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Anodizing Questions
"Jim C Roberts" wrote in message m... Greetings all, I have a guy wanting me to custom build some parts for his show truck. These parts will be aluminium, mostly flat or at worst will have to have some mounting studs welded on or a little bit of roll put into them. No bending, so I believe 6061 will fit the bill here, correct? Now for the big question, what all can be done with anodizing? Not talking about a home brew kit, I will need to farm this out just wondering who can do what? I have checked out a few web sites that seemed to promise a whole lot, I believe one even mentioned screen printing the anodize on. Seems a bit far fetched, anyone seen/heard of this? As usual, thanks in advance for any and all help in this matter, feel free to e-mail me directly or post to the NG with answers/criticism. :) Jim C Roberts Not sure of the sources, but one possibility is Jagemann plating in, I believe, Manitowoc Wisconsin. I'm not sure if they have a minimum run size or not, you'll have to contact them. If they can't help they will probably be able to give you a source who can do what you want. When I dealt with them a few years back they seemed easy to deal with. We used them for many plating services when I was at my job, and yes, it is possible to screen print anodize. They use some type of masking agent to block the anodizing process where you want. I have seen this done on fire extinguisher fittings and gas pump vapor recovery couplings. I can't remember the sources we used to get this done, but it is definitely possible. Chris |
Anodizing Questions
"Jim C Roberts" wrote in message m... Greetings all, I have a guy wanting me to custom build some parts for his show truck. These parts will be aluminium, mostly flat or at worst will have to have some mounting studs welded on or a little bit of roll put into them. No bending, so I believe 6061 will fit the bill here, correct? Now for the big question, what all can be done with anodizing? Not talking about a home brew kit, I will need to farm this out just wondering who can do what? I have checked out a few web sites that seemed to promise a whole lot, I believe one even mentioned screen printing the anodize on. Seems a bit far fetched, anyone seen/heard of this? As usual, thanks in advance for any and all help in this matter, feel free to e-mail me directly or post to the NG with answers/criticism. :) Jim C Roberts Jim, If you intend to anodize, welding isn't a great idea. My experience from past years tells me that when you weld on aluminum, any anodizing done will show the weld by a different color reaction to the anodizing. Anodizing is not a "stick on" kind of thing, it is an electro-chemical reaction in which, if I'm not mistaken, controlled aluminum oxide is formed on the surface of the item being so treated. To have your work anodized, look in the yellow pages for plating shops. Those that are involved in the aero-space industry are likely to be able to help you, including giving you good advice on how to do your work so the end result is satisfactory. Good luck~ Harold |
Anodizing Questions
Jim C Roberts wrote:
Greetings all, I have a guy wanting me to custom build some parts for his show truck. These parts will be aluminium, mostly flat or at worst will have to have some mounting studs welded on or a little bit of roll put into them. No bending, so I believe 6061 will fit the bill here, correct? Now for the big question, what all can be done with anodizing? Not talking about a home brew kit, I will need to farm this out just wondering who can do what? I have checked out a few web sites that seemed to promise a whole lot, I believe one even mentioned screen printing the anodize on. Seems a bit far fetched, anyone seen/heard of this? As usual, thanks in advance for any and all help in this matter, feel free to e-mail me directly or post to the NG with answers/criticism. :) Jim C Roberts I pretty much agree with Harold's reply. Welding *will* show up, and not in a way desired for show. If the welding can be done "backside" and the pieces are thick enough that the front is not affected, maybe it will look okay. Maybe. Try some samples first, I'm thinking it would be worth the investment. Minimum charges for anodize are usually about $60-$75. Most machine shops I know, including myself, once having found a plater that does good work consistantly, stick with that plater. I can relate a couple horror stories that cost ME money when coerced by a @#%#&*% purchasing agent to use a plater of his reccomendation. Never again, unless it is a required source and parts are bought off in advance. To find a good plater, ask around at local machine shops, if any are still open(sick joke). The anodizer I have used for several years does some real nice work. I routinely have had them do orders in the thousands and had them ship direct to my customer, never any problem, zero rejects. I've seen some heatsinks for amplifiers in different "neon" looking colors that they did. Real pretty. If at all possible, go to the prospective shop and ask to see some of their work. If they do take pride in their workmanship, they won't mind showing some to you. If they are hesitant, I would hesitate to use their service. email me with plating as subject if you want info, but I am in calif and suspect you are a fair distance east. michael |
Anodizing Questions
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Anodizing Questions
Just use a local plater- almost all do anodizing. As the others
mentioned the welds will look discolored after anodizing. I'm not familiar with screen printing but we frequently electro-etch with stencils before light colored anodizing. It does come out a little blurry afterwards though. The sharpest appearance can be made with laser etching. It's done after anodizing and looks best on darker color anodizing. Here's some examples from a service we've used- http://www.northeastlaser.com/marking_photos_ind.html Here is a good source of info on the anodizing types and process- http://assist.daps.dla.mil/docimages...8/77/8625F.PD6 Tom Jim C Roberts wrote: Greetings all, I have a guy wanting me to custom build some parts for his show truck. These parts will be aluminium, mostly flat or at worst will have to have some mounting studs welded on or a little bit of roll put into them. No bending, so I believe 6061 will fit the bill here, correct? Now for the big question, what all can be done with anodizing? Not talking about a home brew kit, I will need to farm this out just wondering who can do what? I have checked out a few web sites that seemed to promise a whole lot, I believe one even mentioned screen printing the anodize on. Seems a bit far fetched, anyone seen/heard of this? As usual, thanks in advance for any and all help in this matter, feel free to e-mail me directly or post to the NG with answers/criticism. :) Jim C Roberts |
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