Can anyone with first hand experience recommend a reliable vendor....no internet hearsay please....any do's and don'ts would appreciated too...

Thanks

Right up the way for you.....Kampfeld customs

A few to choose from here on this site. Eddie Fousnough is the first that comes to my mind. However, I have all mine done by a local guy. He is awesome with the chit....:

Eddie Fosnaugh has done 2 for me. Great guy to work with and does excellent work.

Thanks guys.....BSA.....what color is the metal on your rifle....

Any contact info for Eddie....

PM inbound of a top notch guy in Idaho.

http://www.fosnaughcustoms.com/contact-us.html

Eddie Fosnaugh is great.

The color is midnight blue. Look up Fosnough customs and you'll find his website..

Use the NIC certified Cerakote applicator tool to find a good local applicator. https://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/resource/locator/?

You might consider powder coating. Wears like iron. The ceracoat guns I've had scratch and show bare metal through the coating. I have not been impressed. JMHO.

The cerakoting I've had done doesn't show any wear of any kind. You must have been fu cked by your smith or who ever applied it.

You are in Idaho, use Karl. Don't worry about him not being "certified" that doesn't mean [bleep], he's as good as they come. Some of the worst jobs I have ever seen come from people who took the certification class.

If you don't want to keep it there in your state, I would be happy to help out.

This post says a lot about the integrity of Eddie F. ^^^^^ I don't believe my guy that does cerakoting for me is "certified" either, but his work is second to none in this area. It hasn't fallen off or scratched yet. He also stands behind his jobs. He told me if anything ever happens to it, bring it back to him. He's actually had to touch up my custom pre 64 338 win mag after I re-welded and re-contoured the tang of the rifle. Long story, but some idiot ground off the back end of the tang and I restored it back to factory contour . No one would know, unless I told them:

I went Black Ice coating out of Utah, but Birdsong also does a very nice coating. Not cerrakote, but very nice coatings from both.

Hey Eddie.

You seem to take issue with whenever I recommend using the NIC, "find an applicator" tool. Why is that?

To universally recommend avoiding formally educated applicators who have invested in their business by becoming Certified is an insult to NIC and the thousands of Certified applicators that take the business seriously. Getting Certified gains any applicator knowledge that can only be learned from the maker of the product from objective laboratory testing and from the feedback from tens of thousands of applications without having to subject customers to these pitfalls while the applicator gains experience and feedback. That in depth knowledge is absent from someone that is not certified. Without objective laboratory testing even “experienced applicators” mistakes could go unnoticed and brushed off as a shortcoming of Cerakote.

Shawn

Shawn, I'm not Eddie, but here's my take on it, based on 27 years in an industry that has "certification"
Anybody can sleep thru an online class and fumble their way thru a passing grade on a test to get certified. It's a big ego boost to hang a tag on their front door or toolbox that they're certified, and an expert, but it doesn't mean they know chit, or have the skill to pull off an excellent job. I know that isn't always the case for everybody, I've just seen it enough to not put a whole lot of stock in it.

That's probably what happened to fireball2's rifle that the cerakote scratched off. He didn't happen to send his rifle to you, did he?

Shawn,

I'm sorry, I don't believe I have ever "universally recommended avoiding formally educated applicators." In fact I know I haven't. So do yourself a favor and don't put words in my mouth. My relationship with NIC is stellar and their company is as good as they come. To imply that a applicator that is not Certified doesn't take the business serious is laughable at best. I go through multiple gallons of cerakote every month and on more than one occasion in the past, they have contacted me on how I was doing some things that they couldn't. They also helped me out at times when I started out.

I have also repaired a few really botched up jobs from a couple different coaters (who I will not mention) that were Certified. I was concerned and notified my contacts at NIC about it. Guess what they said? We train how to properly prep and apply the coating to the substrate(s), after they leave here it's up to them. Sounds spot on to me.

However, I think taking the class is great if you have no experience. It's great for advertisement also, but if you do crappy work it won't matter, because you wont last very long.

I will go on record here and say I personally know good certified applicators too. Hopefully you feel better know.

I do pay to advertise on here too.

Good day to all......TRUMP 2016

Good post Eddie and spot on!

I've had two rifles ceracoated, not a big sampling. One done by a member in Colorado, and another I bought already coated. Both scratched real easy, that's all I know.

I can promise you powder coating is tougher'n hell.

Eddie and 358 norma are spot on. My trade has loads of guys with patches on their shirts and class time,but their work is crap. The reps in certain trades and products barely have real world experience. I've had several cerakote jobs done. Karl ' s has hands down held up the best. Eddie even helped answer some questions and responded while on vacation. I'm sure Eddie has the same quality, and to refer another applicator in the same trade speaks volumes

I've had 6 done and yes they scratch easily. It is tougher than paint, but it's not near as tough as some will lead folks to believe.

That's too bad. I wish you were closer. I would let you test it for yourself on actual gun parts. The Cerakote I know, properly applied, will not rust, cannot be knocked off with a hammer, scratched or chipped without removing the metal under the coating. Even 320 sand paper takes a bunch of work to get it down to bare metal on a smooth surface. Over a sharp edge you can get down to bare metal pretty easy.

The coating should be as tough as whatever is under it. Over tool steel it's incredible. I put it on a set of vise grips. You can destroy grade 8 bolts with those jaws and it took quite a lot of use to get the very tips of the jaw teeth exposed.

Interesting reading. Used locater.. Just for the heck of it. Appears there is no certified applier closer to Alaska than Nebraska. I find that interesting but not telling if I should ceracote something ever. Airplanes go everywhere , but is there someone in Alaska doing it?

Using the tool it looks like the closest to you is:
BMR FIREARM COATINGS
NORTH POLE, AK 99705
Call: (907) 712-7502

There is more in Anchorage and Palmer.

BMR has some customer choice awards and some real creative work on the NIC gallery.

https://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/gallery/?apids=10320

Powder coating is too thick and will affect everything dimensionally.

Las, I can't remember the name right now, but there's a shop in the valley that does. I haven't used them or seen their work, other than a display at a gun show, so I can't give an opinion on their work.

Depends on what you need and where it's applied of course. this one is powder coated and it works perfectly, but as you note, you would need to be mindful of interior dimensions. Problem spots on this project were the sights. getting them back on requires care and perhaps relieving some material buildup.