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Old 03-07-2011, 12:50 AM
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Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight?  
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Default Anyone strip and polish their Airweight?

I just saw a pic of a 642 a few posts down where a guy stripped his finish. Anyone else done this? The clear on my 637 is starting to flake off and was hoping it was possible to polish it and still retain the Smith logo.

Here is the pic of the 642.....

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Old 03-07-2011, 10:17 AM
Loco Weed Loco Weed is offline
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The clear coat is necessary to prevent the aluminum alloy from oxidizing. Bare, shiny aluminum will soon get a white haze on it and possibly little white specks. This is aluminum oxide forming. If you polish it up I would predict that you will have to continue to do so for the life of the gun or until it is clear coated again. Have you called S&W?
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Old 03-07-2011, 10:48 AM
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Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight?  
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Originally Posted by Loco Weed View Post
The clear coat is necessary to prevent the aluminum alloy from oxidizing. Bare, shiny aluminum will soon get a white haze on it and possibly little white specks. This is aluminum oxide forming. If you polish it up I would predict that you will have to continue to do so for the life of the gun or until it is clear coated again. Have you called S&W?
I wasn't too worried about oxidation as I live in an extremely dry state. I'm sure it could be hit with some Mother's or other polish now and then to keep it looking good. I have not called Smith, but read in another post a while back that all they will do is refinish it back to original.

Not sure if I would actually strip mine or not, but I thought the pic looked pretty cool. I tried pm'ing the person who posted the pic, but have yet to get a response.
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Old 03-07-2011, 10:50 AM
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Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight?  
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I know it is hard to tell from the pic, but it sure looks like SS to me....
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Old 03-07-2011, 11:07 AM
InTheWoods InTheWoods is offline
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Originally Posted by turbo38gn View Post
I know it is hard to tell from the pic, but it sure looks like SS to me....
I agree. Are you sure you took a photo of the correct gun?
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Old 03-07-2011, 11:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turbo38gn View Post
I know it is hard to tell from the pic, but it sure looks like SS to me....
Are there any lock type J frames that are 100% stainless? The thread I got the pic from was about 642's and 442's.....

642-2/442-2
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Old 03-07-2011, 11:19 AM
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The SS version of the 642 would be the 640. Since that one has the ILS and has the 1 7/8th inch barrel I doubt it is SS since I think they had transitioned to the new barrel design by the time the ILS went in the side. The aluminum bits on my bike that I sometimes polish can look like polished stainless or chrome if I take the time. It takes some real good letting go before aluminum will start to oxidize to let powder build up grow. It will turn a grey color first and as long as it gets an oily rag now and then it won’t oxidize that bad at all. It will just be hard to keep that level of shine unless it gets a shiny clear cote over it.
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Old 03-07-2011, 01:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevadadvx View Post
I just saw a pic of a 642 a few posts down where a guy stripped his finish. Anyone else done this? The clear on my 637 is starting to flake off and was hoping it was possible to polish it and still retain the Smith logo.

Here is the pic of the 642.....

Hi guys...yep, it's a 642-2 a 2004 model. It has looked this way for 5 years. No corrosion problems. I think the photos speak for themselves. No lock problems either.
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Old 03-07-2011, 02:03 PM
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Nice, in that case, I stand corrected. She's A beauty,
I actually have a friend with a -2 has funky looking clear coat.. maybe we'll strip it.. polish it like the cam cover on my 68 XLCH..
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Old 03-07-2011, 02:39 PM
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Interesting that there's no oxidation or discoloring. Maybe you're just lucky and live in the right climate.

I know that S&W had problems getting the clear anodizing to look right on polished alloy J frames. It took to long, varied in quality, and was too expensive.

So they went with bead blasting and grey anodizing, or black anodizing, and tried some other finishes.

/c
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Old 03-07-2011, 02:49 PM
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I want to go the opposite route and have mine Duracoated. But I don't want the Duracoat coming off so I need to have the clearcote removed. How did you get your clearcote off?
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Old 03-07-2011, 04:07 PM
RonS RonS is offline
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When aluminum oxidizes it just changes the color a little and it does so almost instantly on exposure to the oxygen in the air. One plating contractor told me that aluminum has oxidized by the time you get it out of the machine after cutting it. Aluminum oxide also does not scale or pit like rust does steel, it just converts the surface from aluminum to a form of aluminum oxide, which is relatively inert and stops at the exposed surface.

I assume that Smith and Wesson anodizes their light weight guns, which is a different form of aluminum oxide, formed by treating it with an electric current in an acid bath. This form of aluminum oxide is more inert, usually harder and tougher and can be dyed various colors or left silver.

Why S&W puts a clear coat on the guns is something I am curious about, it shouldn't be necessary if the aluminum is anodized and anodizing is so common, accepted and cheap in the firearm industry that I don't know why they would do anything else, especially since they seem to have an issue with the clear coat peeling.
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Old 03-07-2011, 04:12 PM
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While I won’t swear to it, I have been told repeatedly that they don’t anodize the aluminum alloy J frames. They just coat them in something that chips right off. I’m not sure what the 442 is coated with but they don’t suffer the same issues, but I prefer the stainless as I live in the South and everything rusts here…
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Old 03-07-2011, 07:26 PM
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I've been running polished aluminum wheels on hot rods for decades with no oxidation, and a lot worse conditions than a pocket gun would ever see. The polish protects them.

I'm interested in knowing how to remove the clearcoat/greycoat on a 642.
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Old 03-07-2011, 07:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Photoman44 View Post
I've been running polished aluminum wheels on hot rods for decades with no oxidation, and a lot worse conditions than a pocket gun would ever see. The polish protects them.

I'm interested in knowing how to remove the clearcoat/greycoat on a 642.
That 642-2 in the Nevadadvx post was mine. I just used 0000 steel wool, then 1500 wet or dry sandpaper followed by a polish with Mothers Mag Polish.
The factory finish was coming off so easy I thought it would have to look better.
I've had cars and bikes with aluminum parts and I figured this situation was about the same. I just haven't noticed any problems with oxidation that I've heard about here.
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Old 03-07-2011, 09:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 45solo View Post
That 642-2 in the Nevadadvx post was mine. I just used 0000 steel wool, then 1500 wet or dry sandpaper followed by a polish with Mothers Mag Polish.
The factory finish was coming off so easy I thought it would have to look better.
I've had cars and bikes with aluminum parts and I figured this situation was about the same. I just haven't noticed any problems with oxidation that I've heard about here.
Thanks for popping into the thread! I was hoping you would. I think I will it a try on my 637. I believe they are the same basic gun with the exception of the exposed hammer on mine.

I am wondering how you got the finish removed in all the tight nooks an crannies with steel wool though.

Again, I am glad you joined in. I started a similar thread a few weeks ago with limited response. Having an actual pic really helps.
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Old 04-09-2011, 02:50 PM
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Default Removing finish from airweight

If you really want to remove the finish the fastest way is to buy aerosol can of "instant powder remover". Found this out the hard way several years ago after I bought my AW used. I didn't realize it had a clear coat finish and I wanted to try a quick and easy way of getting the burn marks off the cylinder. It removed the burn marks instantly. Along with the clear coat finish about 3 seconds later as I stared at the gun wondering what all the crinkled looking stuff was that was falling off the gun. DOH! Sent it back to S&W and about $200 later I had my gun back looking factory new. That was over 7 years ago and that gun is my primary backpacking gun and has traveled over 1000 miles through all kinds of nasty weather and still looks new.
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Old 04-09-2011, 08:18 PM
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Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight? Anyone strip and polish their Airweight?  
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Great info rebootit. I tried a bit of 0000 steel wool and it seemed like it would take a LOT of work and barely scratched the surface. I was wondering if there was something out there that would not hurt the aluminum, yet still remove the clear. I will check into the stuff you are talking about. Mine is looking sadder every day with the clear coming off.

edit: Did a quick google on "instant powder remover" and came up with nothing.

Last edited by Nevadadvx; 04-09-2011 at 08:20 PM.
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Old 04-09-2011, 09:33 PM
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Default Instant powder remover

I don't remember what it was called. It was a new product at a range I was in and I asked if they had something to remove the powder burns. It was in a spray can and said do not use on painted surfaces. (I didn't even consider the gun might have a "painted" surface) I have heard people say zip strip will remove Duracoat pretty quickly. I'm thinking the stuff S&W uses is a product like Duracoat. I'm not sure if zip strip is recommended for use on aluminium though.

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Old 04-09-2011, 10:30 PM
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This 632 airweight has been on the job for almost 20 years, and still looks pretty good with just a regular wipe down with a silicone cloth. The aluminum frame is a slghtly different shade than the stainless steel barrel and cylinder assembly, but after all, the purpose of the airweights is function, not appearance.
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  #21  
Old 04-14-2011, 11:39 PM
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Can a all stainless gun - like a 640 be blued or chromed?
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Old 05-01-2011, 08:12 AM
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Is the stainless cylinder of the 642 also clearcoated ? ?
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  #23  
Old 05-01-2011, 08:57 AM
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instead of clear coating, you could have it anodized, or at the least alodine it.
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Old 05-01-2011, 09:41 AM
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The clear finish is to better "blend" the appearance of the frame to the stainless parts. Since these are users or carry guns, why not just touch the clear coat up with clear nail polish stolen from the boss or plain old poly varnish from Home Depot. Works for me and is a heck of a lot easier than some of these other options. After all, it's just going to wear again anyway.

Keep in mind, gun owners of ages gone by bitched about the finish on their blued users wearing off.

Bob
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Old 06-03-2011, 03:04 PM
Tucson Jack Tucson Jack is offline
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I recently had a reason to wrap my 637 in a rag and stash it. (never mind the reason) It got wet enough to start the pealing process and discolor the finish. I had access to a bead blaster machine. After stripping the pistol I lightly bead blasted it. (I taped over the stainless barrel.) I gave it a couple of coats of automotive clear coat. The only drawback was the S&W logo, while still there, isn't very visible. Tip---if you're pulling the guts out of this gun, don't remove the hand from the trigger. It doesn't have to be removed. I had a heck of a time figuring out how the hand spring goes back in as I didn't see where it came from. I think if you don't have some sort of finish you'll see every scratch. Moral of story----Don't let the airweight get wet for any prolonged length of time.
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Old 06-03-2011, 06:44 PM
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Klean Strip took the nasty flaking clear coat right off. I let it set for a few minutes and it bubbled right up. Just an FYI for anyone still trying to remove their coating.
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