Coatings for keyboards

[Melvang]

What do you guys prefer to have done?  I really like Cerakote, I don't have anything done with it yet, but I will. 

This is one of the reasons I want to go with Cerakote.

[ghostjuggernaut]

I have been considering cerakote for my Kish restore.  Its between that and powder coating.  I have other work to do with the case first, but once that is done I am going to start looking into pricing.

Have you gotten any estimates?  Based on what I have read in the gun community I think that powder coating will be cheaper in the end.

[Melvang]

I have been considering cerakote for my Kish restore.  Its between that and powder coating.  I have other work to do with the case first, but once that is done I am going to start looking into pricing.

Have you gotten any estimates?  Based on what I have read in the gun community I think that powder coating will be cheaper in the end.

Powder is cheaper, but this stuff just doesn't scratch.  I used it on a mouse pad for a guy here, still in the exact shape that it was when I sent it to him.  The cost for the cerakote on a single side of sheet metal 18"x24" with no holes to hang cost me $107

[ghostjuggernaut]

You'll have to let me know how your project turns out.  I am still considering it so i'd love to see some finished results.

[geniekid]

My stainless steel plate with Cerakote finish scratches pretty easily, but my experience may be an outlier.

I've had a case anodized and another powder coated and I think my preference is for powder coating.  You get really good control over color, the finish is durable, and you can use it on materials you can't anodize (stainless steel).  That said, the thickness of powder makes it so you have to be careful with your dimensions.  For a case it's no big deal but for a plate you definitely need to take it into account.  Theoretically Cerakote gives you all the benefits of powder without the thickness but that hasn't been my actual experience.  Maybe I'll give it another shot in the future and just hope my plate was a fluke.

[ghostjuggernaut]

That is unfortunate to hear.  I had heard that it was pretty durable overall, but not so much as powder. 

[XMIT]

You can't powder coat plastic (PVC, a Model M casing). You can Cerakote it.

I have one that I've had Cerakote'd but it's not in daily use. I'll check some point to see how easily it scratches.

[nubbinator]

I've been looking at Duracoat since it's cheaper, has more colors, and really isn't any different than the air cure Cerakote (Cerakote C).  Cerakote is really only worth it if you're doing oven cure and oven cure (Cerakote H) is the most durable of the bunch.  There's also KG GunCote, but I haven't really heard anything good about it.

The big downside of Duracoat is the cure time of about a month.

My stainless steel plate with Cerakote finish scratches pretty easily, but my experience may be an outlier.

I've had a case anodized and another powder coated and I think my preference is for powder coating.  You get really good control over color, the finish is durable, and you can use it on materials you can't anodize (stainless steel).  That said, the thickness of powder makes it so you have to be careful with your dimensions.  For a case it's no big deal but for a plate you definitely need to take it into account.  Theoretically Cerakote gives you all the benefits of powder without the thickness but that hasn't been my actual experience.  Maybe I'll give it another shot in the future and just hope my plate was a fluke.

From my understanding, Cerakote does not bond well to stainless steel unless it's been parkerized and degreased.  It bonds well to aluminum and plastic though.

The major advantage of Duracoat, Cerakote, and GunKote is that they don't really have much impact on tolerances.

[Rotwitt]

More

I have been considering cerakote for my Kish restore.  Its between that and powder coating.  I have other work to do with the case first, but once that is done I am going to start looking into pricing.

Have you gotten any estimates?  Based on what I have read in the gun community I think that powder coating will be cheaper in the end.

Powder is cheaper, but this stuff just doesn't scratch.  I used it on a mouse pad for a guy here, still in the exact shape that it was when I sent it to him.  The cost for the cerakote on a single side of sheet metal 18"x24" with no holes to hang cost me $107

[/more]

The test they're conducting shows abrasive wear, as they state. The test shows that using Cerakote would be good for applications where a lot of friction occurs, like a mouse pad like you stated. This type of wear will most likely occur slowly over the course of years. One of the factors that might have had an effect on the results of the test conducted, might be that the surface roughness of Cerakote is lower than the competitors, thus creating better results. (Abrasive wear stems from the friction between two surfaces. The softest surface will be the one affected by wear.)


The test does not show how well the coating reacts to suddenly occuring forces, like an object being dropped. This means that you might accidentally scratch the coating, if you use a key or an object of approximately same hardness.

Just thought you should know

[jaffers]

That said buffing a surface should give it more wear resistance on a lesser material

[sinusoid]

Did anyone try rubberized coatings? Silicone or polyurethane? If so, any recommendations?

I was thinking of giving plastidip a go, just out of curiosity (I know it peels, but still wanna give it a go. They sell adhesive agent for it).

Having seen Zekromtor use felt on keys (here) kinda gave me the urge to try something soft and texture-y.

[jaffers]

Did anyone try rubberized coatings? Silicone or polyurethane? If so, any recommendations?

I was thinking of giving plastidip a go, just out of curiosity (I know it peels, but still wanna give it a go. They sell adhesive agent for it).

Having seen Zekromtor use felt on keys (here) kinda gave me the urge to try something soft and texture-y.

Don't know about plastidip cause I will probably never use it but DO NOT use a polyurethane coating. They will break down with certain oils and end up smelling like vomit. This has happened before with low quality tools that use it instead of rubber. So use a rubber bsed compound

[Melvang]

Silicone based coatings should be fine as well.  I do agree, try and stay away from the poly stuff.  I personally use black plastidip on my F plates.  Doesn't seem to affect the operation at all.  Yes, it is a royal pain in the butt to get the plates slid together without peeling it at the edges, but I just used it because it won't show finger prints.

[sinusoid]

@jaffers re:rubber - isoprene or neoprene/synthetic?
I don't know much about that spectrum of elastomers. Are there any brands selling these in a dilluted form for coatings and such?
When I tried searching for rubber coating only Plastidip came up, but I know they use spray-on rubbers in the automotive industry for chassis undercoats. Couldn't find anything about it though.

@Melvang - Do you know of any silicone based products for spray coating? I tried spray coating stuff with condensation cure silicone with solvent. It used to stick very well to metals and ceramics, but didn't stick to plastics like ABS at all. Maybe it could work with intermediate layer of something else, but I'm not a chemist... :/

Regarding polyurethanes - there are various kinds out there. TPUs, the thermoplastic polyurethanes, are resistant to most oils and chemicals. And abrasion. And UV. They're pretty hardcore.

Btw, I've seen some Plastidip products contain Benzene, known carcinogen, causes leukemia. Bought it, but now not really sure I want to get a prolonged contact with it.

[Melvang]

@jaffers re:rubber - isoprene or neoprene/synthetic?
I don't know much about that spectrum of elastomers. Are there any brands selling these in a dilluted form for coatings and such?
When I tried searching for rubber coating only Plastidip came up, but I know they use spray-on rubbers in the automotive industry for chassis undercoats. Couldn't find anything about it though.

@Melvang - Do you know of any silicone based products for spray coating? I tried spray coating stuff with condensation cure silicone with solvent. It used to stick very well to metals and ceramics, but didn't stick to plastics like ABS at all. Maybe it could work with intermediate layer of something else, but I'm not a chemist... :/

Regarding polyurethanes - there are various kinds out there. TPUs, the thermoplastic polyurethanes, are resistant to most oils and chemicals. And abrasion. And UV. They're pretty hardcore.

Btw, I've seen some Plastidip products contain Benzene, known carcinogen, causes leukemia. Bought it, but now not really sure I want to get a prolonged contact with it.

As far as I know, the benzene is a solvent and only a health issue while it is still wet.  Benzene is a solvent that is essentially used as a carrier for the solids.  When the solvents evaporate away, what is left is the solids that form the coating.  This is true for any liquid applied coating.  Though different solids and carriers may be used.  This is one of the advantages of powder coat.  It is just the paint solids, and then cured with in a couple different methods.  Some actually dip the part in melted paint solids, some use heat to bake the cure which melts, and some companies are working on a UV based curing process.

[sinusoid]

The solid has a tendency to retain trace amounts of the solvents in its molecular structure. It never really 'dries' completely, best you can do is to keep it in high vacuum until its degassing rate drops to a safe degree.
That's what worries me about benzene.

May be prejudice, though. I don't have hard maths or spectrometer data to back that up.