Anodizing Anyone?

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creativewriting

creativewriting

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I was curious if any of the members anodize aluminum. After researching the topic I figured it was better to find a source then blow up my garage...at least for the time being. I really do want to give it a shot....one of these days. No color needed, just clear anodizing.
 
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Anodizing aluminum is a really tough project for the garage level tinkerer. Some pretty nasty chemicals and high voltages are needed, from what I understand. Anodizing titanium, on the other hand is pretty straight forward. Now, working titanium, not so much so.
 
I think there are threads on this. I was interested as well, but it is a complete different avenue of pen making and equipment requirements.
 
Here are some links I found so far. There are many others. Not trying to reduce or dumb down the process, but it seems pretty straight forward. Common sense does play a factor as well. The process looks like the easy part. As for the chemicals, the ventilation, and handling look like the parts of the process that could go terribly wrong. On some of the sites they have mentioned the Hindenburg as an example since the process produces hydrogen....not a fun example and definitely a wake up call.

I would really like to find a professional to do this and wanted to search around here first. I know we have a few machinist and people with more metal experience then I on the site. Having battery acid lying around the garage is not my sort of thing.

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/anodize.shtml
http://www.bryanpryor.com/anodizing.php
http://www.mini-lathe.com/anodizing/anodizing_aluminum.htm
 
Caswell sells kits for doing it and they aren't too bad on price , but I have read conflicting reports of how well home anodizing holds up . To do a lasting anodized aluminum finish requires some really nasty chemicals and processes , add color to the mix and it gets worse .
I do allot of aluminum pens and have done tons of reading on the subject . The best finish for aluminum that don't require anodizing is to bring the aluminum to a high polish . The aluminum will oxidize but the finish will remain shiny due to a hardening of the oxide layer . This hardened layer will hold it's shine under normal use and you won't get the hardened oxide rubbing off on to your hands but it does require a occasional coat of some sort of protectant like wax . The other problem with a high polish is it shows fingerprints really bad due to the oils on your skin .
This is not a permanent finish but it does seem to last for quite a while . I have a pen that I use on a regular basis and after almost 3 years it still looks good . There are pen companies that use aluminum and they don't anodize , just high polish . Pilot and Nakami are two pen companies that either currently use or have used this process on their pens .
There is also a special epoxy coating that is used to protect aluminum and other metals that is chip resistant (not chip proof just resistant) . It is the same epoxy coating that is used on the sterling silver and 24k gold pen kits to prevent wear and tarnishing but I have yet to find it to try .
 
I have never anodized anyone, but if you do anodize someone, post pics! That would be pretty cool!!


Look locally for small custom auto shops. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a local shop that has anodizing and plating equipment. these are things commonly used on show cars and such. They mostly use small setups for doing small parts. Might find a new customer while you are there!
 
creativewriting said:
I was curious if any of the members anodize aluminum. After researching the topic I figured it was better to find a source then blow up my garage...at least for the time being. I really do want to give it a shot....one of these days. No color needed, just clear anodizing.
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I run a delivery route in the dallas/ft.worth area and have a customer that is called Anodics. They anodize in several different colors and have offered me their services anytime i need it. let me know what you have and i will find out what the cost will be for ya if you like.
 
seamus7227 said:
I run a delivery route in the dallas/ft.worth area and have a customer that is called Anodics. They anodize in several different colors and have offered me their services anytime i need it. let me know what you have and i will find out what the cost will be for ya if you like.
Click to expand...
That is interesting. I am going to watch your conversations about this.
 
I had a company do my anodizing on my bike cranks. They did a bright dip process, which added a lot of luster to the cranks. We would polish them first and send them out in batches. Minimum order was something like a couple hundred bucks worth. They also did a process where they would drip hot wax on cranks and anodize in 2 or 3 colors in driplike patterns. Those were neat and would do well on pens.

Clear anodizing always lost the sheen of polished. It always looks somewhat milky.
 
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