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Corrosion is becoming a bigger issue for us all the time. I would like to relate a really good experience I had today with an alternative way to protect against corrosion on metal parts.
My EAA chapter president is a machinist, fabricator, and high level tinkerer. He told me about a series of metal coating products that were sold as Kal-Gard up until recently, and is now called KG Coatings. www.kgcoatings.com
This is the kind of high tech coating stuff they used originally in high dollar racing engines. Now the products are used for gun finishes, high wear parts on hi-per cars, and industrial uses. Charlie did my tailwheel leaf springs today using the KG Coating Gun-Kote. He showed me a couple of wrenches he coated years ago with this stuff, striking the wrenches together, rubbing them like a knife sharpener, banging them on the side of his toolbox. Not a blemish on them.
This stuff is awesome. I read the spec sheets and researched the stuff on the company's website. The Gun-Kote is tested to exceed a fairly heavy duty mil-spec for saltwater immersion and spray with no corrosion or shipping. There is no known solvent that will loosen it from a properly prepared metal surface. It is highly corrosion resistant and some flavors of the stuff are very slippery to assist in lubrication, some are just protective coatings.
They have a Molybdenum material, a Teflon material, and protective finish materials. They also have a ceramic coating for the tops of pistons, etc. but this is for NASCAR and F-1 engines, there would be little benefit to our old dinosaurs.
From what I have seen so far, this stuff appears to have several advantages over powder coating, but is not as thick of a buildup. So it would not "hide" cracks like powder coating could. The finish is less than half a ten-thousandth.
Based on what I have seen on my tailwheel springs I would highly recommend this stuff anywhere you want to have a permanent corrosion barrier. If I was re-doing a set of landing gears, or spar fittings, or an engine mount, or a crankcase, I'd do it with this stuff in a heartbeat. Because of the high resistance to chipping and peeling I would use it on a propeller instead of paint as well.
It is a one part finish that you spray on after sandblasting, then bake it at 250 or 350 F for an hour or two.
If anyone knows anything bad or good about this material please post it. If it is HALF as good as what I am thinking right now I would heartily recommend it and I would expect it to become a lifetime corrosion solution on any surface it is baked into.
My EAA chapter president is a machinist, fabricator, and high level tinkerer. He told me about a series of metal coating products that were sold as Kal-Gard up until recently, and is now called KG Coatings. www.kgcoatings.com
This is the kind of high tech coating stuff they used originally in high dollar racing engines. Now the products are used for gun finishes, high wear parts on hi-per cars, and industrial uses. Charlie did my tailwheel leaf springs today using the KG Coating Gun-Kote. He showed me a couple of wrenches he coated years ago with this stuff, striking the wrenches together, rubbing them like a knife sharpener, banging them on the side of his toolbox. Not a blemish on them.
This stuff is awesome. I read the spec sheets and researched the stuff on the company's website. The Gun-Kote is tested to exceed a fairly heavy duty mil-spec for saltwater immersion and spray with no corrosion or shipping. There is no known solvent that will loosen it from a properly prepared metal surface. It is highly corrosion resistant and some flavors of the stuff are very slippery to assist in lubrication, some are just protective coatings.
They have a Molybdenum material, a Teflon material, and protective finish materials. They also have a ceramic coating for the tops of pistons, etc. but this is for NASCAR and F-1 engines, there would be little benefit to our old dinosaurs.
From what I have seen so far, this stuff appears to have several advantages over powder coating, but is not as thick of a buildup. So it would not "hide" cracks like powder coating could. The finish is less than half a ten-thousandth.
Based on what I have seen on my tailwheel springs I would highly recommend this stuff anywhere you want to have a permanent corrosion barrier. If I was re-doing a set of landing gears, or spar fittings, or an engine mount, or a crankcase, I'd do it with this stuff in a heartbeat. Because of the high resistance to chipping and peeling I would use it on a propeller instead of paint as well.
It is a one part finish that you spray on after sandblasting, then bake it at 250 or 350 F for an hour or two.
If anyone knows anything bad or good about this material please post it. If it is HALF as good as what I am thinking right now I would heartily recommend it and I would expect it to become a lifetime corrosion solution on any surface it is baked into.
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