Originally Posted by
Phreakish
The problem is the inside of the handguard. The method we use now is able to deposit a color coat on the entire surface of the part inside and out. The baking wouldn't be a problem for us at all, it's the time taken to try and detail the inside of the parts.
The other consideration when it comes to using spray-on coatings is the variance in thickness. On one project I ran in the past, we had a coating variance of more than .003" which takes away usable tolerance in the machining operations. We wanted to avoid that if possible because we pride ourselves on very precise parts. This is one of the reasons we have one of the best lockups to the barrel nut that you'll find (not to mention the clamping method).
Luckily, the 'white' you see under the top coating is still very much protected and is an excellent base for paint. We're looking into what could have caused this and trying to ensure that we don't have repeats in the future. It's worth noting that a tape adhesion test is standard fare for coating tests (in addition to others) and ours are tested on every manufacturing lot, we've not had any issues to date. As such, I suspect the solvents in the paint might be a contributor here.
As always, if you're dissatisfied, get ahold of BCM customer service.