Anodizing aluminum

[AirSpeed]

I've been anodizing stuff on and off for a few years and started doing it a little more seriously now, I used to do it with my batt charger but it was to inconsitant so I bought a new constant current power supply. What a difference, here's some parts I just finished, they motorcycle parts for a friend.
[IMG][/IMG]

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[flashed]

Looks great .

[LEEVON]

Wow, that's cool. I didn't know that was a DIY possibility. Can you share about the process?

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by LEEVON

Wow, that's cool. I didn't know that was a DIY possibility. Can you share about the process?

Thanks! It's a fairly simple process but a LOT can go wrong, most everything you need to do basic anodizing can be found easy enough, a power supply, sulphuric acid (battery acid) plastic tanks for to ano in, sheet aluminum for the cathodes, you can even use Rit dye as long as your part isn't in the sun a lot. I used a regular battery charger for a long time with pretty good results but I recently bought a constant current power supply to get more consitant results. Go to the website forum at Caswells, it will explain the process better than I can. It's easy to do once you understand the process, I was able to figure it out and had good results the first time I tried it. It took me a few tries to learn the system Caswell teaches, it's called LCD and you need to either build a circuit to monitor and control the amperage or pick up a constant current power supply. I picked one up at Amazon for $130, well worth the price for the results I'm getting now. Check out Caswells website and forum, it seems a little intimidating at first but once you start building your system and get it running its pretty easy. Thanks again!
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[AirSpeed]

I did a few more parts yesterday, these are for a couple of stree bikes, I have no idea where they go though!
These are raw, the one on the right is polished.

Here they are after anodizing and dying

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[Dieselwrencher]

Would you be interested in doing some parts for me? You're doing a great job!

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Would you be interested in doing some parts for me? You're doing a great job!

What do you have?
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[Dieselwrencher]

Originally Posted by AirSpeed

What do you have?
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Some valve covers, maybe a turbo compressor cover. I can get you pics of the pieces.

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Some valve covers, maybe a turbo compressor cover. I can get you pics of the pieces.

It's not easy anodizing cast aluminum depending on how they are cast and the alloy. If they are die cast they will have a lot of copper in the surface which won't grow the ano layer. If they're milled I should be able to do it. I rently tried some cast aluminum peg mounts on a Honda street bike that wouldn't take at all. Is the turbo housing polished? Can you tell if its sand or die cast?
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[Dieselwrencher]

All these pieces I have besides the valve covers are cast and have a rough surface. So I'm guessing sand. IDK for sure.

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

All these pieces I have besides the valve covers are cast and have a rough surface. So I'm guessing sand. IDK for sure.

I probably wouldn't want to ano those parts not knowing what alloy and casting was used, I've anodized parts I've cast myself but I knew the alloy. Milled parts are easy but cast parts are unpredictable and I couldn't gaurantee how well or even if they could be done.
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