stripping ceramic coating on magnesium switch

[SiRacer420]

So I ended up pulling the lenses and stripping them completely with sanding and a scotch buffing pad on a dremel. After sanding them down to 2000 grit on one of the orbitals I decided to polish them to see what it looked like. I know with the magnesium it will not keep the polish and will oxidize quick but what do you guys think? Polish and clear em or prep and air dry cerakote em?


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I think you've gone farther than anyone else and I'm anxiously waiting to see what comes next.

 

[ShortChangeHero]

So that's what they look like?

What's the texture like?

 

[N Jenner]

It's actually very close in texture to a polished aluminum with it being slightly less porous. Still a ton of work to do to get them completely polished all the way around but I'm thinking thats the way to go instead of cerakote. One thing I might try though once they are done is to leave the lenses out and just see what happens to the finish over a few months. If they oxidize way too fast I'll probably clear them and then pop the lenses in. I'll post pics of the progress but it might take a while with my work schedule to get them completely done.

 

[N Jenner]

Rained out at work so I finished on these this morning. Process to strip the coating and polish was to start with a scotch brite course buffing wheel on a dremel to strip most of the coating ( this seemed to work better than a fine wire wheel ) then wet sand with a foam pad from 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. Biggest pain was getting the coating out of the lens grooves in the orbitals and ended up using a needle to cut through on the inner edge and then sand out the rest. After wet sanding I put a 3" soft cloth buffing wheel in the drill press at around 1000 rpm and did the initial polish with a green medium polishing compound then a final polish with a different wheel and a diamond compound. Most of the time put into this was stripping the original coating but including every step it was around 5 hours. This doesn't include removing the lenses in the beginning, I think that was around an hour, total pain in the ass lol. I think they turned out pretty good and it will be interesting to see how well the polished finish holds up. Next step, cutting new lenses...............but what colour?

 

[SiRacer420]

Rained out at work so I finished on these this morning. Process to strip the coating and polish was to start with a scotch brite course buffing wheel on a dremel to strip most of the coating ( this seemed to work better than a fine wire wheel ) then wet sand with a foam pad from 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. Biggest pain was getting the coating out of the lens grooves in the orbitals and ended up using a needle to cut through on the inner edge and then sand out the rest. After wet sanding I put a 3" soft cloth buffing wheel in the drill press at around 1000 rpm and did the initial polish with a green medium polishing compound then a final polish with a different wheel and a diamond compound. Most of the time put into this was stripping the original coating but including every step it was around 5 hours. This doesn't include removing the lenses in the beginning, I think that was around an hour, total pain in the ass lol. I think they turned out pretty good and it will be interesting to see how well the polished finish holds up. Next step, cutting new lenses...............but what colour?


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Awesome!

 

[xmetal40]

Fire, +red, violet or deep water polar!

 

[NCHornet]

Good job. I think those would look great in a flat black Cerakote or one of Mark's awesome black finishes.
NCH

 

[N Jenner]

Didn't have any donors that would fit other than some polarized black iridium from I don't know what. Interesting though once the coating has been removed the lens swaps are very easy and yet are still firmly held in place. Turned out well in my opinion but I think ill be cutting a few more different lenses to see what will look best.

What are the next few custom of the month categories?

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

Didn't have any donors that would fit other than some polarized black iridium from I don't know what. Interesting though once the coating has been removed the lens swaps are very easy and yet are still firmly held in place. Turned out well in my opinion but I think ill be cutting a few more different lenses to see what will look best.

What are the next few custom of the month categories?


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@SiRacer420

 

[SiRacer420]

In the OP here:
Oakley Forum Custom of the Month Contest (Rules, Suggestions, and Discussion)



Looks ******* great!