schwarzetrigger: i painted that Berryhill trigger

[emilio]

thought i'd post an update to a previous topic that i'd requested help on. a little while back i asked for suggestions on how to paint my aluminum trigger (http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=35032). i bought a nice, solid Berryhill trigger but always planned on painting it black because i hate that white aluminum sticking out (http://neurostyle.net/misc/ria/take3/ria-take-3-mods-begin.jpg) on my nice black gun.

the general consensus was to buy a can of Gun Kote aerosol, as it's one of the best spray n' bake finishes out there. at $30 a can, it had better be! i bought the matte black and bided my time for a free afternoon.

i cleaned the trigger with carb cleaner and 99% isopropyl alcohol and masked off the bow with blue painter's tape. i'd already fitted it to my gun and did some work to the trigger slot to give it clearance. i watched the very helpful video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4GWk9Vlnps) that Brownell's posted on YouTube, and used that method.

with a clean trigger, i pre-heated the block with a hair dryer. i did one light pass, set it with the heat, did another pass, set it with the heat and warmed it, then did a full even coat. there was almost a run on one side - definitely use cardboard to get an idea of the size and flow of the spray! after the one coat, i let the trigger sit in a vise for 30 minutes; to reduce the slight pooling on one side (that was almost a run), i clamped it so the pooled finished shifted back the opposite direction.

it was pretty obvious that, just like every other spray-on "matte" hard finish out there, this is really more of a satin than a flat matte. that's OK, the second coat can help that.

per the instructions, i did a second coat after 30 minutes the same way i'd done the first. this time after the full coating i set it gently with slightly warm air, and then to cut down on the shininess i did a quick spray at about twice the distance to "speckle" the finish (you can see this on the second photo). after another 30 minute set, i carefully removed the painters tape and baked it for 60 minutes at about 310F.

http://neurostyle.net/misc/ria/parts/berryhill-trigger/gun-kote-trigger-2.jpg
http://neurostyle.net/misc/ria/parts/berryhill-trigger/gun-kote-trigger-3.jpg
http://neurostyle.net/misc/ria/parts/berryhill-trigger/gun-kote-trigger-4.jpg
http://neurostyle.net/misc/ria/parts/berryhill-trigger/gun-kote-trigger-5.jpg

this stuff is black. not charcoal or blue-black, just black. it's a bit shiny, definitely more satin than matte, but it's a huge improvement over the bright aluminum trigger. two coats weren't excessively thick and didn't interfere with the fit of the trigger, though it did make the serrations feel smoother. i've put about 100 rounds through it since and it still looks good; i still need to file back a place where the trigger channel rubs a bit.

all-in-all, the Gun Kote was really easy to use and produced good results. i still have practically a whole dang can since i just used it on a small part, but it'll get used on the grip safety and other bit... maybe even the frame, 'till i get it done up in Melonite!

- emilio

[Dave Berryhill]

Looks good Emilio - a couple of tips when using spray cans:
1. Start spraying off to the side of the part and then move the spray across the part. A burst of paint comes out when you first press the nozzle and it's easy to get a run.
2. When you're done, clean the nozzle by turning the can upside down and holding the nozzle in until no more paint comes out. That stuff is expensive and you don't want to trash a can of it just because the nozzle is clogged.

[Lazarus]

Nice job on the trigger. GunKote seems to be the ticket for Aluminum triggers. The part that confuses me is that most of these triggers have a stainless bow, so the weight (mass, actually) reduction is not that great. With sensible trigger pulls, I think the whole trigger should be steel so that it can be properly blued. But just try finding a custom steel trigger - people will gasp!

Come to your senses people!

-Lazarus

[emilio]

thanks, guys, i'm very satisfied with the results.

good tips, Dave! i definitely did the spray-over-spray to keep it even, but i got the almost-run when i did one more pass than i should have. gotta keep it conservative, especially for two coats. and, yeah, i usually have a cadre of worthlessly clogged spray paint cans and nozzles around, so this time i vowed to lead a better life and clear it once i was done!

totally, Lazarus: if i could have found a long, internally lightened steel trigger with no holes and a permanent stop, i would've been all over that! but finding any steel trigger that isn't GI spec seems to be a feat...

- emilio

[John]

Good job indeed. And that solves the problem of finding the solid, black, long triggers that I love.

[watchin]

Brownells sells a product called Aluminum Black that is made by Birchwood Casey. It is a very thin coating but it is an oxide so it actually changes the color of the alloy. On a flat or matte surface it will be matte, on a shiny surface it will end up shiny.
It can be used for small aluminum parts and is also great for touch-up on black alloy frames. I have found that it works best when the part is about 150degrees (hair dryer).
-watchin-

[Dave Berryhill]

I've not had good luck with the Aluminum touch up black. Maybe it's my technique but I always get a funky greenish-gray color.

[David Rose]

Dave, if you leave the Aluminum Black on a bit longer, it will usually result in black. But doing that will etch the material, so it goes matt. But that is just my experience.

David

[emilio]

i didn't go with aluminum blacking acid for one reason, outlined in the other thread: it doesn't last very long. it's meant for touching-up scratched finishes or very small parts, as the finish it leaves is molecules-thin and easily rubbed off. paint-like coatings seem to be the champion of at-home finishing, plus i got to try my hand at applying a bake-on finish.

- emilio

[watchin]

Emilio, all good reasons. The last being the best, I think. We have seen the bake-on finish really becoming popular in the past few years. Being an old time values sort of guy, my eye still sees those pistols as being spray painted. Again, this goes way back to when I was a wee lad. The best you could get, quality wise, was a rich deep blued surface (like Colt and some German manufacturers). The Parkerized was OK for military and rough usage, and the matte black was a modern 'tactical' finish for special ops.
A small part (like the trigger you posted) looks right to me. If you do a complete pistol it catches my eye a whole different way. Of course this is just me and I admit to being old fashioned. I owe that to my Grandfather.
-watchin-

[emilio]

most definitely, watchin! the spray-on finishes are great protectors, but really top quality ones all seem to be too shiny for a good coat. the first RIA i got was finished in DuraCoat, not parkerized as specified, giving it an oil-shiny, "too perfect" of a look. a gun-inexperienced friend even said "it looks fake" when i showed them. (between that and some dimensional problems, Armscor USA exchanged it for me with no hassles.)

they all seem like good technology, but it seems like you have to be really good to get just the right matte finish. now that i think about it, the most matte jobs that i've seen have often been camo pattern ones; perhaps doing one or two coats and then lots of light "speckling" passes with set time in between would get a duller finish (i'm imagining the finish illustrated in the super close-up, times ten). sounds like i'll have to experiment... for science!

does anyone think it would be a bad idea to run some 1000 grit sandpaper over the Gun Kote to dull it? it could make it porous, i suppose, but two coats might save me there.

anyway, this is all biding my time 'till i'm completely done with modifications and seriously consider a Melonite/Tenifer molten salt bath finish, which seems about the best of the metal converting technologies. protects, hardens, blah, blah, and it's a beautifully-wearing matte black finish. sexytime.

"the one overriding aesthetic for my gun is 'black'"
- emilio

[David Rose]

Emilio,

My experience with Gun-Kote is that it takes some technique to get things really flat or to any desired texture. I've never tried the cans, but have learned to get a nice matt/flat with an airbrush. Now to learn to do it with the touchup gun that I've "graduated" to... Three tips (like I said, may not work with can) for flat:
preheat to pretty warm, like 150, keep a fair distance away from the work, and do NOT keep applying until you get a wet look. If you do that, you've gone too far. Remove, reheat, and try again. If you don't have the coverage you want before looking wet, then put the part back in the heat source and add another coat. Oh, and a 4th tip... use the proper finish. Flat/matt has more flatteners in it than the satin.

The heavier the build, the more it looks like paint...

David, who has been in the "Gun-Kote learning process" for over a year

[Dave Berryhill]

...preheat to pretty warm, like 150, keep a fair distance away from the work, and do NOT keep applying until you get a wet look. If you do that, you've gone too far. Remove, reheat, and try again. If you don't have the coverage you want before looking wet, then put the part back in the heat source and add another coat. Oh, and a 4th tip... use the proper finish. Flat/matt has more flatteners in it than the satin....
My experience is almost exactly the same. The parts go in and out of the oven constantly - warm it up, apply a very light coating and put it back in the oven again. Don't worry about getting a complete coating all at once.

An airbrush is light years ahead of a spray can for the application of these coatings due to the ability to adjust and control the amount of spray.