Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Aluma Hyde II observations

I have read that Aluma Hyde II can be hard to spray and tend to clump, plug tips ect.

It seems to me that it is very similar to the epoxy paint we use to touch up coated rebar before we set concrete forms. There are a couple things that make that particular paint better to work with as it seems to have all the same problems. I just sprayed Aluma for the first time this morning and had zero issues, nice thin coats with no clumping.

1. Get a $4 3M snap on spray handle, gives you better control and makes sure the tip is depressed straight down.

2. Heat it up, stuck the can of Aluma about 12" in front of a space heater for 20 minute before starting and put it back there between coats.

3. Turn the can upside down and spray until paint stops coming out between coats.

Bought a bag of extra tips just in case, never needed them.

Good tips. I plan to use it on a couple of 80% lowers soon. If I understand correctly it has a fairly long curing time? Any way to speed that up?

My first time using it, going to leave it in a reflective cabinet heated with daylight spectrum bulbs(kinda like an ez bake oven for rifles), I'll check on it when I get home this weekend.

Hell it works good for starting my garden plants every spring...figured I'd try to multi-task it.

Checked on the rifle after 6 days. Finish was ok to handle, but I don't believe it is really cured enough to assemble the rifle. Touched up a couple spots on the trigger guard and the scope that were not covered well and put it back into the box for another week. Will reassemble next weekend.

Tim, I'm having a guy do that for me. Is the color really black? Yours looks like a faded black...almost grey. powdr

Tim, I'm having a guy do that for me. Is the color really black? Yours looks like a faded black...almost grey. powdr

Looks more like a medium/dark gray with a touch of greenish tint to me. Not bad looking, but not black. I'd get black if that's what you are going for.

CowboyTim,
How are you getting 90 degrees in an open room in Wisconsin in Jan?
Painting in the sauna?



Brownells has got to be losing money at $12 / spray can if they have to answer my questions.

They sent me clean out nozzles.

Don't forget to clean before painting with CRC Industries (CRC05089) Brakleen Brake Parts Cleaner. High Tech Specialities instructions for stocks before painting got me into this stuff.

Stay up wind of Aluma Hyde II.

Stay up wind of the cleaner:

CRC "Brake Cleaner":
Methanol
Toluene
Acetone
3-Methylhexane
Carbon dioxide
n-Heptane
Methylcyclohexane
Naphtha (petroleum), hydrotreated
Cyclohexane
Ethylbenzene

Put the parts in the hot box I use for starting tomato plants...it's heated, insulated, and 6'High x 4' wide x 2' deep. With all the shelves in it, I can start 12 flats of plants(seemed like a great idea until I actually started 12 flats, had tomato plants coming out my ears that year).



Aluma-Hyde II Dark Parker Grey on the metal of this one, stock is Krylon. Came out pretty nice, but I think I'll build a park tank next time, I've got 2-3 more to do and I think that would be a better way to go.

CowboyTim

There is an old hot plate, from the used store, under it.

There is a built in cardboard baffle so the paint cannot drip on the hot plate, but the hot air can rise from the hot plate.

I poke a cooking thermometer in the top and wrap the box with old blankets until the thermometer stabilizes at 99 degrees F.

Years ago I waited for 70 degree days around here, but 70 degrees is very marginal. Now I use the heated cardboard box.