Thinning Cerakote

[Larryh128]

Has anyone thinned cerakote with any success once it starts to get grainy? If so, what did you use.
Thanks

 

[tobnpr]

"Grainy"??
Old Cerakote seems to get thick and nasty...I throw it out.
I don't do a ton of it, so I stopped buying quarts except for a few like Graphite Black that I use a lot, the rest I buy testers and pints as I end up throwing out a lot.

Is it clogging your filter? How old is it?

 

[Danny1788]

I keep it in the garage fridge and it last a long time. Never had it turn grainy on me

 

[NV_Dmax]

Has anyone thinned cerakote with any success once it starts to get grainy? If so, what did you use.
Thanks

Tertiary butyl acetate can thin some colors. That being said, if it’s old you’re out of luck. Once the little specs start showing up in the strainer it’s over. Get yourself the paint shaker from harbor freight and shake the containers regularly. That’s the only thing I have ever found to extend the life of a bottle.
Going from refrigerator to ambient air temp, in most climates, creates condensation. That’s bad news.

 

[AWLEAPHART]

MEK for thinning maybe.

 

[AWLEAPHART]

I use to see a gunsmith put some MEK in the Cerakote coat and then spray on. Maybe he did it to thin it.

 

[Larryh128]

"Grainy"??
Old Cerakote seems to get thick and nasty...I throw it out.
I don't do a ton of it, so I stopped buying quarts except for a few like Graphite Black that I use a lot, the rest I buy testers and pints as I end up throwing out a lot.

Is it clogging your filter? How old is it?

I'm thinking about 9 months but I also had to change a Motorola battery in my FM radio that I thought was only a couple years old and I had dated it in 2014. So it's probably a 1.5 yrs old.

 

[Larryh128]

"Grainy"??
Old Cerakote seems to get thick and nasty...I throw it out.
I don't do a ton of it, so I stopped buying quarts except for a few like Graphite Black that I use a lot, the rest I buy testers and pints as I end up throwing out a lot.

Is it clogging your filter? How old is it?

Yes, slow to go thru the filter. According to their application guide, I'm spraying dry. But that's not the case, just getting some small "flecs" in it. It acts like the ceramic particles are "fused" together.

 

[boltfluter]

Call Cerakote, I believe they recommended acetone but check for yourself. It did work for me.

Paul

 

[Larryh128]

Call Cerakote, I believe they recommended acetone but check for yourself. It did work for me.

Paul

Thanks

 

[Hino895]

I’ve been shooting Cerakote for 6 years now.
Back when I first started they used denatured alcohol as their suspending agent.
It flashed off pretty quick after spraying it.
3-4 years ago they changed it to something else, don’t know what.
But I use denatured alcohol still to thin it and to prolong shelf life.
Works fine but I haven’t tried it with the new elite Cerakote as I haven’t had the product sit on the shelf for that long.
Get on line (eBay) and buy a thousand 3mm stainless bearings put several in each bottle it helps when you’re shaking it up.