Aluma-Hyde II - I'm Doin' It Wrong?

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

What the heck am I doing wrong with Aluma Hyde II? I took a metal surface (AK dust cover, specifically) sanded it bare with 100 grit sandpaper, fine sanded it with 400 grit, degreased it with isopropyl, painted it in two very very light coats, about 8 minutes between coats while hitting with a warm hair dryer, then a third final coat and 10 more mins under the hair dryer.I left it out for a week.

....and I can scrape this crap off with my fingernail. Am I doing something wrong, or is this stuff garbage? Ironically, Duplicolor 500 Engine Enamel won't scrape off with my damn fingernail.

 

[v8stang289]

When I used it on my 870, I first stripped it to bare metal, then I sprayed a light coat, flashed it with a hair drier, and imediately sprayed another light coat. I repeated it about 4 times, and let it hang to dry for a couple of days. The finish turned out great and durable. I have heard that air temp during the curing can affect the adhesion, but I'm not sure whats going on with yours.

 

[Gik-tal]

My guess would be either you sanded it too smooth or it was the isopropyl. If you are going to try again, rough up the surface a little with some 120 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper, wash it in acetone warm it up with the hair dryer and spray like you did before. Sanding too smooth with 400 grit paper will not give the coating anything to hold to, if you have an air compressor I would recommend getting a small hand held blaster from Harbor Freight and some 120 grit aluminum oxide media and use that to prep the metal. The isopropyl you used also contains water which could have also caused you some problems. Acetone is a good and cheap cleaner, or if you can get some use TruStrip Cleaner/Degreaser is even better.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

OK, thanks a lot so far. So basically if I do it right, it's not gonna scrape off with my fingernail right?

 

[Gik-tal]

True, the stuff works good when its applied right. Its not quite as good as dura-coat but its a lot easier to apply.

 

[AK103K]

No, if you do it right, you pretty much need to bead blast it off.

I dont even sand to bare metal, just use Gun Scrubber to degrease and spray over the original finish. I always degrease a couple of times, and I degrease my hands as well, just before I start painting.

The only time I had it scrape off, was when I reasssembled an AR the next day, before it cured, and swept the safety off, which peeled a nice grove in the grip.

 

[DasFriek]

Scroll down to almost the bottom of this site:
http://www.shootiniron.com/PHOTOS.html

 

[Walkalong]

My can is in the shed, but if I remember rightly, you have to recoat before it tacs up, or wait like 24 hours. That could be the problem, or my memory could be bad, either one.

 

[Maj Dad]

Superb Finish

I have coated a couple of stocks with AlumaHyde II and it is just about bullet proof. You do have to follow the directions regarding re-coating; Walkalong's caveat is correct. Recoat within an as-specified (short) period of time or wait a day. The GI M14 fiberglass stock I redid with it is extremely tough, and although there are other coatings around, this is absolutely sufficient for me. The variables are not multiple, but they are there, and can affect your outcome. Re-check the directions and follow them to the "T" and I think you'll succeed.

 

[THE DARK KNIGHT]

a bit of an update for everyone...

I sanded it back to bare metal, 100 grit. degreased again with alcohol. I did 3 coats again, about 5 or so mins in between with a hair dryer for heat. It's been maybe 24 hours and the stuff is rock hard, scraped the hell out of it with my finger and happy to say not a single bit came off. I dunno what went wrong the first time, but this time around it worked AWESOME. Will definitely be using it for my Saiga project.

 

[BWB]

Keep in mind that the alcohol you used is a very poor degreaser and is mostly water. Either could have contributed to your problem the first time.
Plain old mineral spirits is about the best all around degreaser for anything petroleum based, which would include most gun oils. Waxes too.
Always be sure that whatever is used to degrease is completely evaporated before the coating is applied. Glad you had good results the second time. I've always had good luck with the product.

 

[Maj Dad]

Prestone

My favorite degreaser is Prestone Brake Cleaner in the yellow can. I have used it for years with outstanding results. There are others out there, however, that don't cut it. They have alcohol or something in them that will leave a residue of things to be painted and will cause you to paint the air blue as you wipe/sand the goo off to redo. Acetone was what we used in chemistry labs to absolutely clean gas burrettes, and if it's available, use it. But Prestone (available at your friendly local Wally World) is cheap and easy, and I try to keep several cans on hand in case of attacks by Al Gore on the supply chain...

 

[cbob1911]

have a can coming in next week. will post my results.