I need to paint objective rings black. How? (1 Viewer)

Rathaus · Oct 27, 2015

I picked up these cute little Komz 6x24 and notice that the paint on their objective screw down rings was degrading into a sticky tar like substance. The rest of the binocular is perfect. The lenses are pristine.

They were a pain to clean so I ended up putting the rings into the dishwasher and they came out glistening...brushed aluminium.

So, how to go about painting these little things? A quick black satin spray job? Or something better and then bake in the oven? Special aluminium paint? A car touch up bottle would be enough quantity.

Any ideas welcome.

Cheers
Rathaus

Rathaus · Oct 27, 2015

Check out its case.

Bencw · Oct 27, 2015

Painting is no problem, just take them of, clean them, put some masking tape right around inside in the threads so paint does not get in them, leave the masking tape proud of the bottom, so they are raised a bit by the tape, stand them on an old bit of cardboard outside and spay with acrylic satin black. Several light coats, 10 mins to dry in between coats, rather than one heavy coat is best. Give them about 5 days to dry hard and polish with a little bit of car polish like autoglym. The thing that sounds tricky is the tar like substance, you need to get it all off, is it the coating on the surface of the rings or is it that thick waxy grease that all Russian bins seem to have plastered all around the objectives? This is a nice find, I have one of these, a lovely little binocular.

Just looking at the photo again, it almost looks as though they have white rubber protectors over the objective rings?

Rathaus · Oct 27, 2015

Bencw said:
Painting is no problem, just take them of, clean them, put some masking tape right around inside in the threads so paint does not get in them, leave the masking tape proud of the bottom, so they are raised a bit by the tape, stand them on an old bit of cardboard outside and spay with acrylic satin black. Several light coats, 10 mins to dry in between coats, rather than one heavy coat is best. Give them about 5 days to dry hard and polish with a little bit of car polish like autoglym. The thing that sounds tricky is the tar like substance, you need to get it all off, is it the coating on the surface of the rings or is it that thick waxy grease that all Russian bins seem to have plastered all around the objectives? This is a nice find, I have one of these, a lovely little binocular.

Just looking at the photo again, it almost looks as though they have white rubber protectors over the objective rings?

No, what you're looking at are the totally cleaned aluminium objective rings! I put them back on for now. They're ready to paint.

Thanks for the suggestion. I get the idea re the tape.

Yes, I've removed all of the tar stuff from all surfaces...two goes in the dishwasher and the rings are absolutely pristine. I was shocked. For the time being I put the clean rings back on the bins, but not until I had also cleaned a heap of that tar stuff from the threads and end etc of the binocular objective body. Nothing was near the lens though..lenses are pristine...nobody has ever tried to ham fistedly scrub it all out.

Many thanks
Rathaus

Ps: I think they look OK with the bare aluminium look, but I'm assuming that the silver colour objective rings will contribute to glare and reflections.????

Theo98 · Oct 27, 2015

Rathaus,

A flat black baked on (anodized) coating should work well for the objective covers, minimizing any reflections and providing a superior hardened and durable surface that would match their overall wonderful finish.

Ted

fstop · Oct 27, 2015

I'm not being critical (well, not very...) but while anodizing is a very good way to color aluminum, it's not a paint, but rather an electrolytic process. As Theo98 mentioned, a baked on enamel would give a very nice, durable finish. If you're going to use spray, please practice on something else first, it's not as easy as it looks to spray an even coat. Make certain that a primer isn't needed for the paint. Nice looking set of lenses, it's going to look very nice when you're finished, good luck! Although not the same, here's an older thread about painting cameras that might give some useful ideas:
http://photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00BGUE

PhilR. · Oct 27, 2015

I would try a flat-black powder-coat. The powder is electrostically applied, and then the item is baked in the oven.

richard866945 · Oct 27, 2015

Black sticky stuff

Rathaus said:
I picked up these cute little Komz 6x24 and notice that the paint on their objective screw down rings was degrading into a sticky tar like substance. The rest of the binocular is perfect. The lenses are pristine.

They were a pain to clean so I ended up putting the rings into the dishwasher and they came out glistening...brushed aluminium.

So, how to go about painting these little things? A quick black satin spray job? Or something better and then bake in the oven? Special aluminium paint? A car touch up bottle would be enough quantity.

Any ideas welcome.

Cheers
Rathaus

I have a binocular repair workshop and I use satin black car enamel.
When I worked for the UK importers of Russian photo and optical equipment, we used to call the black stuff 'Bear grease' but it did successfully waterproof the front lenses and you will also find it under each of the flat plates / prism covers. I once dropped my 6x24 in the River Thames near Lechlade. I dived in after it and retrieved it from the bottom and there was not a drop of water inside.

Foss · Oct 30, 2015

richard866945 said:
I have a binocular repair workshop and I use satin black car enamel.
When I worked for the UK importers of Russian photo and optical equipment, we used to call the black stuff 'Bear grease' but it did successfully waterproof the front lenses and you will also find it under each of the flat plates / prism covers. I once dropped my 6x24 in the River Thames near Lechlade. I dived in after it and retrieved it from the bottom and there was not a drop of water inside.

Cool story. I bet you were glad to get those back undamaged!
When you use satin black car enamel, is it out of a spray can or an airbrush or similar? Would you please share any tips that might help bring an objective ring somewhat close to factory appearance, if possible?
thank you,
Jack

Gregore · Oct 31, 2015

If it was me I would call around to a few anodizer companies and get some quotes .

All other types of finishes will have much shorter life span .

I should add

finish options are mat or shiny , if you want to keep your costs down have them throw it in with a batch of black rather than your own run .

Also they need to attach some where for conductivity so have them use a spring clamp on the inside surface where it will not be seen as it leaves a mark where no color is changed .

Foss · Nov 1, 2015

Good idea, there are a few companies here in SD. I'll circle back to this thread when I get an idea on pricing.

Rathaus · Nov 2, 2015

Would the oven set 200deg C engine paint in black gloss or satin set better and look better? Would you put this in your domestic oven?...or too toxic?

I'm realising that nearly all black bins have high satin or gloss black objective rings.

Gregore · Nov 2, 2015

Oven setting of your paint should be okay , I would not worry about such a small amount of gasses produced you will get a higher dose of toxic waste filling your car a the petrol station. You should be able to find very nice paint at the art store thanks to all the graffiti artists . Some of them should not even need heat or primer . You might even have a choice of more than 1 or 2 blacks.

Bencw · Nov 2, 2015

Rathaus said:
Would the oven set 200deg C engine paint in black gloss or satin set better and look better? Would you put this in your domestic oven?...or too toxic?

I'm realising that nearly all black bins have high satin or gloss black objective rings.

Rathaus, I don't think you need to go to so much trouble with these, a spray can of acrylic undercoat, and an acrylic satin black spray can, I usually get these here for just £1 a can, I find acrylic gives a better finish than enamel, it is less prone to run and dries quick. A light undercoat, then spray 3 or 4 coats of satin black, don't spray it too heavy, ten minutes between coats. Job done under an hour, if you want you can give them a polish with car resin polish after they have hardened, about 4 days. It will look as good as anything else, cost less and last as long as you need unless you plan to live to way past 100.

fstop · Nov 2, 2015

If you plan on baking your finish, which is the toughest coating of those mentioned, plan on having some unusual tasting roast chicken unless you air it out very well indeed; also plan on your kitchen having an interesting aroma when you open the oven door. Been there, done that...wife not happy... Unless you're going to use it hard, I think non-baked will do fine, just be careful with the spraying, it's harder than it looks. As an afterthought, why not be a bit different and after your choice of paint (and curing time) use a spray on rubberized coating from the Dip it line with a matte finish(I can't comment on other similar coatings). The nice thing is that it can be peeled off without damaging the paint when you tire of it, or wish to renew it. So, a lot of good suggestions ranging from anodizing to air drying paint, to baked on paint, to rubberized coating. Which poison will you choose? And, of course, best of luck with your project!

Bencw · Nov 2, 2015

fstop said:
spray on rubberized coating from the Dip it line with a matte finish(I can't comment on other similar coatings). The nice thing is that it can be peeled off without damaging the paint when you tire of it, or wish to renew it.

fstop, interesting idea, I have seen this rubber spray stuff advertised for car wheels over here, fairly new I think, though why anyone would want to paint over nice alloy wheels is beyond me ! But I never thought about using it on binoculars, it strikes me that it might be good for covering the body of binoculars when the original leather / leatherette covering has worn badly or damaged, might even be able to get a texture finish on it before to dries? I might experiment with this, I have an old Sard 7x50 to restore, and the vinyl covering has worn completely smooth. Thanks.

fstop · Nov 2, 2015

I'm not sure if what you have seen for the car wheels is the same stuff I mentioned, or if it will work as you intend, Ben. This is a spray version of the stuff you dip tool handles into, called Dip It in the US. I have to wonder if it is thick enough for the body covering you envision. Here's the link, see what you think, maybe it will work out. The good news is that you can just peel it off if the need arises.
http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Bencw · Nov 3, 2015

fstop said:
I'm not sure if what you have seen for the car wheels is the same stuff I mentioned, or if it will work as you intend, Ben. This is a spray version of the stuff you dip tool handles into, called Dip It in the US. I have to wonder if it is thick enough for the body covering you envision. Here's the link, see what you think, maybe it will work out. The good news is that you can just peel it off if the need arises.
http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Thanks for the link fstop, yes, it's the same, plasti dip, but it was in an auto spares place where I saw it over here, for wheels, althought I guess I will find it sold elsewhere if I search. I see they sell it in tins too, presumabely to paint on, which may be better for my use.

fstop · Nov 3, 2015

Hmm, I didn't know that you could paint with it using a brush, the tins I have seen are used for dipping things like handles. Learn something new every day! I hope your project turns out well, it's a neat idea.

Rathaus · Nov 4, 2015

Well, I still haven't got around to doing this pesky little chore yet. After returning one lot of paint because it was matte, I've somehow ended up with an enamel gloss. I'll just go with it and see what happens. It's such a tiny job I can burn that paint off if need be. Just Remembering, those little objective rings are for 24mm lenses. I'm wanting the job to look production, not just perform well.

Hey,
Cheers all.
Rathaus

I need to paint objective rings black. How? (1 Viewer)

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