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Need ideas on finishing
- Thread starter eac67gt
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2012
- Messages
- 557
The material I am using is all pieced together from all the data I found on the web.
I am using a 2 gallon bucket with distilled water a sodium bisulfate, swimming pool ph (-). It tends to be a little safer than sulfuric acid and so far works extremely well.
The first place I saw about using sodium bisulfate was on http://www.observationsblog.com/4/p...-and-dying-aluminum-without-battery-acid.html.
For the cathode in the bucket I am using a piece of 1/8" x 2" aluminum flat bar bent in a U that rises out of both sides of the bucket.
For power I am using my Craftsman battery charger.
In my research I found there is all kind of calculations to do to setup each job you run. Honestly I have not totally followed that but I am sort of shotgunning it.
The items I anodized so far have come out great. The average cook time I do is about 90 minutes but one day I ran it for 2 1/2 hours and the finish became really tough.
For the size of that part my cooking was rather long and I did use another power supply that pushed to voltage up to 18 volts. It was the part shown on this thread that I am referring to. I had to remove the anodizing so I could redue it because there were some spots that showedup when I dyed it. The thing is the normal way I remove anodizing, using Greased Lightning, did not remove the anodizing in the period of time it normally does. I took the part down to the drill press and ran a deburring wheel on it and also had a hell of a time getting the finish off.
I guess my point is that it would probably be best to follow the rules of the calculations.
Well I probably rambled on here like I normally do but I think you get the jist.
My recommendation to you would be to do a lot of research and also research where all the chemicals and dyes can be easily obtained on the retail sales market.
I will attach a pic so you can see my amateur setup and a couple of pics of another project I did for a friend. He wanted a laser and flashlight on his gun and wanted all the finishes to match so I made the mounts and built the laser. It turned out reall great.
I am using a 2 gallon bucket with distilled water a sodium bisulfate, swimming pool ph (-). It tends to be a little safer than sulfuric acid and so far works extremely well.
The first place I saw about using sodium bisulfate was on http://www.observationsblog.com/4/p...-and-dying-aluminum-without-battery-acid.html.
For the cathode in the bucket I am using a piece of 1/8" x 2" aluminum flat bar bent in a U that rises out of both sides of the bucket.
For power I am using my Craftsman battery charger.
In my research I found there is all kind of calculations to do to setup each job you run. Honestly I have not totally followed that but I am sort of shotgunning it.
The items I anodized so far have come out great. The average cook time I do is about 90 minutes but one day I ran it for 2 1/2 hours and the finish became really tough.
For the size of that part my cooking was rather long and I did use another power supply that pushed to voltage up to 18 volts. It was the part shown on this thread that I am referring to. I had to remove the anodizing so I could redue it because there were some spots that showedup when I dyed it. The thing is the normal way I remove anodizing, using Greased Lightning, did not remove the anodizing in the period of time it normally does. I took the part down to the drill press and ran a deburring wheel on it and also had a hell of a time getting the finish off.
I guess my point is that it would probably be best to follow the rules of the calculations.
Well I probably rambled on here like I normally do but I think you get the jist.
My recommendation to you would be to do a lot of research and also research where all the chemicals and dyes can be easily obtained on the retail sales market.
I will attach a pic so you can see my amateur setup and a couple of pics of another project I did for a friend. He wanted a laser and flashlight on his gun and wanted all the finishes to match so I made the mounts and built the laser. It turned out reall great.