My first ever attempt at a polymer finish...

[RookieBlue7]

Paintfill still wet, couldn't wait to share...

Well, I just finished doing the paintfill on my first ever putter with a polymer finish that I DIY'd. I bought a polymer coating system a couple of weeks ago after searching and searching to find one I was comfortable with. Had a friend's putter I was refinishing and stamping for him, and I decided what the heck and asked him if he minded if I used his putter for the experiment. He said nope, you have free reign, and I went for it (after a few practice runs on old shafts). The paintfill is still wet and I haven't gotten to clean it up yet(putter or the paintfill, the brown is dust from my gloves I wear when working on putters), but I wanted to share my first attempt at one of these finishes and couldn't wait. BTW, if you're planning on redoing one of these kind of putters, Mr. Currie used a hosel on it that you can't take out (I initially thought it would come out but after emailing him via a link I found, nope, it's designed not to move). Let me know what you think. Here's the pics(they're indoors because it's pretty much dark out, so there's some flash glare):





My next project is a different color (well, two projects the same color, one is here, one isn't yet).

[ManBearPig98]

I'm not going to lie, that looks pretty good. What did you have to buy to do this? If you don't mind sharing.

chris

[is76550]

That looks great! I got some caswells ss blackner and found it didn't get it very dark this is right up my ally. What was the process like?

[Ed Settle]

That looks great. Please fill us in on the process.

[RookieBlue7]

Remove dings and stock finish, clean up more with sandpaper, bead blast, clean again, degrease, apply polymer, bake finish, paintfill, let dry, clean excess.

More time consuming that cold bluing, caswells, etc.

[melo]

[quote name='is76550' timestamp='1327708345' post='4164241']
That looks great! I got some caswells ss blackner and found it didn't get it very dark this is right up my ally. What was the process like?
[/quote]

caswells will get very very black on carbon steel, but not on stainless. the key is to make the metal (whichever it is you're working on) to shine as brightly as possible. I start with 60 grit and work my way all the way to 800 grit, then work from steel wool 1 all the way to 000. This should give the steel a very very bright shine to it. Then clean it very thoroughly and dunk it. Use steel wool, then dunk some more, then more steel wool, then dunk. On carbon i would say you can get almost jet black, on stainless you can get maybe dark dark gray.

Mind you none of it will look like what Rookie did, the polymer is not only much darker, but also WAY more durable. Caswells, even with sealer won't last a whole season on the bottom of a putter, this finish should last quite a great deal longer with much less care involved. Well done Rookie, great first try!

[attachment=999453:photo(22).JPG]

That is a tei3 resto i am working on to give you an idea of how dark caswells can get

[RookieBlue7]

Yeah, I did a TeI3 thread a while back with cold bluing, and it turned out great considering the time spent on it. A little tip for you if you're going that route. Do yourself a favor and purchase their sealer, it'll last a long time. Couple that with Eezox gun oil and the finish will last a few years. This polymer is an experimental thing that I'm pretty proud of for a first try. It should be a much more durable finish. I've got a SeeMore that was mine coming back that I sold to a friend that he wants customized. Let's just say it's not a conventional putter color. Good thing he wanted that color though, cause I happened to need that color after taking on a project for myself for fun after being inspired...