Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Cerakote application questions

hi guys, i know that with the right amount of patience, and the right tools, one can apply their own Cerakote. As CID industries is just down the road from me, i thought i might look into doing it myself.

i know that they say right on the website that you need to aluminum oxide blast stuff to make it adhere properly. that is fine. so the first question is can you use a normal sandblasting gun to do the work?

second, where do i acquire the media to do the work?

third, what parts get the blasting and coating?

in my opinion, the barrel, receiver, rings, bolt body/handle/shroud, trigger/safety, and bottom metal all need to be done.

i also know that these parts all need to be disassembled to be done. masked off and the works.

now, it also needs to be cured. i know of a basic plan to make an oven for that involving a hot plate, insulated chimney pipe, and a blow dryer. but what are your recommendations?

i also want to know what parts on the receiver need to be coated? i would think to do the raceways, up to the chamber inside the action (plugging the chamber with clay or paper or something... same with the muzzle)

fourth, i have some small rust pits on this rifle. can i cover them up with Bondo or something similar and then cure it without it coming off?

fifth, can i use a regular spray gun to do the job? if i set it around 40 PSI? provided i use a fine tip?

thanks in advance for putting up with my nonsensical rambling...

Are you thinking of starting this professionally?

'Cause I hear Eddie Fosnaugh here on the fire does great work. Once I get a barrel I'm waiting for in, he'll do the coating.

I would guess all the stuff you mentioned costs money, and you could overspend what Eddie's rates are. Jmo.

With that said, I once tried my hand at whittling a wood stock, with poor results. But I wanted to give it a try.

not thinking of doing it professionally, but on the side as a hobby. and considering that you can buy all the parts to do this yourself for around $500 and then coat a bunch of firearms for the cost of 3 sent out.

no disrespect meant to Eddie as he is a stand up guy, and a great smith, but i like to dabble in gun work.

this is something i have been considering for some time to coat my own rifles and pistols. it just makes more sense to me to do it myself.

I can understand that. Like I said, I tried my hand at the stock just because I wanted to.

Unfortunately, I don't know the answers to any of your questions. Good luck!

If you are going to do it just for yourself and not in volume, you can get by with some cheaper equipment and get good results. If you plan on doing quite a bit of coating then you will be wise to invest in quality stuff all around.

Prep, prep and more prep is the key to getting a quality finish. You asked a bunch of question that I could help you with, but to be honest I hate typing a lot.

I invested $10,000 in my start up for just coating, but I do hundreds of rifles a year. Heck, I have about $4000 in paint alone now in stock.

I would be happy to help answer some of your questions, but you are going to have to call me for that (too much typing for me here). I am beyond busy right now with coating and full builds, so give me a call sometime after 6pm eastern standard time later this week. Have a note book to write down your info, then you won't have to try and remember, plus you will always have it to refer back to, when you need it.

I have a file cabinet full of notes on EVERYTHING gun related, from coating, chambering, bedding, triggers...etc down to good articles on reading the wind.

It's not rocket science and I have nothing to hide (except how I web with cerakote), plus I like to give back some knowledge because I have had a lot of help over the years from a lot of very generous smiths on just about everything.

Eddie, you are the MAN!!! i will certainly take you up on that around Thursday. i can call you after i get home. i get off at 5:30 your time...

i plan to learn as much as i can before starting, and just wish i could invest that kind of capitol in something i would enjoy doing immensely.

thank you again for your offer and i look forward to talking with you.

No problem, looking forward to the chat.