Painting LF Camera components

[Robert Fisher]

I am seeking advice from those with experience painting LF gear.

My project involves Sinar gear - all black - most components are die cast but some are shiny spun aluminum parts from pan/tilt heads

All suggestions on prep, paint and procedure will be appreciated.

Thanks much!!

[Archphoto]

The problem with painting is that you put a layer on top of the metal and thickening it.
The best solution would be to have it anodisized. (forgive me for my english)

Peter

[Jim Noel]

Do Not Paint!

The parts of the Sinar are so precise that a layer of paint is bound to cause problems. If you don't like the Chrome parts, look for black replacements.
There is no prettier camera than an original Sinar Professional, usually called a Norma. There is a reasonable amount of chrome and spun aluminum on it.

[Robert Fisher]

bump

any suggestions??

[John T]

Another suggestion to anodize

[Henry Ambrose]

Anodizing may not be a good solution. Different materials will take the color differently and with varying surface finishes. Anodizing is a good solution for production finishing where the particular alloy is known and the process is tuned for that material. Doing one or two parts you get what you get and it might work great or not, finish on different parts might match or not.

You can buy do-it-yourself anodizing kits for this but you might not get exactly what you want on your parts. Then what?

I'd polish it up real nice and enjoy the shine.

[John T]

Anodizing is a protective finish to prevent aluminum oxide from forming. If the aluminim oxide gets too bad, moving surfaces will bind. You can get colored or clear anodizing. The do-it-yourself kits are soft anodizing while the best is hard anodizing. The soft is too easily damaged with camera operation.

If you just want to paint the surface, as it was mentioned before, it cannot be mating surfaces-the paint it too thick. Make sure you sand/mill the surfaces just prior to painting to reduce the oxidation. While you won't see it, as soon as the metal is cut it starts oxidizing. Then prime and then paint with a good industrial quality paint.

[Doug Dolde]

Another vote for hard anodizing. Very hard to scratch. You will need to take the parts to a commercial plating/anodizing house.

[Nathan Potter]

All aluminum anodization is Al2O3 and can done in a sulfuric acid or other bath. Color is added to the bath via pigments before the process is done. The pigment then ends up in the pores of the anodic film giving the film a particular color cast depending on the nature of the pigment. The fact that anodic aluminum is porous allows for thick film buildup during the electrodeposition process. Films can be a few mils thick or even thicker if porous enough however hard films are produced to a thinner maximum because they are less porous.

If only a section of the object needs coating then the uncoated part needs to be masked during anodization. Something like platers tape can be used for the mask but in sulfuric acid baths watch out for mask failure. One may need to employ a more benign solution to avoid masking failure. You would need to contact a shop that specializes in this technology. In general you ought to be able to get a pigmented film under 3 mils, (75 microns), in thickness that is pretty hard.

You can certainly paint also, using a good metal primer. Mask and spray is fine for parts that are not wearing and contacting surfaces or where dimensional changes on the order of .005 to .025 inch cannot be tolerated. But aluminum is soft so even the best paint will chip when dented. If paint is used use a good degreaser prior to under coat - maybe acetone or methanol but MEK would be better. It would be good to abrade (roughen) the aluminum surface prior to degreasing using steel wool or fine sand paper if possible.

Nate Potter, Austin TX.

[Jim C.]

I've never painted LF camera parts but I have painted aluminum, which is difficult to to paint because of the oxide layer that aluminum forms, as others have said anodizing is probably your best bet for scratch resistance since the anodizing actually penetrates the surface of the aluminum, but if you rather paint then you would need a self etching primer like UPOL #8 acid etch primer ( have really good ventilation for this primer, REALLY good ventilation ! ) , scotchbrite the parts to remove as much oxidation as possible, clean with lacquer thinner ( I've used PPG DTL 105 ) then prime, and spray paint with a good quality auto lacquer.

[Jim Michael]

There is a process for painting aluminum used for painting aircraft parts. There is a two step process in which IIRC is an etch followed by alodine coating. After the second bath you can paint with a primer followed by your color coat. You can order the solutions from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty (aircraftspruce.com). The urethane paints commonly used are very unhealthy and require special breathing equipment so your best bet is probably to have the painting done by someone who shoots cars. Auto paint should work just fine. It's my understanding that auto paint suppliers will custom mix a small batch of paint for you if you insist on doing it yourself.

[gevalia]

Talk to these guys if you want to go the Anodize route. http://www.caswellplating.com/

For DIY kits they are great. Call them and they will be glad to help you. I've restored 3 cars at this point and have relied on their plating kits (copper, nickel, triple chrome, etc.) often. Also did a bunch of door knobs in nickel for a buddy's old house.

I found it far less expensive to get a kit I needed and some scrap metal (to test) and do it myself. Developing B&W film is far more complicated then plating using their kits.

Not affiliated, just a darned happy customer.

But be warned, you'll get hooked and soon be plating things all over the house.