any HOPE of the partial powdercoating coming back?

[1mbrews8]

Was just about to order parts for a saber, but noticed the no powdercoating (except for whole part) (

Any hope of it coming back?

Thanks!

Mike

[sgcdialler]

As FJK is so fond of saying, "It Depends™". Partial powder coating was TCSS's biggest consumer of time before an order went out, hence the move to full coating only. If there comes a point in the future where Tim has some more help in the shop, perhaps it will come back. But for now, full-coating only.

[Strydur]

Perfectly said..

[1mbrews8]

yeah, I saw that and I guess makes sense.... but... that was also one of the main reasons I was going to go with him )

[Miraluka]

Just to be clear... is there any tentative plan to bring it back, or is it just a "maybe it'll happen" kind of thing? I'm just wondering because on the store homepage it flashes all the MHS examples, all but 1 of which feature custom PC options. Could be kind of misleading if it's not officially slated to come back, right?

Just a thought. I realize other things on your plate are probably a bigger priority than updating that.

[TheSilverDark]

I would really like the partial powder coating to come back as its not inly huge design to my saber, but I'm sure countless others. If not I guess I could do something else but really hoping it comes back.

[seym56]

Just curious, how hard is it to remove powder coating from an area? Do you sand it off? or is it some other way?

[Askew Wai]

I have removed some of Tim's powdercoat by sanding, and using a retractable razor knife.

The sandpaper worked just fine for the small area I was targeting since it was raised (embossed) - I could reach it without risking adjacent powdercoated area. Not sure if it varies, but my powdercoat came off pretty easily with coarse sandpaper and a bit of patience. Then I used progressively finer paper, buffing paste and a clean buffing wheel on my dremmel to get it back to shiny. I put lots of tape over my parts to preserve just in case. This seems to be a very reasonable task using minimal equipment.

The retractable razor knife was very tedious and scraped the aluminium but since my only objective was to remove powdercoat where I needed two perpendicular parts to fit together perfectly. In that case it worked out great, image attached. I wouldn't know how to make that metal smooth without risking the adjacent powdercoat.

For parts of a flat surface, or for powdercoat on engraved surfaces (preserving the powdercoat on the raised surfaces around it) I imagine milling would be the ideal solution. As I don't have access to milling equipment I'd be inclined to find another way, such as faking raw metal with silver tape or coming up with a more practical design. But I haven't actually tried.

[sgcdialler]

The way you've described, Askew, is perfect for someone without access to more than the basics. You're also correct in saying that it is much easier and faster to do with machining equipment. I'm lucky enough to have access to a good lathe--circumferentially sanding PC off with that takes almost no time in comparison. For someone with some power tools (an electric drill, ideally), you could mount the part to the drill to have a similar effect. For non-circumferential work, like you've described, careful work with a rotary tool can work well to get the majority off in comparatively little time.