AK in the Oven!!

[DavidRSA]

Just finished applying Alumahyde II to the Bulgarian AK I assembled with the guidance of Toes. My Brownells shipment arrived yesterday so I was all set for today. I watched the Brownells video clips on youtube and did exactly as they said. Everything went well except that even after 2.5 cans of brake cleaner I must have had some kind of residue left behind on the side on the receiver. The paint on that part cracked and generally looked moist and miserable. Oh well, I'll put a sticker or something on it to disguise. Then following the advice from this forum, I popped it in the oven for an hour at 250 degrees F. One mishap was the receiver which I had put inside a disposable baking tray flipped onto its side. Other that that, I am waiting anxiously see the the end result.

[Fern]

"Heat" paint thinner has little to no residue. Even regular paint thinner has less residue.

[lelandEOD]

You must have a cooler wife than I do.


I've never messed with alumahyde so I look forward to seeing your results.

[chozenfew805]

You must have a cooler wife than I do.
I've never messed with alumahyde so I look forward to seeing your results.

My wife would flip $#iT if I did that but if it get's the job done that's all that matters!

[bigbob76]

You must have a cooler wife than I do.


I've never messed with alumahyde so I look forward to seeing your results.

Yeah, when I used the oven it didn't go over too well. I use a lot of Alumahyde II in the summer months. Unless we get a blast of warm weather I probably won't do any more till next spring or summer.

[killathrilla]

...

[ElvenSoul]

A big smoker will work as well.

[DavidRSA]

A big smoker will work as well.

I quit smoking....kinda.... AND I'm trying to lose weight. So I will soon be a small nonsmoker....

[DavidRSA]

Results

OK I wasn't all that happy with the results. There was definitely some contamination that caused the side of the receiver to come out blotchy and cracked. Since I was hanging all the parts on wire outside to let the brake cleaner evaporate, perhaps something got on the receiver. I am surprised though since I cleaned everything thoroughly and used a heck of a lot of brake cleaner.

The rest was OK. I used the dark grey park color and I think I should have gone semi gloss black, which I have as well.

Here you can see the bad patch towards the rear of the receiver. You can also see what looks like wet paint - its just rem oil seeping out from inside the rifle. :



Here are some more pics. Overall not so bad.





A couple minor blotches on the muzzle brake:



Help! I found this piece after everything was reassembled. Maybe its not from the rifle. Anyone know?



And here is a before pic just for reference. Some of the painted parts are bbq paint.

[DavidRSA]

My wife would straight up cut me!!

It really doesn't smell much, I just kept the oven on afterwards for about 30 minutes with the door open, and with fans directing air outside the door. Now it's almost all gone

[Fern]

You have to heat the reciever to bleed out the oil between the gaps of the rivit holes and other gaps before you apply any coating. Or it will bleed out during the baking process. Which is what happened here.

You can pre-bake or use a heat gun and rinse with paint thinner. If you use a heat gun method it will require several heat and rinses. When you heat you can actually see the oil start to thin and bleed out.

[Fern]

We had some fun!!

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=440191&highlight=coating

[DavidRSA]

You have to heat the reciever to bleed out the oil between the gaps of the rivit holes and other gaps before you apply any coating. Or it will bleed out during the baking process. Which is what happened here.

You can pre-bake or use a heat gun and rinse with paint thinner. If you use a heat gun method it will require several heat and rinses. When you heat you can actually see the oil start to thin and bleed out.

Thanks for the info! Good to know for next time!! Is there any way I can redo just the bad portion, or do I have to redo the entire receiver through to barrel?

[Fern]

Also, media blasting and "parking" gives the coating something to adhere to. Unfortunatly you will have to do the entire thing to get it to match.

[atsaubrey]

The part your talking about, doesn't apprear to be part of the rifle. (I wouldn't mention that to the wife though. ...lol)