anodized Ar-lower

[e980752]

Can any body help i want to buy a lower but only thing i found was 80% Lower DIY. Can any one help how to anodized or even paint it, or if there a place that does in am in norther California by Monterrey

[Jason25]

Theres some info you can find in some of the forums here about anodizing. Ive seen it but cant remember which forum. You need to make sure its a forged lower.

[that guy]

You need to make sure its a forged lower.

That is not accurate, billet lowers can also be anodized. Anodizing is a process of converting the top layer of aluminum into a hardened, corrosion resistant aluminum oxide. It does not matter if it is forged.

There is something to be said for a forged lower being stronger, and therefore the better choice, but generally the machined billet lowers are made thicker to make up for lower material allowables, so again it is 6 of one half dozen of the other. In the current panic climate, I would not be picky.

A pre-anodized lower will make life more interesting, but again if it were me, I would not be picky.

If you can, find a local metal coating shop that provides anodizing. If you can run your parts through with a batch of other parts, then you might be able to get the anodizing done for a reasonable price. I have gotten this done for $20 to $40 per piece in the San Diego area. The current group buy for anodizing a (very large) batch of DIY lowers is $16 per piece (also San Diego area).

You can also spray on either duracoat, or alumahyde, both of which provide some toughness, corrosion, and wear resistance. I would go with anodizing if you can, because it actually hardens the top layers of aluminum material.

I hope you can find a local vendor who is willing to work with you.

[SFCRangerDoc]

^^^^ This

[Jason25]

That is not accurate, billet lowers can also be anodized. Anodizing is a process of converting the top layer of aluminum into a hardened, corrosion resistant aluminum oxide. It does not matter if it is forged.

There is something to be said for a forged lower being stronger, and therefore the better choice, but generally the machined billet lowers are made thicker to make up for lower material allowables, so again it is 6 of one half dozen of the other. In the current panic climate, I would not be picky.

A pre-anodized lower will make life more interesting, but again if it were me, I would not be picky.

If you can, find a local metal coating shop that provides anodizing. If you can run your parts through with a batch of other parts, then you might be able to get the anodizing done for a reasonable price. I have gotten this done for $20 to $40 per piece in the San Diego area. The current group buy for anodizing a (very large) batch of DIY lowers is $16 per piece (also San Diego area).

You can also spray on either duracoat, or alumahyde, both of which provide some toughness, corrosion, and wear resistance. I would go with anodizing if you can, because it actually hardens the top layers of aluminum material.

I hope you can find a local vendor who is willing to work with you.

learn something new everyday

[Justin87]

I'm cheap and lazy so I'm doing a batch with the diy shake n spray duracoat system. II've read good things about it. Let me know of you want to see the results. Hopefully it gets here next week. I'm waiting on that and some stocks.

[Gutz]

I'm cheap and lazy so I'm doing a batch with the diy shake n spray duracoat system. II've read good things about it. Let me know of you want to see the results. Hopefully it gets here next week. I'm waiting on that and some stocks.

I wanna see the results.

[Justin87]

I wanna see the results.

Keep a look out. I'll be adding a thread soon. I want to paint them and have complete lowers assembled before I start my thread. I will do cost break downs of my prepanic set up and some I'm building during the "panic" . Should be fun :