- Joined
- Feb 22, 2012
- Messages
- 924
Let me start by giving BIG thanks to Ed (eac67gt) for posting his anodizing post and process here:
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/12374-My-latest-anodizing
I have read quite a bit about anodizing in the past, but every online source I found back then was trying to pitch some product or another for sale and that always put me off (even though for mass production those offers seamed fairly decent and some still do). Eds' post (link above) showed that it can be done with more affordable and available products that were within closer reach to me - close enough that it was worth the try.
In an attempt to minimize costs, and use of harmful chemicals I tried using different solutions and components, and at first failed to get any decent results. the bigger culprit is that since I have yet to successfully produce good results I could not diagnose which of the components was causing the failure - was it the solution? the power supply? the connections? other?
I ended up recreating Eds process to the dot, using the same chemicals (almost) and power supply and finally got decent results. my next step would be to start introducing one change at a time and see if I can get same results using different solutions/components and I will post results as these attempts are made.
As not to repeat too much of Eds post feel free to follow the link above to his post and the process. the following is what i have been using successfully with a cost listing so that you can get the idea of total cost to get this started:
The above is a rough estimation and rounding up the numbers and is only to give a rough idea of cost. Obviously anything on that list that one already has will start lowering that TOTAL real quick.
My process was as follow (to recap Eds post):
1. Clean part excessively (I let it sit in white vinegar for 15 minutes, then washed/brushed it with dish soap and tap water several times, then sprayed with distilled water to rinse off the tap water which gave a clean part (following picture is prior to cleaning, but just to give the idea of the 'before' color state of the part):
2. connected part with aluminum wire (I used aluminum wire from the crafts store that is used for making jewelry) and hung that on a metal conductor that is hooked up to the POSITIVE clip on the power supply. the NEGATIVE clip on the power supply is hooked up to a 6061 bar that I had both are submerged into the solution (made up of ~5lbs of the ph reducer in ~ 1.5 gallon of distilled water - I simply kept on adding ph reducer to the dist. water until it was over saturated and no more would dissolve in the water - ALWAYS ADD ACID (AAA) to water , never water to Acid). I then turned on the power supply and within a few seconds bubbles started forming over the Cathode (NEGATIVE):
I let it sit for ~2.5 hours all the while it was bubbling like that.
I tried to use a PC power supply in an earlier attempt that failed. I'm not sure if the power supply was the culprit as I've had other differences in the setup that might have been the root cause, but I did notice that the PC power supply was giving 12v DC whereas the battery charger that I used this time around was giving out 15v DC. just something to note for later when I do attempt the same process with the PC power supply (as a cost reduction).
3. After 2.5 hours the part will lose it's silvery aluminum tint and will have a slightly warmer matte tint to it. At that point I warmed up the dye in some distilled water to 120f-140f trying to stay under 140 so that the part will not start to seal (maintained heat at 130f for most). and hung the part with the aluminum wire in the dye, and let it sit like that for 30-45 minutes (I tried shorter lengths of time but the color wasn't deep enough).
4. After 2.5 hours, I boiled some distilled water to 180f-200f, and hung the part in there to seal it.
Now here I had a bit of a mishap. in an earlier attempt that failed (color was too faded):
I believe that the dye I used was too watered down, so I stopped at michaels and got another pack of dye (this time the larger pack) and thought that I was adding it to my dye pot (left):
but infact what happened was that I added it to the 'sealer' water pot, and ended up sealing the part in dyed water... yikes. I soon noticed that midway the sealing process, and replaced the dyed water with fresh distilled water for the sealing process, so am not sure if the deep color I did get was due to sealing it in dye, and if I didn't mistakingly take that step if I would get the same results - I'll know next time around but nevertheless, the part came out perfect! I left it hanging to air dry after sealing it for 30 minutes. and this is what I got:
you can see the difference between how the anodize/dye took in where the part was fresh off the lathe (2 rings on the back) as opposed to where I filed and sanded the part (front) which gave it a brushed look which I really like and what I was hoping to get.
All in all, good progress, good experience, and definitely opens up a whole lot of new possibilities. I really like how it's much more resistant to scuffs and scratches which is something that was always bothering me with aluminum parts I was making.
So thanks again Ed, and I certainly approve the process and suggest you try it out if you plan on anodizing anything.
here is my little anodizing area:
As I will attempt making changes to the solution content/power supply, etc I will post my findings, but at least I know for certain that the above steps work and work well.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/showthread.php/12374-My-latest-anodizing
I have read quite a bit about anodizing in the past, but every online source I found back then was trying to pitch some product or another for sale and that always put me off (even though for mass production those offers seamed fairly decent and some still do). Eds' post (link above) showed that it can be done with more affordable and available products that were within closer reach to me - close enough that it was worth the try.
In an attempt to minimize costs, and use of harmful chemicals I tried using different solutions and components, and at first failed to get any decent results. the bigger culprit is that since I have yet to successfully produce good results I could not diagnose which of the components was causing the failure - was it the solution? the power supply? the connections? other?
I ended up recreating Eds process to the dot, using the same chemicals (almost) and power supply and finally got decent results. my next step would be to start introducing one change at a time and see if I can get same results using different solutions/components and I will post results as these attempts are made.
As not to repeat too much of Eds post feel free to follow the link above to his post and the process. the following is what i have been using successfully with a cost listing so that you can get the idea of total cost to get this started:
Part | Product | Source | Cost |
Power Supply | 10A/2A/55A 12V/6V Battery charger | HF | $50 (can be had for $30 on sale) |
Anodizing Solution | ph reducer (Sodium Bisulfate) | Amazon | $20 |
Anodize Solution/Dye/Sealing/Cleaning water | Distilled water | local supermarket | $5 for 6gallon |
Dye | Rit Fabric dye (the larger container) | local crafts store | $4 |
Connecting wires | 12gauge aluminum wire | local crafts store | $4 |
Containers (anodizing bath, dye/seal pots) | plastic container and cheap pots | $20 | |
Cleaning supplies | brushes (pipe brushes etc) | HF | $5 |
Dye/sealer heater | Double Hot plates | Amazon | $25 |
TOTAL | $133 |
The above is a rough estimation and rounding up the numbers and is only to give a rough idea of cost. Obviously anything on that list that one already has will start lowering that TOTAL real quick.
My process was as follow (to recap Eds post):
1. Clean part excessively (I let it sit in white vinegar for 15 minutes, then washed/brushed it with dish soap and tap water several times, then sprayed with distilled water to rinse off the tap water which gave a clean part (following picture is prior to cleaning, but just to give the idea of the 'before' color state of the part):
2. connected part with aluminum wire (I used aluminum wire from the crafts store that is used for making jewelry) and hung that on a metal conductor that is hooked up to the POSITIVE clip on the power supply. the NEGATIVE clip on the power supply is hooked up to a 6061 bar that I had both are submerged into the solution (made up of ~5lbs of the ph reducer in ~ 1.5 gallon of distilled water - I simply kept on adding ph reducer to the dist. water until it was over saturated and no more would dissolve in the water - ALWAYS ADD ACID (AAA) to water , never water to Acid). I then turned on the power supply and within a few seconds bubbles started forming over the Cathode (NEGATIVE):
I let it sit for ~2.5 hours all the while it was bubbling like that.
I tried to use a PC power supply in an earlier attempt that failed. I'm not sure if the power supply was the culprit as I've had other differences in the setup that might have been the root cause, but I did notice that the PC power supply was giving 12v DC whereas the battery charger that I used this time around was giving out 15v DC. just something to note for later when I do attempt the same process with the PC power supply (as a cost reduction).
3. After 2.5 hours the part will lose it's silvery aluminum tint and will have a slightly warmer matte tint to it. At that point I warmed up the dye in some distilled water to 120f-140f trying to stay under 140 so that the part will not start to seal (maintained heat at 130f for most). and hung the part with the aluminum wire in the dye, and let it sit like that for 30-45 minutes (I tried shorter lengths of time but the color wasn't deep enough).
4. After 2.5 hours, I boiled some distilled water to 180f-200f, and hung the part in there to seal it.
Now here I had a bit of a mishap. in an earlier attempt that failed (color was too faded):
I believe that the dye I used was too watered down, so I stopped at michaels and got another pack of dye (this time the larger pack) and thought that I was adding it to my dye pot (left):
but infact what happened was that I added it to the 'sealer' water pot, and ended up sealing the part in dyed water... yikes. I soon noticed that midway the sealing process, and replaced the dyed water with fresh distilled water for the sealing process, so am not sure if the deep color I did get was due to sealing it in dye, and if I didn't mistakingly take that step if I would get the same results - I'll know next time around but nevertheless, the part came out perfect! I left it hanging to air dry after sealing it for 30 minutes. and this is what I got:
you can see the difference between how the anodize/dye took in where the part was fresh off the lathe (2 rings on the back) as opposed to where I filed and sanded the part (front) which gave it a brushed look which I really like and what I was hoping to get.
All in all, good progress, good experience, and definitely opens up a whole lot of new possibilities. I really like how it's much more resistant to scuffs and scratches which is something that was always bothering me with aluminum parts I was making.
So thanks again Ed, and I certainly approve the process and suggest you try it out if you plan on anodizing anything.
here is my little anodizing area:
As I will attempt making changes to the solution content/power supply, etc I will post my findings, but at least I know for certain that the above steps work and work well.