"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

"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

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

In article ,
says...
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.

While it's true that you'll never get an exact color match,
using the proper filler will minimize the difference. 4043
is the most common filler used for welding 6061, but turns
noticeably greyer than the base metal when anodized. 5356
will usually give an acceptable match.

It shouldn't be difficult to find an anodizer locally in
all but the most rural areas. There are at least 3 within
reasonable driving distance from where I am in midcoast
Maine.

Ned Simmons

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