Xmetal Finishes.....can they be removed?

[Orion]

I'm considering customizing some Xmetals myself and have not found through searching, any threads on what other's have done to prep the xmetals before they anodize or paint (aside from removing lenses/rubbers/screws).

If such a thread exists, and someone can point me in that direction, I would be grateful.

Bascially, I'm looking to find out if the OEM finish should be removed and what is the best way to do so?

If not, what is the way to prep frames before customizing?

I understand some may not wish to divulge "trade secrets" due to this being a source of income. Rest assured I'm not looking to start a business doing this.

I really like to DIY and this seems like a fun adventure.

If you would rather contact me directly rather than publicly, I'm fine with that and any conversations we have will remain private.

 

[SiRacer420]

Subscribed

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

I believe people have polished the finish out. Haven't they?

@jdd32 @zwc0442

 

[kronin323]

Retired member InfiniteHero used to offer an ano service, had at least this much to say about it:
Anodizing X-Metals by XMC optics

@THE X-MAN has done plenty of painting; I don't believe he does any prep other than cleaning but he can say for sure.

@zwc0442 has been doing a lot of ano and could chime in on what he does if he cares to.

 

[zwc0442]

X metal finish isn't a coating it's pretty much just bare blasted titanium. Early plasma and titanium are a coating of some sort as well as carbon. Later generations of plasma some are bare titanium and others have some thin coating as well. I don't really know with gen has it and which doesn't.

 

[THE X-MAN]

The jury is still out on whether or not X metal is exactly a finish or bare metal. Jim jannard himself told me at red it was an annodized finish.

 

[zwc0442]

Even if it is anodizing it's still bare titanium. Anodizing just changes the thickness of the natural oxide layer that is on titanium. I myself do an extra step after blasting to darken the finish a bit more than bare blasted.

 

[Orion]

T

Retired member InfiniteHero used to offer an ano service, had at least this much to say about it:
Anodizing X-Metals by XMC optics

@THE X-MAN has done plenty of painting; I don't believe he does any prep other than cleaning but he can say for sure.

@zwc0442 has been doing a lot of ano and could chime in on what he does if he cares to.

Thanks for the link Kronin. Was a good read.

I've read a bunch of post from both those members and didn't quite find the info I was looking for so if they, or someone else chimes in, great, if not, I'll probably try giving it a try anyway.

 

[Orion]

X metal finish isn't a coating it's pretty much just bare blasted titanium. Early plasma and titanium are a coating of some sort as well as carbon. Later generations of plasma some are bare titanium and others have some thin coating as well. I don't really know with gen has it and which doesn't.

So for all your ano work (and some very nice work might I say), you don't do a thing to whatever the factor finish is, just prep and go?

oh....and when you say "blasting" I assume that is "sand blasting" or does that mean something completely different

 

[zwc0442]

Oh I do a large amount of prep depending on what the final finish is going to be. Probably 90% of the work to get a nice smooth anodized finish is prep, sanding and smoothing out of the frame takes forever. Even later gen plasma frames are pretty smooth but still require a couple hours of prep. X metal finish is the most time consuming to start with if going to a polished or anodized finish. Aside from 1st gen plasma but I don't really do those to an anodized or polished finish as the results are generally not very good because the early castings are very rough. Just not worth the time to get them very nice shape. Best to just refinish those back to the early plasma finish.