Boston-area metal finishing shops for hard-coat anodizing?

amb

NES Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
1,241
Likes
476
Location
Massachusetts
Feedback: 21 / 0 / 0
People have been talking about 80% lowers a lot lately, but the question that comes to my mind after that is "What do you do about finishing it?" There are lots of metal finishing shops in eastern Mass. (many of which specifically advertise mil-spec hard-coat anodizing) and even more that I could ship to. Keeping it local would be nice, though.

Anyone done the legwork already and have a shop they like?

Shops that I know of offhand are River Street in Braintree, Coating Systems in Lowell, and whatever that shop is in Beverly that does great powder coating, but there have got to be dozens more and I'm betting somebody has already called around and figured out who does quality work at a reasonable price and doesn't mind dealing with small-scale retail customers. I believe an FFL is also required, but I'm guessing any large shop that does refinishing work already has one. (I know River Street does.)

Thanks!
 
bump from the past if anyone can give any more up to date feedback or experience to this.
 
It gets pretty expensive to have a shop anodize a small batch of parts. You might be better off talking to one of the guys who setup a home anodizing setup. Or doing something other than anodizing, like Duracoat or Cerakote.

If you wanted to send it out, here is the company that Nodak Spud uses. Again...pricey!!!

http://www.usanodizing.com/pricing.htm
 
Yeash! I'm certain I can find cheaper than $300 for mil-spec anodizing on a lower. I haven't ruled out cerakote yet, either. I was actually thinking of getting my own cerakote set up some time down the road. I'm just curious to see what people on here were doing. Thanks for the reply.
 
I anodize the lowers myself at home. I have a DIY thread about it... It's not mil-spec Type III anodizing, but it's better than leaving it raw. There's at least one NES member who does cerakote on the side. I might set up to do that later too.
 
Yeash! I'm certain I can find cheaper than $300 for mil-spec anodizing on a lower. I haven't ruled out cerakote yet, either. I was actually thinking of getting my own cerakote set up some time down the road. I'm just curious to see what people on here were doing. Thanks for the reply.

The $300 is for NFA lowers. If yours is from an 80% lower in the white it is $100. That is still crazy though if you ask me.

I've done the single-can Duracoat since I don't have an airgun and it comes out pretty nice if you do proper prep, take your time, and plan ahead. I did my Uzi, a synthetic rifle stock, and some other parts. The matte black comes out a lot shinier than you'd expect, just a heads up. I can't imagine what the gloss black looks like!
 
I just bought six 80%s, so I'll have a bunch to do at some point. They haven't gotten here yet, but I'm just looking into this for the future - a bunch of friends wanted to make their own, and I have a little machine experience so I'm leading the charge. I plan on doing mine mil spec ano to perfectly match the upper and rail. My cheapskate brother will probably spray bomb his, the others are probably considering Cerakote. I'm just doing all the legwork to see what the best option is. Thanks for your replies.
 
Once I see what I get for a power supply, I might be able to get to mil-spec/type III anodizing at home. Just requires more power and cooler temperatures to get there. Need to get larger tanks before I can try that. Hope to have the new power supply this weekend (won't know until later in the week). Tanks are easy, as is the electrolyte. NOT using sulfuric acid though, at least not where I currently live. Don't want to blow up after all. [rofl2]
 
Once I see what I get for a power supply, I might be able to get to mil-spec/type III anodizing at home. Just requires more power and cooler temperatures to get there. Need to get larger tanks before I can try that. Hope to have the new power supply this weekend (won't know until later in the week). Tanks are easy, as is the electrolyte. NOT using sulfuric acid though, at least not where I currently live. Don't want to blow up after all. [rofl2]

Well if you're successful with that, I might have a whole pile of lowers for you to do if your prices beat what I've seen so far
 
Back
Top Bottom