Author Topic: Powder coating frame  (Read 4197 times)

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Offline LevelSteam

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Powder coating frame
« on: Mon, 10 December 2018, 21:38:58 »
I recently grabbed a Ducky Shine 7 in the standard gunmetal grey color, and I'm kind of curious as to how feasible it would be to have the top zinc alloy portion of the frame powder coated. There's a place near me that does great work, but I have very little experience with this process and was curious to hear opinions from people that have actually done it.

My main concern is whether the coating would cause the frame not to fit back together properly (everything is pretty flush and I don't know how much thickness the coating would realistically add). Are there any other things to tale into consideration before inquiring about this type of thing for a keyboard?

Offline pixelpusher

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 10 December 2018, 22:18:08 »
I recently grabbed a Ducky Shine 7 in the standard gunmetal grey color, and I'm kind of curious as to how feasible it would be to have the top zinc alloy portion of the frame powder coated. There's a place near me that does great work, but I have very little experience with this process and was curious to hear opinions from people that have actually done it.

My main concern is whether the coating would cause the frame not to fit back together properly (everything is pretty flush and I don't know how much thickness the coating would realistically add). Are there any other things to tale into consideration before inquiring about this type of thing for a keyboard?

I haven't had anything powder coated, but I've been around long enough to see this come up in group buys and such.  Powder coating shops will have a hard time getting a "premium" finish on your board.  It's not going to look perfect and it is going to be thick.  Probably thick enough to cause fit issues.  Could you have it cerakoted instead?  Cerakote finish is extremely thin and often looks flawless.  Plus, it's more durable.

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 10 December 2018, 22:41:34 »
Ahhh, ok! They do Cerakote finishes there too so I'll have to ask them about that. :)

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 18 December 2018, 14:27:48 »
Well I ended up going with a cerakote finish and it turned out pretty bad. Im going to look around to see if there's anyone else near me that might be able to fix it since this stuff is apparently crazy durable do I can't just sand off the imperfections and paint over it myself. Lot of areas that didnt get coated properly, while others are full of what looks lile over-spary and other imperfections.

Offline pixelpusher

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 18 December 2018, 15:45:57 »
Yikes.  I didn’t know you could mess up cerakote so badly. I mean, it’s not horrible, but I’m sure you wanted it perfect.  I like the color a lot. Which color is it?

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #5 on: Tue, 18 December 2018, 19:30:33 »
I like the color a lot too. It's "wild purple" btw.
Everything else is just a mess though.

Offline tex_live_utility

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 19 December 2018, 06:54:36 »
Sorry to see such a bad Cerakote outcome! Seems like a good time to review the shop online and post some pics...
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Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #7 on: Mon, 31 December 2018, 09:58:11 »
I talked it over with the person that did it and ended up only paying for the cost of the cerakote color itself, so I'm not out much money at all. I have an appointment coming up with a much more experienced (and well reviewed) person that's going to redo it for me, so I'll post new pics when I get it back from them.

Offline pixelpusher

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #8 on: Mon, 31 December 2018, 10:08:34 »
Cool. Keep us updated. It’s a neat project.  Also, if you’re happy with the new guy you might have people interested in his contact info  :D

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #9 on: Fri, 18 January 2019, 15:56:05 »
Update on this project-
I got the frame back from the person redoing it today and it looks fantastic! There are still a couple very minor imperfections, but such is to be expected and theyre not very noticeable unlike that last job. Here's a few pics :D

Offline pixelpusher

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #10 on: Fri, 18 January 2019, 16:07:44 »
Top notch board.  Is that the same color as before?

Offline pixelpusher

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #11 on: Fri, 18 January 2019, 16:09:30 »
Also, Gotta say that would look pretty fantastic with GMK Lazer or Taro caps on it :)

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #12 on: Fri, 18 January 2019, 16:29:15 »
Yup, same color (wild purple) but lighting in my office isn't great so it looks more like a rosey, redish purple. I'm planning on pairing it with Troubled Minds when R2 ships, hoping it matches the RDE purple well.

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #13 on: Fri, 18 January 2019, 17:16:41 »
Comparison with RDA Hyperfuse purple has me a bit nervous though.

Offline sublyme

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #14 on: Sun, 03 February 2019, 12:46:08 »
That turned out great! Can I ask how much this was? There are some guys at my local gun range that offer this sort of service. I wonder if I could get them to do a board or two..

Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #15 on: Mon, 04 February 2019, 22:11:30 »
That turned out great! Can I ask how much this was? There are some guys at my local gun range that offer this sort of service. I wonder if I could get them to do a board or two..

It was $125, which seemed pretty reasonable to me considering he had to strip the other job and redo it. Once my keyset comes in I'll have to post new pics; I plan on putting Troubled Minds on it.

Offline TheGlyph

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #16 on: Wed, 13 February 2019, 17:23:48 »
Looking forward to seeing the full build! I'm a huge fan of custom paint on cases, such a fun way to differentiate from the "masses".
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Offline LevelSteam

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Re: Powder coating frame
« Reply #17 on: Tue, 09 April 2019, 11:03:59 »
Bit of an update, got *most* of my caps from Kono, still waiting on the numpad since I ordered that a few months after everyrhing else. Overall I'm not sure how I feel about it; since I started this project I've seen a few cerakoted boards on reddit that ended up a very vibrant purple, which is what I was after. But despite how the pics I've seen online look the "bright purple" pieces I've seen irl look much more desaturated, almost lavender in color, while the "wild purple", like my frame, is a bit more vibrant but leans more toward the reddish end of the color palate.

I'm not sure if the things I've seen online have been some sort of custom mixes or what, but I think if I attempt this again in the future I'll do it on a board that isn't quite as snuggly fit together so that I can go with a nice, bold powdercoat. The cerakote is thin and durable, but it's also very muted and flat. I'll update this one more time once the rest of the caps get here with some different angles and lighting though.
« Last Edit: Tue, 09 April 2019, 22:53:10 by LevelSteam »