What is the best way to do a home refinish job on an AK. It is blued no but am willing to try some thing new if it is a at home process. We just like to do things for ourselves when we can.

I did one one a few years back. It was a milled MAK 90 that I completely remodeled. It had the ugly thumbhole chinese wood and the bluing was horrible.

For the finish I did a D.I.Y. Cerakote spray finish on it and think it turned out pretty damn nice.

I made a homemade oven to bake the finish on. It consisted of a hotplate and a piece of double walled vent pipe. I think the oven cost about $40. I've used it 4 or 5 times now and it really paid for itself. Here is a link to a small write up I did on the oven: DIY oven

Now you will need a air compressor to sandblast the the metal sufaces to get them ready. for the painting you can either buy a cheap $10 airbrush on Ebay or a Pre-Vail sprayer (no compressor needed) at your local paint store.

Like I said, I think it turned out pretty nice and it held up great. It made the rifle look new.



Terry

Thanks Terry I appericate the pics. The rifle look nice.

Use Brownells alumahyde 11; it is easy to apply and very durable. Comes in spray cans. Can also use Gun Coat; bake on or not; easy to do in your oven; I use my gas grill. Remember all these fancy "coatings" are nothing but paint. Do not be confused by their marketing claims. Paint.
Always best to sand blast first.

I've used gunkote and cerakote and there is a huge difference in these products. Abrasion resistance, hardness and mil thickness are important and while I will agree it's just paint, there is a big difference in paint quality and the finished product. The cerakote is a two part epoxy product and about as good as it gets. It ain't just marketing. There is a good reason Earl Shives only gives you a 6 month warranty on his $199 auto paint jobs . You think he uses the same paint as the good shops? if you want quality results that last use a quality product.

I've used Cerakote, Gunkote and Durakote. Out of the three the Gunkote is the least durable. I like the Durakote but only use it on stocks. I've used it metal but find it's a little thick for my tastes.

BTW, all three are about the same price at around $40 the alumahyde is about $15 and a can of Krylon is about $5.

All those products have their place depending on the skill of the user and the use to which the gun will be put. For the average home guy, he can use the Alumahyde and will get good enough results. If he is going to drag it through the rocks and sand every day, a two part finish will be better for him. I have used them all too; yes, the two part epoxy types are better. But for most guys, the others are fine. I paint a lot of cars too and I know the difference in paints. Most of the cost difference is in the prep work; not the paint cost.

I used that stuff that Brownells sells. It wasn't Alumihyde, it had Teflon in the name but I can't remember exactly what they called it. It turned out ok until I took it hunting. After the first season it looked like the bottom of a non stick skillet that someone used a metal spatula on. I have Cerakoted rifles that are over 6 years old and are holding up just fine. Considering the very small price difference I see no need to use the cheap stuff. It's a DIY friendly product.

Yes, Brownells sells products that are glorified Krylon, to the higher end stuff. Surface prep is quite important, to those who have never done this before.

I painted an AR twenty years ago using Krylon barbecue paint, baking it on in my kitchen oven at my quarters on Wheeler Army Airfield. It still looks just as it did when I finished it. Lots of workable options.

On Cerakote: they imply you're putting a ceramic-like coating on, while all it is is high quality paint. Marketing at its finest.

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
I painted an AR twenty years ago using Krylon barbecue paint, baking it on in my kitchen oven at my quarters on Wheeler Army Airfield. It still looks just as it did when I finished it. Lots of workable options.

On Cerakote: they imply you're putting a ceramic-like coating on, while all it is is high quality paint. Marketing at its finest.

So you are saying cerakote has no ceramic in it? I think you're wrong about that. Does it actually help? Hell, I don't know but the abrasion resistance and mil thickness alone makes it a superior product to the vast majority of what's out there. A lot has changed since you painted your AR's and cerakote is an excellent product. A small bottle is about $40 and is enough to do two rifles. I just don't see how you can go wrong with it.

I cerakoted that .264WM you built for me about 6 years ago and I use that rifle more than any other I own. The finish is still in excellent shape. The rifle finish is holding up a lot better than the finish on the scope!

John, I may own the uglyest rifle you've ever built. (I choose the components, John grimaced and put them together for me ) Functionally it's one of the best I own though and extremely accurate too. It kinda makes up for it's appearance.

Here is an old JC Higgins I did in it. The bluing on it was "peppered" and needed attention.

I sure as hell wouldn't use this stuff on anything I considered "classic" but it has it's place.

Another one I did in grey. I like this stuff and have been very happy with the results.



Here is my homemade oven. A hotplate with a piece of double walled vent pipe. I use a paint can lid with a hook eyelet for the top and a BBQ grill thermostat to help regulate.

We're talking Hightech stuff here

One other thing, this stuff comes in two types. bake on and air dry. Always get the bake on. It's a lot stronger finish.

Last one, Hehe. This one was sorta crazy. I have a H&R Handi rifle that got left in the woods for about a week and half (long story.) When I got to it, it was a rusty mess. I had a little black left over from another rifle and decided the little Handi rifle was worth the effort. We get to use these for Primitive weapons season here in Mississippi.

It may have ceramic particles in it, but is certainly not a ceramic coating; it's paint.

Nice looking projects!

I agree 100%. It's a 2 part ceramic infused epoxy with a color pigment. It's definantly loaded up with ceramic material though, when I spray it the garage fills up with that very distinct smell. Is that what makes it better? I really don't know but I'm sure it's there for some reason. That said there are huge differences in paint quality and cerakote is the best paint I have ever used for a firearm. The abrasion resistance is better than anything I've ever used in the context of a DIY project and it goes on so thin it doesn't effect the moving parts like other paints I've used. Nor is it very expensive. It's a two part epoxy product but still pretty easy to work with.

IMO if you're gonna paint it you might as well use good paint and this cerakote is the best I've used yet. To me the wear resistance is dramatically better. You can even control the sheen by the way you mix it.

Have you thought about rust bluing? It's definitely something you can do at home.

Bob

www.rustblue.com

quote:

Originally posted by mdvjrp93:
What is the best way to do a home refinish job on an AK. It is blued no but am willing to try some thing new if it is a at home process. We just like to do things for ourselves when we can.