How to get this finish..?

[Wal]

Hi all,

I've emailed the craftsman directly (and for all I know he may frequent this forum) but no reply as yet so thought I'd ask here - I'm after some info on how to acheive this particular finish:

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Image linked from: Artmin Design at the Mini CNC Machining Centre (http://artmincnc.blogspot.co.uk/)

It's bloody lovely!

Wal.

[Washout]

That looks like powder coat or enamelling - you could try masking it after cutting and then paint the non-masked bits or cut say 0.5mm deeper than needed, then powder coat/paint/enamel the whole thing and then take the 0.5mm off in a facing operation?

[Saracen]

Machine it, paint with enamel and then finish with fine wet'n'dry, upside down on a flat plate ?

Adrian.

[EddyCurrent]

Maybe it has a clear coat that gives it the shine and stops the bare metal oxidising ?

[Wal]

Adrian, I'm hearing ya - it's not rocket science - but it's the subtle techniques that interest me and make these look as good as they do. I mean, check this guy out:

Austin Barnett's Awesome Custom CNC Car Badges - CNCCookbook CNC Blog CNCCookbook CNC Blog (http://blog.cnccookbook.com/2012/08/15/austin-barnetts-killer-car-badges/)

Essentially he's painting and sanding back...

w./

[Saracen]

> Essentially he's painting and sanding back...

And polishing, and polishing, and polishing :-)

Adrian.

[JAZZCNC]

Water clear casting resin with pigments would work and shringe into recess.

[ramsbury]

Looks very much like styrene resin with black colourant.

[Boyan Silyavski]

This is definitely resin, not paint.

On the cheap- polyester, even better-polyurethane, best-epoxy. Pigmented of course. Pour, dry, sand/ scrape on flat/, polish ,clear coat- is the correct sequence.

PS. Seeing that is for automotive, epoxy would be best. UV resistant or at least UV resistant lacquer on top.

[Wal]

Heh, two years on and I've finally got around to having a play with some cold-enamel / epoxy resin in-filling. I bought 250g of resin, 250g of hardener and a pot a opaque black paste from Cookson Gold (http://www.cooksongold.com/Enamelling/-Range=Cold_Enamel_Accessories/-Type=0/&prdsearch=y) in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham.

The object is a key-ring that I've made for a mate of mine:

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18997
18996

I'm 85% happy with the results - the epoxy itself is amazing stuff which gives you 45 minutes to work with it and cures fully in 24hrs. I'm more concerned by a couple of small flaws where perhaps the epoxy hasn't flowed sufficiently into the narrower channels - the only way to get it into the detailed areas is to over-fill and encourage it with a cocktail stick - this leaves a fair bit of cleaning-up to do once everything has set which in turn means having to polish the epoxy - it never looks quite as pristine as it would if you'd just poured it and left it alone... Looking forward to using it to fill larger pockets where the metal has been finished pre-pour, but I reckon I'll have to practice a bit more with the smaller scale stuff.

Wal.

[Clive S]

Wal Another fine job as usual but only 85% you are slipping :thumsup:

[Wal]

Heh, cheers Clive. Yeah, I need to work on the technique with this method - I'll get there eventually...!

Wal.

[Wal]

Finally had a bit of success using the pressure tank - it still leaks but using the compressor as a remote tank keeps it topped up for long enough to do its job. Bubbles sufficiently minimised - well , I can't see any... It's still important to prod the epoxy into the nooks and crannies - the pressure won't force the epoxy into any left-over voids in corners, as I discovered on an earlier test piece.

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The MANTIS badges have been belt-sanded flush, I did attempt to polish one of 'em but the finish was rather patchy - heh - it's difficult to get a decent consistency across a larger surface using small mops on a press-drill... smaller stuff (like the skulls) come out a treat, though.

Wal.

[the great waldo]

Finally had a bit of success using the pressure tank - it still leaks but using the compressor as a remote tank keeps it topped up for long enough to do its job. Bubbles sufficiently minimised - well , I can't see any... It's still important to prod the epoxy into the nooks and crannies - the pressure won't force the epoxy into any left-over voids in corners, as I discovered on an earlier test piece.

19104 19105 19106

The MANTIS badges have been belt-sanded flush, I did attempt to polish one of 'em but the finish was rather patchy - heh - it's difficult to get a decent consistency across a larger surface using small mops on a press-drill... smaller stuff (like the skulls) come out a treat, though.

Wal.

Hi Wal
If you warm the epoxy up it'll get thinner and run into the corners better. Vacuum chamber would also help reduce bubbles.

Cheers
Andrew

[alboy]

I do quite a bit of resin filling, the resin I use is as thin as water until it sets and I have no trouble getting it in to the finest detail, I apply my resin using a dropper and a syringe for very small detail. I work mainly on glass and stone but it works equally well for metal, Can be baked in an oven as well for fast curing.
The resin is 2 part and i can adjust the opacity and colour using colourants, also get some very good effects using colours as you would a water painting.

[Wal]

I do quite a bit of resin filling, the resin I use is as thin as water until it sets and I have no trouble getting it in to the finest detail, I apply my resin using a dropper and a syringe for very small detail. I work mainly on glass and stone but it works equally well for metal, Can be baked in an oven as well for fast curing.
The resin is 2 part and i can adjust the opacity and colour using colourants, also get some very good effects using colours as you would a water painting.
Interesting - thanks for the tips guys. I've heard about flashing the epoxy with a blowtorch after pouring - not tried it as yet, but warming it up seems like a good idea. Alboy, what resin are you using? I use the stuff from Cookson Gold and it's pretty thick stuff - certainly too thick to apply via a syringe. Currently I'm using a cocktail stick and dripping the resin in off the point - and then using the point to push in to the nooks...

Wal.

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