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PVD/DLC Removal?


Guest avitt

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In my long quest to find the perfect hard surface coating, there were one or two "research projects" which didn't turn out quite as I had hoped (which is understandable, when you realize that most of the coating houses specialize in tools and industrial parts, and not aesthetic coatings...). One of them was this Hamilton GMT case, which I attempted to have DLC coated using the PACVD process. Unfortunately, the result were unacceptable, with uneven streaks and shadows:

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What to do, what to do?

My first thought was to have the entire case recoated, in the hope that the flaws would be covered up. However, I didn't realize that the DLC coating is actually highly transparent, and the flaws continued to show through the second coating. It became apparent that the only way to solve this problem would be to remove the coating, and start all over.

Last night, I carefully bead-blasted the case with media which was carefully selected to be aggressive enough to remove the hard surface coating, while doing minimal damage to the stainless steel substrate. I am really happy with the results:

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With a little additional polishing, followed by a nice, even glass bead blast, this case will be ready for a new, perfect DLC coat :thumbsupsmileyanim:

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Awesome... So this must mean I can send you my PAM 28 with rep PVD for removal and recoating? :D

I've got a PAM rep with PVD in house, and will be doing an R & R this week. If everything goes smoothly, I'll probably add the removal service...

WARNING: It ain't gonna be too cheap though...There's a lot of work involved.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update...

Here's the Hamilton case, glass bead blasted, and ready for a new DLC coat:

img4254jg9.jpg

I've also had the opportunity to remove the shiny PVD finish from a replica PAM case. The results were very good. There was no deformation of the case, and the lines stayed sharp:

img4263ms5.jpg

Here you can see the contrast with the old PVD coating:

img4259ze0.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
Avitt do you still do PVD coatings? Would it be possible to send you a Franck Muller Crazy Color Dreams to have a PVD coating put on it? If so how much? I am very interested.

Thanks

Thanks for the inquiry.

Yes, I am providing coating services. I'd be happy to work on your FM. I'll PM the details.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest avitt

I almost forgot to update this thread with pictures of the Hamilton GMT case, now that it has been re-coated using my current DLC process:

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As you can see, no more streaks, shadows, or blemishes....Perfect recoat.

The bottom line: I can now expand my services to offer the stripping and recoating of damaged or replica PVD coatings.

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  • 4 weeks later...

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