Bonda seal finish

[Tim1972]

Hi on my first build I stripped my zziplex 2500 m to bare carbon before I bonda sealed it .. just wanted know the zziplex rods are normally black .. so can you just sand the old finish of the blank lightly and leave the main paint on ..then bonda seal over it so you retain the nice black shine .. because I read somewhere That the bonda seal strips the paint ? Any advice appreciated..

[PierPoint]

The Zziplex rods are usually spray painted and the mixture they use is a very watery (if it can be described that way) solution of a two part epoxy resin with pigment. Must be thin as they spray the stuff on. So unless they change the recipe the finished product is very robust and would withstand the endeavours of Bondaseal.

To get the best results you only need to use a very fine grade wet & dry paper (without the water). I wouldn’t go less than 800 grade.

The key is to make sure you only take off a smidge, just enough to give a scratch coat for the bonda. Don’t forget the original black coat is only a few microns thick and you want to keep some of it. After you have done the wet & dry treatment rub the blank down with methylated spirit to get rid of dust and grime. You can then use a clear coat bonda as the black colour will still be there.

You could add a black marbling pigment to the clear bonda to give a better shiny black Finnish. You don’t want to put too much black pigment in as the net result could be a disaster. If the rod is already black that will be a good base coat to start with.

[Tim1972]

Thanks rob that is really useful much appreciated

[PierPoint]

I notice the price of these chemical materials are going up. Is there an alternative to Bondaseal?