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PVD coatings


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Just wondering what people have tried. I know several people on here have had their guns sent for TiN or TiCN coatings and I think those came out great. I am currently interested in TiAlN http://www.calicocoatings.com/coating-data-sheets/titanium-aluminum-nitride-pvd-tialn-coating/ CrN http://www.calicocoatings.com/coating-data-sheets/chromium-nitride-pvd-crn-coating/ and a DLC coating such as http://www.calicocoatings.com/coating-data-sheets/calico-d-1-diamond-like-carbon-dlc-coating/ or http://www.calicocoatings.com/coating-data-sheets/calico-d-3-pecvd-coating/

 

The violet, black, and CrN dark silver all sound awesome looking but I have no idea how they would come out on a 1911 or if they would even be appropriate in terms of material properties for a pistol like TiCN/TiN are. Any thoughts or examples? 

Edited by polymerfeelsweirdman
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My pistol is a mix of chameleon pvd and TiAlN on the barrel, comp, and controls. It is a great looking finish and holds up really well. It is a darker Gray that perfectly matches an aluminum cmore slide ride

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14 hours ago, DWFAN said:

Some of those process temps are pretty high, at what point will a lightened slide warp?

 

Thats been my concern too about putting slides in that high temp process.

 

however I now have 2 pvd guns. One is aiain (silver colour almost like hard chrome) and one is I believe AiCrn (gold/bronze colour). They are not really deep into their life but if the slide had become brittle through the process I think they would have cracked in the first 1,000 rounds. 

 

I'd suggest explain to any pvd coater that the slide is 4140 hc steel and see what they think. 

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Thats been my concern too about putting slides in that high temp process.
 
however I now have 2 pvd guns. One is aiain (silver colour almost like hard chrome) and one is I believe AiCrn (gold/bronze colour). They are not really deep into their life but if the slide had become brittle through the process I think they would have cracked in the first 1,000 rounds. 
 
I'd suggest explain to any pvd coater that the slide is 4140 hc steel and see what they think. 

How cut up/lightened are they? I dont know that Im so concerned with cracking as I am warpage. I know of a few slides that have warped from high temp processing.
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Both flat topped. Both have a channel cut on top for popple holes. One has panel cuts front and rear. One has through lightening cuts front and curved serrations rear (ck thunder). 

Do you have pictures of the aiain? How does the hardness compare to regular hard chrome?
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In the gallery there's an open gun pic thread. It's in there in the last page or so. 

 

Edit: this thread: 

 

 

I believe its AlCrn but can't be 100% sure as the maker had it coated. It could be TiAin. 

 

I havent tried to scratch it but the coating coating feels very hard (in cleaning) and it's very easy to clean (not porous at all). 

 

In certain light the silver shows a slightly darker grey/gold colour. 

Edited by BeerBaron
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Calico doesn't do individual guns anymore so toss that idea. 

I had them to TiCN on my gun, and it's an amazing finish. A little (ok a lot) shiny, but the wear resistance is amazing.

 

 

 

ticn crop.png

ticn2.jpg

Edited by waktasz
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As mentioned, Calico doesn't do individual guns, even for gunsmiths.  Why not go with black nitride?  It's a hard surface finish, not a coating, looks good, and if you use H&M, they do great work and get the gun back to you in two weeks tops.

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9 minutes ago, ltdmstr said:

As mentioned, Calico doesn't do individual guns, even for gunsmiths.  Why not go with black nitride?  It's a hard surface finish, not a coating, looks good, and if you use H&M, they do great work and get the gun back to you in two weeks tops.

 

Nitride is applied around 1000 deg F per the H&M website.  DLC is more like 400 per the ionbond site.  Worth considering. 

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1 hour ago, waktasz said:

Calico doesn't do individual guns anymore so toss that idea. 

I had them to TiCN on my gun, and it's an amazing finish. A little (ok a lot) shiny, but the wear resistance is amazing.

 

 

 

ticn crop.png

ticn2.jpg

I want the exact gloss and color of the top picture

I looked at the websites for the other companies listed and some do offer TiCN but do not list prices

 

There is also Robar that does NP3+ and Roguard but I don't think those are as durable or good looking as the bronze TiCN look

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  • 5 months later...
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On 5/23/2017 at 12:28 AM, DWFAN said:


How cut up/lightened are they? I dont know that Im so concerned with cracking as I am warpage. I know of a few slides that have warped from high temp processing.

 

On 5/22/2017 at 9:58 AM, DWFAN said:

Some of those process temps are pretty high, at what point will a lightened slide warp?

 

From what we've been told by the PVD/DLC processor we work with is that the temps are 300-400 F, so warping shouldn't be a problem.

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