how to hard anodize aluminum

The anodized aluminium layer is grown by passing a direct current through an electrolytic solution, with the aluminium object serving as the anode (the positive electrode). Put on a mask or respirator before you start working with acid. Later on you can fine tune this soak time depending on how deep of a color you want. Sometimes the colors are really off – blue can look purple, purple can look pink, etc. This article received 14 testimonials and 95% of readers who voted found it helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. If you messed up, the water will bead on the surface. In that case, repeat the cleaning process. You’ll need eye protection, a respirator mask for chemicals and gloves. Anodizing requires special attention to wiring up the pats, because only aluminum parts can be placed into the solution, so the actual wire, or rack, must be made of this. Here’s a quick run through of what’s available. One thing that’s a good idea (at least it’s good practice) is to slowly turn up the amps. Put the lead cathode in the bath. Hardcoat Type III aluminum anodizing is a coating frequently found on firearms and aircraft parts. Put your container in a well ventilated area. But starting from scratch, this is a setup that will allow you to do really good quality anodizing from your garage. The perk is that these power sources are versatile – you can use them for other things like plating too. The advantage to this is that you might already have one that’ll work. Hardcoat Anodize Facts and Guidance. This step is really important. I strongly prefer using titanium. Add enough to cover the surface of the acid mixture. Put on your safety glasses. Titanium won’t. She has conducted survey work for marine spatial planning projects in the Caribbean and provided research support as a graduate fellow for the Sustainable Fisheries Group. It can be further classified in two classes. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. If the process didn’t work, the dye will just drip off. It involves immersing the aluminum into sulfuric acid solution at low temperature and high voltages. Lye is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH). To be clear, the leads do not have to be made of lead (element Pb). Set up your power supply. This can be a bit of a fussy step. Type III – Hard Anodize. Next, tie one end of a 12-gauge aluminum wire to your anode, wrap the middle of the wire around a piece of wood, and set a lead cathode on each side of the tub. To hard-coat, you need to do at 32 F and use a regulated power supply to slowly ramp your current up to 24 - 30 A/sqft. While chromic acid was widely used by manufacturers when the anodizing aluminum process was developed in the early 1900’s, most parts are now anodized with the sulfuric acid (Type II and Type III). One thing that’s critical: You need a good connection. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/eb\/Anodize-Aluminum-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Anodize-Aluminum-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/e\/eb\/Anodize-Aluminum-Step-1.jpg\/aid3684679-v4-728px-Anodize-Aluminum-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"