AluminiumAnodising

Aluminium Anodising

Aluminium Anodising

Yes, NOT Aluminum Anodizing!! ;-)

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I've always been drawn to shiny things; widgets, gadgets etc, so decided to explore the possibility of anodising aluminium parts for the Landy.

Never tried it before, but have read a fair bit on ye olde interweb.

Stage 1: purchase required chemicals, dyes and accesories: Check, done.

Stage 2: Decide on part to trial-anodise. Ended up using the bottom of an alu torch I had lying around:

Setup:

Tub 1: stripper & etch @ 200g/l
Tub 2: 20% sulphuric acid / deionized water mix, lead anodes
Tub 3: 2ml/l industrial orange dye
Spare 12v battery attached to a car charger

Shame I didn't take a picture whilst stipping the aluminium (I was standing-back a fair bit....just in case!). However, it certainly fizzed a bit and came out a nice dull gray. Duly toothbrush scrubbed with deionized water.
Next step, drop into acid bath and charge-up. Only ran it for 10 minutes as a test. Anodes indicated some action, and you could see the anodised layer building up. Again, rinsed in water.

Next: drop it into the dye. I only left it in there for about 8 minutes for a test. Pulled it to check a couple of times and then rubbed off residue. I didn't biol-it to seal afterwards as this was just a test. However, seems to have worked....

Initial trial over. Time to start on some bits for the Landy and play with timings!! :-)

In the interests of safety, and to passify any HSE addicts out there, I'm no expert, please don't try this at home! Acid is nasty, full PPE required!