Home Anodizing Set-up

[Mayhem]

releasing the smoke genie is never a good thing Tom but it sounds like you are on your way now!

[EdK]

Really nice job on making up that control box. I'm anxious to see the outcome of all of your hard work

Ed

[TomG]

Success!

All of the gremlins that showed up for the controller construction (still chasing some of them) stayed away tonight and I was able to anodize my first part. I just grabbed a piece of mystery aluminum out of the scrap bin and cleaned it up on the belt sander so it's not that pretty, but it's anodized and dyed a deep shade of blue. The pics below show it in the anodizing tank under power and in the sealant tank. The steps involved are as follows:

1) 5 minutes in the cleaner at 140ºF to clean off any grease and oil.
2) 1 minute in the etch tank at room temp to etch the surface. If the part has been buffed you would skip this step.
3) 40 minutes to 1 hour in the anodizing tank, a 15% sulfuric acid solution at 12 amps per square foot of area. Less time makes a more clear colored part, the full 60 minutes makes for more protection and leaves the part with a slight yellow tinge.
4) 5 to 20 minutes in the dye at 140ºF if desired.
5) 20 minutes in the sealer tank at 170ºF to seal and protect the color.

When I get the bench totally finished and gain a bit more experience, I'll make a video showing the entire process.

Tom

[f350ca]

Well done Tom. Thats really cool.

[EdK]

Not bad at all for the first try. What a great addition to a home shop.

Ed

[Mayhem]

Always nice to have a successful first run - nice work Tom. I'll be looking forward to the video.

[DaveH]

Wow Tom, that's good
What sort of dyes are used? Are they special for anodising?

DaveH

[TomG]

Thanks Dave.

They are special dyes. The pores in the anodizing are very small so it takes a dye with very small pigment to color it. I got my dyes and other chemicals from U.S. Specialty Color Corporation.

Tom

[TomG]

I spent the last two days working at home, building a manufacturing fixture for one of our products. This gave me the opportunity to try out the anodizing set-up on real parts. There are four aluminum parts in the fixture and I decided to get artsy and make the base clear and the rest of them black for a bit of contrast and variety. Had I thought about it sooner, I would have racked the base separately and pulled it out earlier than the rest before it got so yellow, but it still looks pretty good against the black.

Tom

[EdK]

Wow! That turned out very nice Tom. All the work setting it up paid off with good results.

Ed