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OK finished the black cherry Cobalt with the engraving. She's mighty pretty.
Pictures of the guts will be forthcoming I need to edit and upload them
Pictures of the guts will be forthcoming I need to edit and upload them
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I can only like it once (actually got to like it twice
)!!! Looks great Ken. so look fwd to getting my "new" hybrid. What to call it now???
)!!! Looks great Ken. so look fwd to getting my "new" hybrid. What to call it now???
Don't forget guys, I have the Silver bullet that was custom anodized and is up for sale on corevape that will be ending today. It's your last chance to get this beautiful piece. Don't be fooled by the picture it's much prettier in real life. Proceeds from the auction go to my local Autism foundation.
» Silver bullet custom anodized
» Silver bullet custom anodized
So, I'm curious if anyone would be interested in getting their PV's GOLD plated. I am thinking about adding this service to my business as I think that either gold plated or silver plated PV's would be pretty freaking sweet! Lemme know what ya'll think.
Are we talking electroplating here? I think that would be cool as long as it has a protective topcoat. I used to deal with this in the Custom car world and that stuff is ridiculously easy to scratch and prone to fadeing from everyday use
Well yeah, but it would only be for those decorative items. Ones that are sitting in a case or in a collection and very hardly handled or used. I mean it's not exactly cheap in today's economy. Y'know one of those GGTS's that are never used as a collectors item. If the item is aluminum, it's an incredibly complex process to gold plate. I have to zincate it, then copper plate, then zinc again and gold plate from there.
I'll only get the system if there is enough interest. I would especially like to use this for things like springs, screws, and such inside switches.
I'll only get the system if there is enough interest. I would especially like to use this for things like springs, screws, and such inside switches.
So I received my new Zen "Pyrate" back from Ken today! I am nothing but impressed. It looks better in person then it does in the pics It fires like a top now and is kicking it out. No one should hesitate if they have an aluminum host they want customized by Kenom. I am very happy here with my one of a kind Zen now!
It fires like a top now and is kicking it out. No one should hesitate if they have an aluminum host they want customized by Kenom. I am very happy here with my one of a kind Zen now!
So I received my new Zen "Pyrate" back from Ken today! I am nothing but impressed. It looks better in person then it does in the pics
Glad to hear it!! Ken should have received my project yesterday, I am excited to see how it turns out...
Very tempted to send my standard iHybrid tubes to ya once I get my backup in. Would it be possible to do very thin lines to look like pin striping? Something like this maybe...
I assume the masking for something like that would be tedious and probably a little more costly, but I'd be interested to see if it would even be a possibility.
I assume the masking for something like that would be tedious and probably a little more costly, but I'd be interested to see if it would even be a possibility.
Well, it would help to understand exactly what your talking bout height wise on that pinstripe. If it takes up the entire length of the 18350 tube, I could probably get something printed fairly easily for that. If you want it only 1/2" tall, then yeah it would be pretty impossible. Have you by chance got a higher resolution image of that? Something that's a big bigger so I can vector it?
See, what it comes down to is how well the plotter can print that thin of a strip of vinyl. If it's wide enough, it can be printed.
I didn't have a higher res of that one, but maybe this one will be bigger?
And yeah I would want it to be the full length of the tube... Thinking about it though not sure how it would scale from 18650 to 18350 tube if just on a tube. And it wouldn't match up to the tank sleeve for both tubes if it extended that far up... Maybe a flawed idea.
Boy that ones a bit worse for thin'ness. thinner is bad. makes it more difficult to cut the vinyl on the plotter. I think your idea is great, we'll just have to make sure that the tank sleeve doesn't have anything or maybe some type of scrollwork that would go around the diameter to match the pinstripe. I think that would look awesome.
I've recently been approached by a few people asking for advice on how to remove the anodizing from the Cobalt in places that it's important to do so. So, I will post a detailed instruction guide on how I do it with pictures.
Before I post the how to here is a list of things you will need and might want to get.
100% Lye drain cleaner ( http://www.truevalue.com/product/Rooto-Crystals-of-100-Lye-Household-Drain-Opener-1-lb/14320.uts
Standard Rubber cement ( http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n:12900041 )
Eye dropper or pipette ( http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-eye/ear-dropper/ID=prod6002858-product ) ( http://wizardlabs.us/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=pipette&product_id=98 )
Toothbrush or any soft brush
Lapping compound for Valves ( http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...-Compound/_/N-2592?itemIdentifier=526806_0_0_ )
First off let me say that Lye when mixed is incredibly caustic and will burn your skin, so you may want to use rubber gloves during this. Since it is so caustic, it will eat the anodizing off your device pretty quickly. It heats up when added to water because of an exothermic reaction so also be cautious that you don't burn yourself.
Mix 1-2 tbs of lye crystals into 1 cup of warm water. (this stuff works better when it's hot) Mix thoroughly to make sure there are no crystals clumped on the bottom.
You may want to "mask" the anodizing you DON'T want to be removed with the rubber cement. If you have steady hands and believe that you can control the liquid from going where you DON'T want it, you can skip this step. place the rubber cement right on the metal and allow it to dry. You may want to apply several layers until it's thick. This will make removal so much easier as it will just "peel" right off.
Fill your dropper or pipette with lye from the cup and apply the solution to the atty deck in the negative screw hole. You will only want 1 drop because it will NOT go down into the hole all the way unless you use a hypodermic to spray it down into the very bottom. Take care this stuff produces hydrogen gas when it eats away the aluminum and will bubble and cause the stuff to spread droplets of lye around. (it's why I recommend masking with the rubber cement.) You do not want to just get it in the hole. You also want it to remove the anodizing directly UNDER the screw head itself. You want the coil to touch as much exposed aluminum as possible.
Now, it may LOOK like this has already been done to your unit, and you can verify if it's down to metal by quickly scraping over it with your xacto knife. I've yet to meet a Cobalt that had truly had all the anodizing removed here. I may look removed, but it's not 100% gone most of the time.
You can use a xacto knife or something flat to scrape away the dye and anodized layer as it's working to facilitate this going faster. It should only take 2-3 minutes. You'll know when your successful when you can lightly scratch the aluminum and actually see the scratch. Anodized layer is hard to scratch when light pressure is applied. Rinse THOROUGHLY with water when done. Use a toothbrush to remove any smut layer (light or dark grey metal) When your done, apply a little dab of grinding compound to the threads with a toothpick and work the screw in and out until the screw has sanded away any smut or anodizing left inside. Rinse with hot soapy water as best you can. You may also try denatured alcohol or other solvents to truly remove the grinding compound.
Move next to the inside of the battery area. You have 2 options available to you in doing this. You can FILL entirely the tube up to the top of the tube, or you can apply the lye only to the threaded area. The only place it's IMPORTANT that it go, is the threaded area. if you apply it with a dropper onto the threads, slowly turn the tube to allow the solution to sit in the threads and eat away at the anodizing. When you are done (again it should only take 2-3 minutes) immediately rinse with tap water and use your toothbrush to remove any smut as you rinse. You'll want to take a incredibly small dab of valve grinding fluid and using a q-tip place it in the threaded area in one small dot. (1/8" dot is more than enough) Thread the tailcap on and slowly work it back and forth until it can thread all the way on. This material actually contains an abrasive and will sand down the threads so that you have true bare metal on the threads. When your done with the valve compound, rinse it clean with soap and water and your toothbrush.
Should look like this when your done.
Next take apart the switch assembly and mask this sucker. I HIGHLY advise you mask this or you most likely will spill it where you don't want it. Here is a picture of where I stripped and any place that is STILL blue needs to be masked with rubber cement.
Apply the lye solution until it fills the entire bottom of the switch spring area and the screw area. Allow it to work and rinse away any remaining smut with a toothbrush when done. When you are done with that, hold the post into the cup of lye and allow the remainder of teh anodizing to be removed from the side of the post. May take a few minutes of patience for it to work. Again brush and rinse. Now you've removed all the anodizing from the vital areas and we are going to again apply a little grinding compount to a Q-tip and put it down into the spring resting area and spin our Q-tip around the bottom using the Q-tip as the "sandpaper" that we ordinarily wouldn't be able to fit down in this area. You can also use it to sand down the top of the side of the switch. Any place you removed anodizing can use the compound to sand it back down past any smut layer that may remain from the lye. When you are done grinding rinse with soap and water and a toothbrush and reassemble everything and vape happily knowing you've done everything in your power to make sure that your anodizing is gone and where it's not supposed to be!
I hope that this helps everyone get their Cobalts working 100% as they truly are an incredibly beautiful PV.
Before I post the how to here is a list of things you will need and might want to get.
100% Lye drain cleaner ( http://www.truevalue.com/product/Rooto-Crystals-of-100-Lye-Household-Drain-Opener-1-lb/14320.uts
Standard Rubber cement ( http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n:12900041 )
Eye dropper or pipette ( http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-eye/ear-dropper/ID=prod6002858-product ) ( http://wizardlabs.us/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=pipette&product_id=98 )
Toothbrush or any soft brush
Lapping compound for Valves ( http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...-Compound/_/N-2592?itemIdentifier=526806_0_0_ )
First off let me say that Lye when mixed is incredibly caustic and will burn your skin, so you may want to use rubber gloves during this. Since it is so caustic, it will eat the anodizing off your device pretty quickly. It heats up when added to water because of an exothermic reaction so also be cautious that you don't burn yourself.
Mix 1-2 tbs of lye crystals into 1 cup of warm water. (this stuff works better when it's hot) Mix thoroughly to make sure there are no crystals clumped on the bottom.
You may want to "mask" the anodizing you DON'T want to be removed with the rubber cement. If you have steady hands and believe that you can control the liquid from going where you DON'T want it, you can skip this step. place the rubber cement right on the metal and allow it to dry. You may want to apply several layers until it's thick. This will make removal so much easier as it will just "peel" right off.
Fill your dropper or pipette with lye from the cup and apply the solution to the atty deck in the negative screw hole. You will only want 1 drop because it will NOT go down into the hole all the way unless you use a hypodermic to spray it down into the very bottom. Take care this stuff produces hydrogen gas when it eats away the aluminum and will bubble and cause the stuff to spread droplets of lye around. (it's why I recommend masking with the rubber cement.) You do not want to just get it in the hole. You also want it to remove the anodizing directly UNDER the screw head itself. You want the coil to touch as much exposed aluminum as possible.
Now, it may LOOK like this has already been done to your unit, and you can verify if it's down to metal by quickly scraping over it with your xacto knife. I've yet to meet a Cobalt that had truly had all the anodizing removed here. I may look removed, but it's not 100% gone most of the time.
You can use a xacto knife or something flat to scrape away the dye and anodized layer as it's working to facilitate this going faster. It should only take 2-3 minutes. You'll know when your successful when you can lightly scratch the aluminum and actually see the scratch. Anodized layer is hard to scratch when light pressure is applied. Rinse THOROUGHLY with water when done. Use a toothbrush to remove any smut layer (light or dark grey metal) When your done, apply a little dab of grinding compound to the threads with a toothpick and work the screw in and out until the screw has sanded away any smut or anodizing left inside. Rinse with hot soapy water as best you can. You may also try denatured alcohol or other solvents to truly remove the grinding compound.
Move next to the inside of the battery area. You have 2 options available to you in doing this. You can FILL entirely the tube up to the top of the tube, or you can apply the lye only to the threaded area. The only place it's IMPORTANT that it go, is the threaded area. if you apply it with a dropper onto the threads, slowly turn the tube to allow the solution to sit in the threads and eat away at the anodizing. When you are done (again it should only take 2-3 minutes) immediately rinse with tap water and use your toothbrush to remove any smut as you rinse. You'll want to take a incredibly small dab of valve grinding fluid and using a q-tip place it in the threaded area in one small dot. (1/8" dot is more than enough) Thread the tailcap on and slowly work it back and forth until it can thread all the way on. This material actually contains an abrasive and will sand down the threads so that you have true bare metal on the threads. When your done with the valve compound, rinse it clean with soap and water and your toothbrush.
Should look like this when your done.
Next take apart the switch assembly and mask this sucker. I HIGHLY advise you mask this or you most likely will spill it where you don't want it. Here is a picture of where I stripped and any place that is STILL blue needs to be masked with rubber cement.
Apply the lye solution until it fills the entire bottom of the switch spring area and the screw area. Allow it to work and rinse away any remaining smut with a toothbrush when done. When you are done with that, hold the post into the cup of lye and allow the remainder of teh anodizing to be removed from the side of the post. May take a few minutes of patience for it to work. Again brush and rinse. Now you've removed all the anodizing from the vital areas and we are going to again apply a little grinding compount to a Q-tip and put it down into the spring resting area and spin our Q-tip around the bottom using the Q-tip as the "sandpaper" that we ordinarily wouldn't be able to fit down in this area. You can also use it to sand down the top of the side of the switch. Any place you removed anodizing can use the compound to sand it back down past any smut layer that may remain from the lye. When you are done grinding rinse with soap and water and a toothbrush and reassemble everything and vape happily knowing you've done everything in your power to make sure that your anodizing is gone and where it's not supposed to be!
I hope that this helps everyone get their Cobalts working 100% as they truly are an incredibly beautiful PV.
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Just wanted to let you guys know that Kenom is working on something for me and the communication thus far has been excellent!
Ditto.... Kenom has shown nothing but outstanding customer service thus far in our dealings.
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