What Finish Is This?

[verbotenwhisky]

Hi all,

I was wondering if someone could identify what finish this is, on a lever from my PM lathe. It doesn't really look like paint, I think it may be powder coat, but I'm just guessing, and hoping someone might know for sure.

-Doug

View attachment 479356

Kinda looks like its been parkerized....

 

[C-Bag]

Like bead blast and nickel plate?

 

[Smithdoor]

Hi all,

I was wondering if someone could identify what finish this is, on a lever from my PM lathe. It doesn't really look like paint, I think it may be powder coat, but I'm just guessing, and hoping someone might know for sure.

-Doug

View attachment 479356

Sand blasted.
Can not tell used but look big grit.

Dave

 

[talvare]

Hi all,

I was wondering if someone could identify what finish this is, on a lever from my PM lathe. It doesn't really look like paint, I think it may be powder coat, but I'm just guessing, and hoping someone might know for sure.

-Doug

Kind of looks like electroless nickel plating on a media blasted surface.

Ted

 

[Nesse1]

Agree. Sand blasted, with a coarse media, then plated. Bead breaks down easily, thus it's expensive. The surface texture is high, and you won't get this with bead unless very large particles are used, and a lot of pressure. That's why I suspect it's some sort of sand grit.

 

[Oops!]

Agree. Sand blasted, with a coarse media, then plated. Bead breaks down easily, thus it's expensive. The surface texture is high, and you won't get this with bead unless very large particles are used, and a lot of pressure. That's why I suspect it's some sort of sand grit.

Thank you all for the sleuthing. It'll be a while until I can get a blasting setup, I'm out of space for now, but I'll have to try some different types of media and see what produces a similar texture. It does look a little brighter to my untrained eye than raw steel, then again I don't have anything to compare it to and there's the whole untrained thing. I'll make a point to read up on plating just in case it's something I may want to try. I do like the finish and the feel of those handles, perhaps some day I'll be able to produce something as nice (I won't hold my breath though).

Cheers,
-Doug

 

[Dabbler]

I'm sorry I'm so late to this party. It is most likely shot blasted. It looks like it was then Nickel plated. If you look under high magnification, you can see that the surface is 'peened' rather than cut. This is most evident where the tool marks are still visible.

When we bead blasted with silicon carbide, the nickel finish had more of a satin grey-blue shine. With shot blasting, the surface sparkles more...

----

I don't know Vactra. I use Shell Tonna 68, it is available here, and I've gotten used to it over all the years!

 

[FOMOGO]

Got you covered here. That finish was originally introduced by Sparkle Farkle of laugh in fame. Few knew of her heavy involvement in the machining world. Mike

 

[francist]

Gosh, that Goldie really was something wasn’t she…

 

[rwm]

If you call PM I think they would tell you. I'm guessing shot blasting. I sometimes sand blast material and then clear coat it. It's a nice finish; It looks just like gray paint.