Annodising Aluminium

[Hood]

Well I bit the bullet and bought the kit so that it would be here before the weekend. Time will tell if it was a waste of money or not

 

[Hood]

Oh well, Chronos have just emailed to say they get the kits in and it will take 10 days, that is no use, hate waiting on stuff so have cancelled. Why they allow the option of next day delivery I have no idea.

 

[Kram]

This shop might be worth trying, notably they sell cold sealer, so no need to boil the parts.

Anodising | Gateros Plating Ltd

Anodising kits, products, accessories and replacements.

www.gaterosplating.co.uk

Doesnt include controller, but Id say hard to beat a power brick + constant current boost converter + power meter.

All of the UK shops I can find, sell the same black dye, this stuff. Its £14 on ebay, Im tempted to get some.

Sanodal® Deep Black MLW Gran. | Heubach Group

Latest news, press releases and events - you'll find all the latest info on the Heubach Group here.

www.clariant.com

 

[Hood]

I have just ordered this one.

Aluminium Anodising kits Car Bike and Equipment restoration 10 Litre FREE DYE A1 | eBay

Easy to use, the Anodising Kit gives professional results for DIY enthusiasts. Aluminium Anodising Kit. 5.5 litre anodising tank and lid. Anodising Solution. (Makes 5 litres of industrial strength electrolyte).

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Hood]

Anyone know if this would be possible.
I have engraved the side of the foot pegs.

I am going to be trying a black anodising finish but I was thinking of facing off the side of the peg to remove the engraving then anodising it black and then doing the engraving again so that it shows up better. I was wondering if I could then anodise again but just seal without dyeing so that the engraved part has protection but remains silver.

 

[Seadog]

I was wondering if I could then anodise again but just seal without dying

Is it that dangerous a process?

 

[Kram]

Anodising twice would likely damage the coating/dye/sealing unless it can be protected, Im not sure on a complexnpart like that.

You can mask it, the idea being that bleach will destroy all organic dyes. Annodise part, dye black, then mask off/ selectively bleach your engraving. Vinyl stickers were used in the YT video showing the idea.
Perhaps a fine pen filled with bleach, stick it in mill with same toolpath?

It would be easy if you could mill the face so that the engraving were proud, 1mm high off the face.

 

[Hood]

Is it that dangerous a process?

Being impudent to a disabled typist is

 

[Hood]

Anodising twice would likely damage the coating/dye/sealing unless it can be protected, Im not sure on a complexnpart like that.

You can mask it, the idea being that bleach will destroy all organic dyes. Annodise part, dye black, then mask off/ selectively bleach your engraving. Vinyl stickers were used in the YT video showing the idea.
Perhaps a fine pen filled with bleach, stick it in mill with same toolpath?

It would be easy if you could mill the face so that the engraving were proud, 1mm high off the face.

No chance of masking it I am afraid, line is only about 0.2mm thick and relief engraving would take way too long and may be problematic due to the small sizes.

Will just see how it turns out when I get the kit, supposed to be today but couriers not picked it up yet . Can always just leave the engraved part un-anodised (is that a word ?) and maybe even just wax it or something. Might not even be too bad if it oxidises anyway as it is such a small area and the grey of the oxidised Alu would still show up fine.

 

[Kram]

You could give it a coat of 2k clear and a light mill of the face before anodising, that should protect the engraving ok.

 

[Hood]

The engraving is only 0.1mm deep so that probably wouldn't be possible.

 

[Hood]

Gave the anodising a try today.
Wasn't hopeful as the most I could get was 0.34 Amps and going by their info I should have been about 2.5Amps but PSU was full up to get the 0.34Amps.

After a while it was down to 2.3 Amps but never went lower.

I decided to just leave it for a while, probably getting on for 1.5 hours and then I hauled it out, rinsed then set in the dye for 30 minutes or so. Seemed to have taken up the dye which I was surprised at.

I didn't have any source of heat other than a kettle so I boiled it in that, switching on every minute or so for about 30mins.

Part came out reasonably good for a first attempt.

As this was the very first peg I had made and had been on the bike for a few weeks it was covered in dirt and although I cleaned it I just had water and some washing up liquid, if I had proper degreaser it may have come out better.

I then decided to engrave it and see what it would turn out like, pretty happy with the results so next I will have to try the ones that will be for the bike.

 

[Hood]

Anyone know if you have to seal the parts right away after soaking in the dye?

 

[Kram]

Looks good! You do not but anything in contact like oily fingers and dirt could degrade the finish. May be worth wrapping in clingfilm or a clean disposable glove. Im planning to order the cold sealer stuff and a proper dye soon.

The supply is showing 12.5v, I found that is generally too low. If thats on full, might not be suitable. Get one of these constant current boost converters
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZJJ1Z71/

 

[Hood]

Ok, probably best just boiling right away so just ordered a camping gas stove from Halfords, will get it on my way to the workshop tomorrow.
We had one but when I asked the boss where it was she said she threw it out years ago

Yes 12.5v is the max of the supply, it is 12v 5A and is what was supplied with the kit.
I have an Omron switching supply here that I will take tomorrow, it is 24v 10A but I can trim the voltage a wee bit, probably 19-28v or so.
If that doesn't work then I will get that constant current board you linked to, in fact I may get it anyway.
Thanks.

 

[Hood]

I tried again today with another one that won't be used seeing as I wanted to see how the new power supply would work. So I put the bigger power supply on and at 28v it was putting out loads of Amps but the water was really fizzing and I was getting 3 Amps or so I think, didn't leave it on long because it was bubbling too much I thought. I decided to try and turn the pot down, problem was the pot broke so it was now down to 19v which didn't seem so good. Shorted out the pot to get the 28v and put a 5 ohm resistor in line and it fizzed but not as bad and gave me 1.2Amps, so left it going for maybe 1/2-3/4 hour and then tried it in the dye, it didn't take at all

After an hour in the dye I decided to seal it anyway and I think it looks nice, shame I have the real one back in the solution with the old supply, I will see how it turns out but I should be able to strip the etch off if I think it is better with the higher current/lower colour.

Ok a couple of pics.

 

[Hood]

Ok turns out it had nothing to do with the current, will explain how much of an idiot I am this evening, gotta go do some work now

 

[m_c]

You weren't that big an idiot that you used the wrong bucket were you?

 

[Hood]

No, not that daft, I am North of the Forth

 

[m_c]

That could be debated.
Did you anodise what should be your cathode?