Can you cera better on an unfinished metal? I would think skipping the alu finishing (polish, bead blasting) would bring cost down for the manufacturing of the units intended for Cera
Cerakote adheres better over anodizing AND results in a stronger more durable finish. Skipping this to cut costs would be exceedingly short sighted.
He literally said that was the problem... "It seems like because the prototype was polished and bead blasted so smooth (which is great for anodising but apparently not for cera), the coating didn't stick properly."
Then his shop did something wrong. Most guns are Cerakote over hard anodizing. Works fine. Some will lightly blast the anodizing (if its in poor condition or excessively smooth) to help clean it after degreasing, but removing anodizing to cerakote seems like a bad idea to me. Just finish the surface different.
My guess is they didn't use degreaser to really get it clean first, or they used a super smooth finish. Anodizing should create a porus surface in the alu, which is easier for cerakote to bond to, but pores can easily get filled with machine oil and the like which is why you have to clean the **** out of it first. But worst case even if its smooth, you can just rough the surface lightly before coating.
Would also wanna find out if they used round media, as with cerakote when you blast you want rough media so you etch not polish.