L6 Blue

klrman · 2018-07-29T06:01:16.000Z

Had two spare L6 battery tubes so I decided a few days ago to spray paint one of them with 12 coats of enamel paint and then bake it for several days in the hot sun. Turned out really good and sold it to my neighbor for $220. I didn't want to sell it but he almost insisted on it and offered me a price that made me say "why not". I can always do it again. It's not as if it was hard to do, it's only a round tube.

Lightbringer · 2018-07-29T06:04:14.000Z

Ha! Awesome…

Looks nice, too!

klrman · 2018-07-29T06:25:07.000Z

After I sold it, I was thinking "ha" too lol He kind of took the fun away from me a little as I was just beginning to admire it and then it was gone.

toddcshoe · 2018-07-29T06:31:47.000Z

Now you have another project for next weekend.

Now try powder coating, I hear you can do it with a few materials and a extra oven in the back yard. At least that is what the neighbor told me. LOL

klrman · 2018-07-29T06:43:11.000Z

Never did powder coating before but I have to try it. After I baked this enamel paint in the sun for a few days, I drove my thumb fingernail in it to see if I could scratch it up a little and the paint didn't chip which surprised me. Last few days have been been close to 100F so obviously it makes a difference with the paint.

toddcshoe · 2018-07-29T07:28:41.000Z

I imagine heat would cure it and harden it at the same time. I also assume the quicker it can cure the better.

Yeah, I have a powder coating kit here at the house. Haven’t attempted to use it yet. I don’t want to bake it in the same oven I cook with, so I was kind of waiting till I could grab a free electric oven that I can keep out back and experiment with. Might look kinda funny with a oven in my yard but, I am not worried about it too much.

Macka17 · 2018-07-29T09:37:03.000Z

A Small electric “camping oven” we use in caravans would probably do the job well enuff.
Even a good electric frypan with lid?.

pinkpanda3310 · 2018-07-29T12:04:51.000Z

Very cool project

Maybe check Craigslist or your equivalent for a benchtop oven (pie warmer / sandwich toaster ).

klrman · 2018-07-29T19:59:26.000Z

toddcshoe:

I imagine heat would cure it and harden it at the same time. I also assume the quicker it can cure the better. Yeah, I have a powder coating kit here at the house. Haven’t attempted to use it yet. I don’t want to bake it in the same oven I cook with, so I was kind of waiting till I could grab a free electric oven that I can keep out back and experiment with. Might look kinda funny with a oven in my yard but, I am not worried about it too much.

Might invest in a little cheap used oven for that. Powder coating could give these tubes an even better finish overall. Have to do some quick research to see how to do a nice powder coating.

klrman · 2018-07-29T20:13:09.000Z

pinkpanda3310:

Very cool project Maybe check Craigslist or your equivalent for a benchtop oven (pie warmer / sandwich toaster ).

I could wait for the half price sales that Canadian Tire regularly has and buy one of These to play with. Not sure how to protect the thread ends from the powder coating and oven heat, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. With the paint, I just taped both threaded ends and it worked out perfectly.

toddcshoe · 2018-07-29T21:24:26.000Z

klrman:

toddcshoe:

I imagine heat would cure it and harden it at the same time. I also assume the quicker it can cure the better. Yeah, I have a powder coating kit here at the house. Haven’t attempted to use it yet. I don’t want to bake it in the same oven I cook with, so I was kind of waiting till I could grab a free electric oven that I can keep out back and experiment with. Might look kinda funny with a oven in my yard but, I am not worried about it too much.

Might invest in a little cheap used oven for that. Powder coating could give these tubes an even better finish overall. Have to do some quick research to see how to do a nice powder coating.

I didn’t even think about a small toaster type oven. Good call. We have a few resale shops in town. I imagine I could pick one up there for less than $10. Thanks for the suggestion.

mortuus · 2018-07-29T22:19:47.000Z

Interesting, how about paint it full blue? that would look even better.

klrman · 2018-07-30T01:13:11.000Z

toddcshoe:

klrman:

toddcshoe:

I imagine heat would cure it and harden it at the same time. I also assume the quicker it can cure the better. Yeah, I have a powder coating kit here at the house. Haven’t attempted to use it yet. I don’t want to bake it in the same oven I cook with, so I was kind of waiting till I could grab a free electric oven that I can keep out back and experiment with. Might look kinda funny with a oven in my yard but, I am not worried about it too much.

Might invest in a little cheap used oven for that. Powder coating could give these tubes an even better finish overall. Have to do some quick research to see how to do a nice powder coating.

I didn’t even think about a small toaster type oven. Good call. We have a few resale shops in town. I imagine I could pick one up there for less than $10. Thanks for the suggestion.

I should have thought of that myself as we have a huge charity shop a few blocks away. Nothing over $10.00 and has just about everything.

Steeldog · 2018-09-24T16:44:03.000Z

That’s nice!!

manithree · 2018-09-24T16:53:09.000Z

I wouldn’t advise a used toaster oven for powder coating. New ones are cheap, and I was told there are too many used toaster ovens that don’t regulate temperature properly (it’s a common failure mode).

I’ve powder coated hard-cast lead bullets in a (new) toaster oven, and it worked just fine. I suppose if you’re powder coating something with a much higher melting point than HCL, unregulated heat might not be as bad if you watch it closely. But you can still ruin the powdercoat finish with high heat.

Ocelot · 2018-09-24T17:00:07.000Z

Absolutely fantastic klrman!

Ive wanted a clear L6 for quite some time now, and that Reflex Blue just knocks it out of the park! Congrats on tripling your investment with a well done splash of color. I’m bored to death of Henry Ford Black tubes.

FYI, Vinh’s Sky Lumen mod service offers a full range of mild to wild Cerakote custom coloration options for any existing light, around $50 (not cheap but worth it to a fanatic :-) )

Great job and thanks for the inspiration!

Ocelot · 2018-09-24T17:08:40.000Z

Klrman,

i can tell you powder coating is the cats meow for finishing aluminum. It’s heavily scratch resistant (hard knocks with wrenches won’t leave a mark!) chemical and high temperature proof. Used it for years on high performance car parts. Much more cost effective than anodizing.

check out www.skylumen.com and see their Gallery of Cerakote finishes. There’s a blue slash purple tintshift monster BLF GT there that will blow you away...

Cheers!

Ocelot · 2018-09-24T17:16:48.000Z

Here’s the ultimate BLF GT: (Image and Light property of www.SkyLumen.com)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Q2AKtkNixwTEztnn9

klrman · 2018-09-24T19:36:46.000Z

Ocelot:

Absolutely fantastic klrman!

Ive wanted a clear L6 for quite some time now, and that Reflex Blue just knocks it out of the park! Congrats on tripling your investment with a well done splash of color. I’m bored to death of Henry Ford Black tubes.

FYI, Vinh’s Sky Lumen mod service offers a full range of mild to wild Cerakote custom coloration options for any existing light, around $50 (not cheap but worth it to a fanatic :-) )

Great job and thanks for the inspiration!

Thanks for the kind words Ocelot! My neighbor ordered another one with the exact same color for his friend so I ordered two more clear L6's and kept one for myself and made my battery tube blue as well. It just sits on my shelf most of the time but I have used it now and then. Told my neighbor the actual price of the L6 but he still insists on giving me the same price as before for another blue one so I have to say that was very nice of him.

Wow, really like that Blue BLF GT, that is a work of art. Going to look at Sky Lumens custom colors too and get some more ideas, thanks again for that