Screws and Small Parts

Spraying a finish on small parts can be a challenge. They like to fly around and get lost, and we can't have that. For screws, I took Birchwood-Casey's advice and punched some small holes in a chunk of styrofoam that I had lying around (it was packaging from a ceiling fan) and poked the screws into it to secure them during finishing.

Visible in the top right of this photo is the rear sight blade. I treated this part and the front sight the same way - I simply looped a piece of masking tape, sticky side out, and stuck it to the styrofoam block. Then I stuck the part to the tape.

All of this kept the small parts nice and secure throughout spraying and curing, and I never had to touch them until they were fully cured.

Be sure to allow space between screws and other parts, so you can spray every side of every part without accidentally over-applying the finish to a neighboring part.

I again followed the advice of B-C and made sure to thoroughly clean and de-grease the slots of the screws to ensure that the Perma Fin would properly adhere to the entire head. This worked very well - with properly-fitting screwdriver tips, the finish held up to the torque of driving the screws during assembly.

I should also note that during the preparation stage, I carefully removed any sharp burs from the screw heads using a small file.