Atari metal coating... paint?

KPW66

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What is the coating on certain Atari metal components (ex: lower bracket under Pole Position pedal, or welded bracket under Control Panel which houses bearings on Pole Position or Star Wars)? It's not he standard black paint, it's more like a coating but it doesn't appear to be zinc. It's shiny and smooth. Is it just a different paint? It's a mystery to me. Example parts provided in pictures. Thanks
 

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The powder coat guys say it's not powder coating. The zinc guys say it's not zinc. It doesn't look/feel like paint. It's a bit odd, but it's a lasting coating whatever it is. I'm afraid to powder it as it may add too much thickness for bearings to seat. May just zinc it and paint over that if needed.
 
My powdercoat guy thought the original was probably a black chromate over zinc coating. Had the Star Wars yoke powder coated satin and the handles gloss and it came out great. You are right about the thickness, I needed to file off a bit of the powder coating in the bearing and bumper holes for them to fit back in.
 
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The process is called bluing, same process as gun smithing to protect against rust. Google it. It's very cool.
 
Yeah. It's basically a selective type of rusting where the dark, more adherent iron oxide is formed instead of the red iron oxide that spalls off readily. The oiling also forms a protective layer by polymerizing over time. The same process by which you season a pan you cook with.

The nice thing is that the layer is ultra thin. We're talking on the atomic level with regards to the actual black. So it won't interfere with parts fitting together, or screw threads.
 
Doesn't look like a black oxide or a parkerizing,doesn't look quite like the nuts and bolts you'd typically see with an oxide coating. I'd agree with a black chromate over zinc.
 
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