haiedras Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Technically you can cure cerakote in an kitchen oven if you wanted to, not so much for pvd, as the processing temps iirc can be north of 750 F. Cerakote is basically a paint type finish(over simplifying I know), while pvd deposits a vaporized material in a vacuum. We're talking an order of magnitude difference in temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerEli Posted October 1, 2015 Share Posted October 1, 2015 Makes sense, I was just curious... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Yes as posted above. Ceracoat is basically baked on paint process. With pvd the heat used varies based on which coating is being applied (tiain, tin, etc), and which machine/process the person doing the coating uses. The pvd process does need a lot more heat. Some question if this destroys the heat treatment that hardens the 4140 hc steel commonly used in frames and slides. It would seem to be close based on some figures I've seen. Having said that many frames, slides and barrela now sport pvd of some kind and we don't get massive failure reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colinp Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 +1 on cerakote. I did both of my frames in a custom grayish color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haiedras Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Nice finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrimaryBruce Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Like I said before itt, you just aren't going to beat cerakote when cost is factored in. When you consider that NO FINISH is going to last forever against holster wear and just accept that fact, you realize just how appealing cerakote is. Considering some of the other coatings mentioned here are 3-4x more expensive than cerakote, I just don't personally see where it's worth the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butro Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Forgot to say even though ceracoat would not be my first choice as a gun coating that your s3 in bronze with black grips looks awesome. I hope it does hold up over time.Thank you very much. When I finally got it in my hands I was blown away. I do really love the look.selecw is right though, not much holster use. That will change here pretty quick though. I've got some matches through a club I've joined coming up through the end of year. I'll have to report back. I picked up a blue carbon fiber COM holster to match the burnt bronze flash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugiv Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 It's my understanding the the PVD coatings we are talking about have a process temp of 400 degrees (Fahrenheit). Would this be damaging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 That is the million $ question. It's certainly close to being a bad temp to take heat treated 4140 up to. Some will say it's in the bad zone. Some will say it's just under. What clouds things a little is not everyone doing pvd uses the exact same equipment or temps. Also the different coatings (tin, tiain, ticn etc) are applied at slightly different temps. Clouding things further most slides and frames are made of high carbon '4140' which is heat treated. But within '4140' there can be a variance in properties between the good stuff and the not so good. How do you know if yours is top shelf 4140 or bottom drawer? I dunno. One thing that tends to speak to the pvd process not harming slides/frames/barrel/parts is the fact that guys like svi have been doing it a long time. Sti now do pvd tin on their barrels. Ck pvd their frame and slides and as an option will pvd the barrel and small parts too. There's no doubt the lower temp coating processes like hard chrome, np3, nickel plate etc are safer. So are the paint type processes like cerakote. And bluing of course. But to me there's enough evidence that pvd on handguns works without compromising the strength of the gun but I'd certainly have a good talk to whoever is doing the pvd to make sure they understand the material they are coating and what it's use case is to ensure you get a good result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 If you want cool colors that are fairly durable then Cerakote is a pretty cost effective option. Cerakote can't even hold a candle to Hard Chrome, DLC, or PVD coatings. I have had guns Cerakoated, Hard Chromed, and Ionbonded (DLC). Hard chrome and DLC produced the same mega wear resistant results for my heavy kydex holster use. Hard Chrome was easier and cheaper for me to get done locally so I have gotten more guns and slides hard chromed than anything else. Hard Chrome is my go to coating for a blaster that is going to get the tar beat out of it on a regular basis. Cerakote looks really nice when it's new, but it gets beat up and worn off pretty easily when used in a kydex holster regularly. So you are pretty much stuck with deciding between fashion or durability. Pick a functional requirement then pick the coating that best fits the bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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