Anodising aluminium....can it be done at home??

Is it easy or is it rocket science?

 

It's pretty simple and could be done at home, but doing it and getting a good result are not necessarily the same thing. There are quite a few steps in the process so you'd need some equipment (tanks, rectifier, sulfuric acid, dyes etc), and would need to do a lot of experimentation. Also I don't know the cost compared to getting someone else to do it.

 

I worked at a camera builder back in the day. They would anodize and dye there camera parts black. I remember the tank had an electric charge and perhaps some type onf chemical(s) in it. After that process, you put the parts in the dye. I never did this myself, but talked to the guys who did. I wanted to anodize my intake manifold. The guy who did the anodizing showed me an old camera case that the had cast as a time saver. There were flecks of steel or some other metal in the casting and it burned a hole in the casting. Also if you use stock of two different types, it will give you two different colors.

I'm not trying to talk you out of this, but thought you might want to know some details.

Could it be done at home? I think so.

 

Oh absolutely! Quite possible and reasonable to set up. If you scout around online, you'll come across an excellent tutorial on how to do it. The system I saw involved some plastic coolers as the tanks. Any color can be done. One shop I know was looking into it for commercial jobs that require no certs to be handed in with the job.

Bob

 

Why not try some translucent spray paint? Test idea on some scrap first of course??

Doc.

 

I have the stuff and do it from time-to-time. It is a process that you'll have to babysit all the way thru and it takes a couple hours. I have several tanks (5 gallon buckets) and i think 4 of them are used for a completed piece - the other tanks are different colors. One of the most timeconsuming things is getting a particular bucket of chemical to a particular temperature. I have made only one heating element and have to move it from bucket to bucket ahead of the piece i am anodizing and if you need to get the temp to 150deg well, that just takes a while to get 5 gallons up to that temp so's you can treat your piece for 15minutes.
All that said, i have had terrific results. It takes some experimenting and calculating but i get better looking sruff than what a lot of companies like professional products, proform etc consider as being anodized.
I don't recall the name of the guy i got everything from but he makes pieces for telescopes and is in pennsylvania. Google anodizing supplies and telescopes and he'll probably pop up. He sells everything you need, supplies you with a well written book of practcal applications and lots of pictures and personal experience. If you can't find him give me a pm and i'll dig around here for his manual and send you his name.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing#Process

 

Here you go, check this out.

http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/aluminum.htm

 

Here's a couple of links I found when I was looking into doing it at home myself:

http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html
http://www.thirdgen.org/anodizealuminum

I haven't done it myself, but I'd be interested to see and hear how it actually goes!

 

Wow, not quite rocket science but a little tricky. I'm going to see if I can find all of the necesary ingredients. Sounds fun.

Thanks all for your timely and informative replies. IF I can get it happening in an easy layman type of way I'll post some pix.
Thanks again. Jerry.

 

If you could get a volume of parts to do, it would be worth mixing up a batch and getting the process going. Of course you can't do certs for government work, but it would be ultra cool to get going.

Bob

 

Doe's anybody know of any way or methods to strip anodized items, Im starting to paint my 86 442 and the anodizing on all my window mouldings are shot.....Thanks Rich

 

Oven cleaner works well.........just monitor its action, and don't leave it on too long.............Red Devil Lye, (drain cleaner) works a s well, and works good in a kiddie pool or section of vinyl gutter material, for stripping grilles, and side molding, respectively.......

 

Chuck,Thanks for the tip I'll give it a shot.....Rich

 

Just stumbled across this older thread, and wanted to add my two cents. Anodizing at home is totally doable. My setup here at home is mostly 5 gallon pails with a 10 gallon anodizing tank I made myself.

As mentioned before, it's best to have more than a few parts to justify the initial cost for chemicals. The dyes are the things that will cost you the most, especially black. For some reason, black is twice the price compared to any other color. With careful shopping and fab skills, you can put together a 5 gallon system for a couple hundred dollars.

Be prepared to get some suspicious looks when you buy large quantities of sulfuric acid for your anodizing tank. When I first bought this chemical, I had to sign some forms stating that I wasn't making meth or crack cocain or something like that! Crazy.

To get results that rival the big anodizing shops, you need to be very careful, and very clean. I learned this the hard way. Having parts that are rinsed well between each step (so you don't drag chemicals to the next tank), and super clean to begin with is 99% of having stuff come out great. I tell my friends that if you think it's super clean, clean it again!

Here are some Off-Topic bits (don't flame me guys) I used to machine here at home and anodized myself. I anodize in red, blue, black, and clear (no dye).

Red:




Blue:




Black:




And clear (no dye step):




Take care all!

David

 

If someone flames you they're gay. Nice work, I want a blue and I don't even know what they are!

 

Man, that is some good looking work, have to say.