No blasting access, will sandpaper work?

[Sabot7]

I'm playing around with an old mosin, making a scout rifle. I want to coat it, cerakote or similar. Mainly doing this as a learning experience. The mosin only cost me $75 back in the day, so I don't care if I make a mistake. however, I can't justify the cost of a blasting cabinet and I don't know anybody that has one. Would it be acceptable to use sandpaper to rough up the surface?

Thanks

[peacedivision]

Dark Soul Tactical in San Jose is setting up a booth. And there is a guy in Stockton offering bead blasting in the WTB section.

[Sabot7]

When I did my lower at the build party in San Jose, they had a cabinet running beads. Here is what Cerakote states on their website:

"For best results use a dry grit
material such as aluminum oxide or garnet equivalent
to a 100 - 120 mesh size. Glass beads are not
recommended as they are not aggressive enough to
produce a sufficient blast profile."

Beads work great on aluminum. Does anyone have experience with glass beads on steel and cerakote? This is why I'm thinking of aluminum oxide sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease.

[tujungatoes]

Glass beads on steel will leave more of a polish than the rough texture you need. Gotta give the paint something to bite on. While not ideal, sandpaper should work. Make sure to thoroughly(and I mean THOROUGHLY) degrease it before painting as your hands will have been all over it.

[Sabot7]

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Someone here on the forum has offered their services and I will take them up in that. At the same time I'll sandpaper the piece of barrel I chopped off and test the coating adhesion.


Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

[ar15barrels]

I have a blasting cabinet in the Los Angeles area for people that might need parts blasted.

[kcstott]

Jasco metal prep and prime.

[GUNNTZ]

Home depot course scotch brute pads in paint section work really good. Then soak parts in acetone for a day. I used a large aluminum turkey pan a flipped parts, tons of Cosmo came out the nooks and pressed in parts. Use rubber gloves to keep body oils off parts when handling. Cerakote in your favorite color, done!!

[Seesm]

If you make it over this way we can blast it for you.

[Gunsmith Dan]

If you want to use the heat curable Cerakote H-Series sand blasting with aluminum oxide or garnet is the only way to get the right adhesion for the coat to last a long time.

While sanding will work to some extend the whole purpose of blasting is to make pits and peaks along the entire surface. The Cerakote fills the pits and as the coating shrinks in heat curing it wraps around the peaks. The best way to picture this is think of Cerakote like heat shrink plastic, the more surface to grab onto the tighter the shrink wrap fits.

The most important thing is to have a completely clean residue free surface or it will not stick right. Get the crude off with a degreaser, rinse off the degreaser with Acetone then soak the parts in Acetone or Brake Kleen (Acetone cheaper). You have to heat the parts afterwards to make sure all grease and oil is out ....... trust me I have had old military parts soaking in Acetone for several days and still had oil oozing out when it went into the oven. Always wear gloves and make sure if they touch anything except the parts and spray gun you put on a new pair ..... any type of even light contamination can cause problems later on.

[astars450]

When I did my lower at the build party in San Jose, they had a cabinet running beads. Here is what Cerakote states on their website:

"For best results use a dry grit
material such as aluminum oxide or garnet equivalent
to a 100 - 120 mesh size. Glass beads are not
recommended as they are not aggressive enough to
produce a sufficient blast profile."

Beads work great on aluminum. Does anyone have experience with glass beads on steel and cerakote? This is why I'm thinking of aluminum oxide sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease.

Thank you for this info now I know what I need in my blast cabinet

[Russ4777]

Do you have acces to an air compressor? You do not need a blast cabinet. Glass beaded surfaces are too smooth for good adhesion.

Go to your nearest Harbor Freight and buy an inexpensive sand blaster gun. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a bag of beach (kids sandbox) sand. Just go out in your driveway or front lawn and have a good time. A 50 lb sack of sand is cheap and will blast a bunch of receivers. The resulting surface texture is perfect for Moly Resin, Cerakote, etc.

[jocww]

Russ your ingenious!!

[kendog4570]

I have a blast cabinet set up with aluminum oxide grit in South Bay/Santa Cruz area.

You can also ship your firearms and parts to me for blasting.