just because the Romanians jam the stocks in the receivers with the finish still wet on the buttstocks. I can't figure out why they'd stick like they do. I've used the screw drivers but they will mash the stock extension a bit until it breaks loose. I've also used a technique of whamming the stock on a bed, in other words a firm but very padded object. You simply hold the weapon by the barrel, (Make sure it's unloaded first) then swing batter swing. Sure keep some perspective as you might be strong enough to break the stock off. First you wham it on one side, then flip it over and wham it the opposite way. Then rotate it 90 degress and wham it that way then rotate it 180 and hit it from that direction. In otherwords you beat it in all 4 directions possible, alternating until it gets loose enough to pull out. Never failed to get a stock out. Taken over a dozen out.

this i did and after about 10 minutes of beating the bed like a red-headed step child - sure enough the stock came out with minimal damage (a tiny dent on top that i might fill with wood filler and put formby's tung oil over it). Never would have gotten it off without this guy's advice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RD62

I've painted several different items made from polymer and metal with Alumahyde II with very good results. I typically (especially this time of year) leave the parts in the sun for an hour or so to get hot before spraying and then continue to let them dry in the direct sun for a few days. The finish has proved pretty durable when I have done my part and kept my grubby hands of of the parts as they dry.

For a Wasr, I'd have probably Kryloned it flat black, but that's me.

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Surely you know that works fine until the second you get cleaning solvent on it. No rattle can paint from Walmart or anybody else will stand up to that, and you have a runny ugly mess on your rifle. I want to do it right and not do it over.
Brownells says Alumahyde II was created to provide better resistance to solvents and lubricants then the old alumahyde.
Next time i will get the baking lacquer. It's as cheap as alumahyde 2 and no two week cure time.

anyway, everybody else please chime in! even if you think what i am trying to do is stupid and will not work, or hopefully if you know how it will work, i am asking for advice ANY advice. If somebody really thinks alumahyde 2 is bad i can always return it and get the baking lacquer but i'd prefer notto without a compelling reason (more shipping costs and spent more then i wanted to already).

I bought one of the Gun Kote spray cans from Brownells. Followed the instructions to the letter when I attempted to coat my SS barrel.

Came out glossy as hell.

I experimented with it, you can hold the can REALLY far from the work and lightly spray. It will break up the gloss some, but still not close to flat black.

I ended up taking the barrel to my friends garage and bead blasting it. Now it looks better than it did when new. I think the media in the blaster was a spot on match for what they use when bead blasting new barrels.

If the finish is baked, you will have to blast it to get it off.

If you wanted to try the Gun Kote again, I would use one of the KG branded ones meant for an airbrush. Just buy one of the cheap Testors hobby setups and throw it away when you're done.

Did you preheat the part before spraying?
Very light, thin coats?

The factory finish looks parkerized, that will be a dark grey so no black will match. No matter how flat.

Use a large bolt to use as a punch to knock the stock out. After you do whatever to clean the surface, do the AH II and hang it in your attic for 3 days. It is durable and will maybe have a slight darkening under high heat of firing, no biggie.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Markasaurus

Surely you know that works fine until the second you get cleaning solvent on it. No rattle can paint from Walmart or anybody else will stand up to that, and you have a runny ugly mess on your rifle. I want to do it right and not do it over.
Brownells says Alumahyde II was created to provide better resistance to solvents and lubricants then the old alumahyde.
Next time i will get the baking lacquer. It's as cheap as alumahyde 2 and no two week cure time.

anyway, everybody else please chime in! even if you think what i am trying to do is stupid and will not work, or hopefully if you know how it will work, i am asking for advice ANY advice. If somebody really thinks alumahyde 2 is bad i can always return it and get the baking lacquer but i'd prefer notto without a compelling reason (more shipping costs and spent more then i wanted to already).

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I have used and continue to use Alumahyde II with good results as mentioned before.

I have also used Krylon before to good effect, but admittedly not painted an entire rifle with it. It is inexpensive and REASONABLY durable. If and when it chips, scratches, etc it is also relatively easy to touch up.

You mentioned not wanting to spend more $$$ on an inexpensive rifle, thus my suggestion. If you don't want to go that route it's no skin off my teeth. I haven't had an issue with Krylon and cleaning yet, but then I haven't used it a lot nor do I typically get solvent all over the exterior of my rifles (either intentionally or accidentally) but maybe that's just me and I've been lucky.

As already mentioned warm the parts and spray with light coats of Alumahyde and let dry. Instead of trying to match the two finishes, why not just paint the receiver too?

Oh, and out of curiosity why did you paint the top cover and gas tube to begin with?

I have had good results with Alumahyde II on a Mini-14 barrel and various other small parts. I heated them with a hair dryer before and after and let them set for a couple of weeks before use. :cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RD62

I have used and continue to use Alumahyde II with good results as mentioned before.

I have also used Krylon before to good effect, but admittedly not painted an entire rifle with it. It is inexpensive and REASONABLY durable. If and when it chips, scratches, etc it is also relatively easy to touch up.

You mentioned not wanting to spend more $$$ on an inexpensive rifle, thus my suggestion. If you don't want to go that route it's no skin off my teeth. I haven't had an issue with Krylon and cleaning yet, but then I haven't used it a lot nor do I typically get solvent all over the exterior of my rifles (either intentionally or accidentally) but maybe that's just me and I've been lucky.

As already mentioned warm the parts and spray with light coats of Alumahyde and let dry. Instead of trying to match the two finishes, why not just paint the receiver too?

Oh, and out of curiosity why did you paint the top cover and gas tube to begin with?

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Oh i painted the top cover because at that point i had given up on getting the stock off. So it wasn't going to fit in the oven anyway and i figured i'd mask the stock and use alumahyde 2. I figured the gunkote cost so much i might as well do a few parts with it rather then let the entire can go to waste, or spend money on shipping to send it back. I am actually glad i did this, i would NOT have wanted the whole gun to be glossy like this!

In the meantime i got the stock off (by beating the stock on my bed for 10 minutes, which really did the trick!)
i think i will redo the top cover with alumahyde, after knocking the shine off the GK with steel wool and scotch brite pads. Then spray and bake it along with the rest of the gun (everybody who has done it says, 200 degrees for 5 hours so that's what i am going to do).

Closed due to OP starting new update thread:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...=1#post1033572