Free Anodizing

[ukanduit]

Did you go to the Greenville Engine show, two years ago? That is the year featuring Stirling engines.

No, was it in Greenville Ohio?

 

[JPL]

Did i read that you could chrome the interior of a brass liner? Is this offer still available?

I am working on a new design and was somewhat limited to iron/steel P/L but would love to do an ABC..

Thanks

John

 

[ukanduit]

Hi John, I'm not ready to offer chrome plating yet. Still working on it.

 

[JPL]

Roger that- If you need a few test pieces I could make something up for U to try...Thanks for doing this for the hobby!

 

[Naiveambition]

kinda cool to see another Greenville native on hmem. It's a tiny cornfield blip on the map andI grew up on the other side of town. I now live in Texas , but do remember going plenty of times to the steam thresher reunion.
I am looking into possibly anodizing my current motor but will be a while before it's ready.
A few questions though, first - how dark can the part come out. And is it adjustable for varying sheens.
I would prefer a non transparent look similar to paint.
And how well does it hold up under engine conditions, meaning longevity and oil etc...
Also the clear, can it be applied to bare metal, say the outer flywheel ring, does it tend to yellow after a time as most other clears do.

 

[django]

You all might want to watch this before you send any parts off to him.

 

[Chiptosser]

Hi, John
Yes, it was in Greenville. You would have liked all the stirling engines.

 

[ukanduit]

Look at the date on that video Django. That was like almost a decade ago.

Edit: If you are going to be as difficult as that customer was to deal with then I would rather you not send me your parts.

 

[ukanduit]

kinda cool to see another Greenville native on hmem. It's a tiny cornfield blip on the map andI grew up on the other side of town. I now live in Texas , but do remember going plenty of times to the steam thresher reunion.
I am looking into possibly anodizing my current motor but will be a while before it's ready.
A few questions though, first - how dark can the part come out. And is it adjustable for varying sheens.
I would prefer a non transparent look similar to paint.
And how well does it hold up under engine conditions, meaning longevity and oil etc...
Also the clear, can it be applied to bare metal, say the outer flywheel ring, does it tend to yellow after a time as most other clears do.

Yeah, that steam thresher reunion is pretty fun. Haven't been there in years tho.

Anodizing holds up to oil well and is non-yellowing. High temps can degrade the dye.
You can get pitch black if you want and whatever the surface finish going into the tank is pretty much what you get coming out.

 

[JOHN DUNCKER]

And there was me thinking anodising was a single color single shade. Your portfolio page opened m eyes.

 

[Ken Brunskill]

Like the other posts before me, wished I'd known of your generous offer before I painted my parts. That took far more time than I'd thought and does not look as well as they were before painting them.

 

[H Pearce]

Hi,

Just wanted to say thanks for the very generous offer!
A little anodising can do amazing things for the finished engine.

just noticed the original post was a couple of years ago.... regardless, thanks for the offer to the community.

 

[Ken Brunskill]

I completed my Atkinson Differential and painted the parts, what a mistake! I am either a horrible painter or chose the wrong paint!. So now I am seriously considering your very generous offer, having been a manufacturing engineer for many years, I am acquainted with anodizing, as such know that the process adds a small amount to the parts. Since my parts have both threaded holes and small holes (.125", 3/16" and 5/16" for pins and bearing's to fit into) the question I have is will you plug them or do you want them plugged when they arrive at your facility? If I am to plug them please advise how you want them plugged - Material/Method.
Of course I'd like to retain the color scheme I had for the painted parts, but recognize that would be a major undertaking for Anodizing - any suggestions? I'd surely settle for one uniform color (black).

 

[gunner312]

Why do you pay to have anodizing done? It is really SIMPLE to do, all you need is a 12V battery or battery charger, a piece of lead to use as a negative and some acid from a car battery and water which is readily available to most of us. The dye for the parts can be Rit dye, (really) comes in a bunch of colors. Mix the battery acid 4 to 1 and put the parts in and watch them. After a time they will attain a grey surface finish and then take them out, rinse them in water and place in dye tank with the dye at about 130 degree temperature. wait about 15 minutes and remove, place in boiling water to set the dye and you are done. There are a few things to pay attention to, such as the parts must be CLEAN before anodizing (I use a hot water/parts cleaner) and wear rubber gloves when handling parts around acid. But it's not rocket science, I've been doing it for years. Neutralize the acid/water with baking soda before disposal. Be sure to use a good quality plastic tank for the acid/water tank, remember to wash it out before and after use. There are sites on the web that go into it with more detail than I have and you should read those. But it is (REALLY) easy to do even if kind of messy while set up but once you are done you can store all the parts & pieces in the anodizing tub and put them away till next time.

 

[awake]

Gunner, is the battery used for both stages? How is it hooked up? You mentioned lead as the negative - is the positive directly connected to the piece being anodized?

 

[gunner312]

Gunner, is the battery used for both stages? How is it hooked up? You mentioned lead as the negative - is the positive directly connected to the piece being anodized?

When I set it up, I use a 6A battery charger. I set it for 12 volts. The positive is attached to the part, the negative is attached to the lead bar/plate/scrap. You can use a 12 volt battery for the power source. Once again, attach the positive to the part, attach the negative to the lead. Be aware that while this is working it is producing hydrogen gas so do it only in a well-ventilated place. I do it outdoors under a shed roof overhang.

I generally hang the part in the acid/water bath so that all of the part is submerged. I have used both aluminum and stainless welding rods to hang the part in the bath. It must be COMPLETELY submerged in the bath.

 

[Chris Murphy]

It's not a good idea to use any other metal apart from aluminium or titanium as part hangars-any other metal in contact with the sulphuric acid electrolyte will be attacked by it-and will contaminate the anodising solution.