My latest anodizing

Very nice work & awesome colors. We used to have an anodizing department when I worked at Mansfield Aircraft years ago but it was just the ugly plain anodizing no colors. Anodizing shure has come a long way.
 
I always use distilled water for the processes. Our water here, even though public, still leaves mineral spots.
One tip I saw but haven't ried for the stipping part is to use plain rubber cement. The caustic soda will not eat it and it easy to remove.
There will be some leaking around the cement but it is better than elaving important parts unprotected.
A question for you is if you made the parts yourself are they the ones you are using the lye on.
For new parts all you have to do, I have found, is clean them extremely well. For a good job I always use a de-greaser like simple dish soap or I use Purple Power.
I like Purple Power because it will not harm the aluminum and does an excellant job removing grease. I have used it in the garage for years.
After a good wash and rinse I dip it in to an acid cleaner that actually etches the aluminum slightly. I giess you could say brighten.
The one I am using I got at the auto body supply shop. It is called Pro-power Acid Cleaner C-24. The sales guy said the truck drivers use it to clean the big aluminum tanks of tractor trailers.
Also he said the fireman use it to clean aluminum parts on some of the trucks. It is not a good thing to clean sensitive aluminum parts like wheels on your car though.
Anyway this particular product contains sulfuric acid, phosphorics acid and hydofluoric acid. It is highly concentrated and gets diluted 10 to 1.
I have a container premixed that I use to dip parts in over and over again then spray them down with distilled water.
I have found this process to prep the parts perfectly before the anodizing bath.
Once again I learned this through trial an error and lots of research.
Once again I need to stress safety! Safety! Safety!
Don't want to scare anyone off from doing anodizing. You just need to be careful and not rush.
I find all of it less danagerous than getting by the wheel of the car.


Once again I hope this helps and I am working on a process of how I anodize but it could take a few days being I am in the middle of relaying out the shop.

Have a great day!

Ed
 
yes own build from plain round aircraft grade alu
and i used the lye on those
and like you i use distilled water ore i get clouds in the color
polish the parts (after that only use latex gloves when handeling the parts)
wash it wit dishwasher detergent / rince /
dip it in the lye /rince /scrub again /rince /and in to the acidbad/anodize/rince /
diebad/boil /
very hard to find those chemicals you mentioned over here

the only thing i still got problems with is the current settings and anodizxing time
 
as far as checmicals us americans get our hands on what ever is dangerous to us or the enviroment :dunno::think1:
being I have issues with number calculations after brain surgery I don't do the calculations
I fly by the seat of my pants and watch the part and I know that for the small parts I do it takes 2 hours.
I keep an eye on the color of the part because as you have seen the part gets a amber ting to it when the layer has built well enough.
There has never been an isse and several of the parts done this way I have tested by trying to remove to finish with a unitized wheel and it was very hard to even start to remove it.
It isn't like I have to meet a spec for production so whatever.
 
Nice job. Where and how are you attaching the anode wire to the parts? I have been playing with anodizing with fair results and am curious how other people are attaching the electrode.

Jimbo
 
Well that depends what you are anodizing as far as what you are willing to have marks where the anode was attached.
In most of the parts I do which are typically round I bend 1/16" x 1/2" aluminum in a u shaped end and lightly force it into the end of the piece. The spring of the aluminum will hold it securely in your piece you are anodizing.
Now there are pieces such as focus knobs that are thread internally and the thread does not need to be anodized or at least it does not show and once again I use the same stock 1/16" x 1/2" and taper it so I can screw it into the threads.
In my one photo you will see my color samples. Under the color name tags I had 6-32 tapped holes and used 1/8" soft aluminum wire that I threaded and screwed it into them.
There always has to be a sacrifical spot that will not be anodized and this is where that anode attaches. The important thing is the anode has to be a good connection by screwing it in, spring tension, wrapping around it tightly or even as Caswell's sells a way to tack weld your anode on.

I hope this helped with your question.

Have a great day!

Ed
 
Last edited:
Looks like you're doing great work here.
If you do decide to break out and do this for your sons business, I'd like to inquire about your services as I'm not too far away from you.

Thanks,
Dave
 
Doing this for a business, it will be difficult to stay "under the radar." You really don't want to attract attention from regulatory agencies. I remember looking into it and doing a few experiments years ago when I was already fabricating printed-circuit boards where I worked. It turned out to be simpler and cheaper to send our parts outside.
 
I want to make clear that I am not doing this for a business or anything else. I am disabled and my day to day condition varies which makes me extremely unreliable to do a business.
As far as my son he is tinkering and sells a couple things to his laser buddies for hobby.
He is a full time student home on co-op right now for his engineering degree he is studying for.
I just wanted to make it clear so no one gets the idead I am in business doing anodizing. I hobby just like I hobby with machines, cars, my chores and trying to take care of my family.
It would be so great to start a business or be back at my career of repairing industrial programmable controlers for Honeywell.
I am willing to discuss my experiences in anodizing or machining from hobbying but in no way am I an expert at any of them or have I ever said I was an expert.

Ed
 
it is fun to see that with the you got the same approche to it as i do
regarding the Amp's and time
what i also look at is the current drop due to the part anodizing layer is an insulator
i do al of it in my garage with the door open and a fan blowing the fumes out
also watch out if you got bare metals in the proximity the acid fumes make them rust very quicly
i like to buy some of those balls to blok the surface ofthe electrolit bad
 
Back
Top