zinc anodize? / plateing question

[1bronco guy]

hey all

does anyone know where a guy can get steel anodized?or dipped or what ever it is they do to the lid on a brake resivoir
once i build new diff bash plates i would like to make em look like a factory order,
well plus my brake resivoir is all rusty again:laugh

is there a set up that i can do it myself?
thanx

[lars]

There was information on how to do it yourself but it was lost in the Great Crash. I'm moving this thread to the Fabrication forum.

...lars

[lars]

I found this article at: http://www.paintballtimes.com/anodize.htm

--- begin included text ---
Anodize at home
Jay Mac



Note: Splatter Times not responsible for damage, injury or any other results of following these procedures.

Based on the number of companies selling, and people looking for, anodizing services for their gun's aluminum bodies and parts, I wanted to provide this info to the paintballing community. I first came across the process in Super Chevy magazine, in an article about anodizing your own parts and brackets, for a custom touch on your hot rod. (* Original article by Bruce Hampson.) Often anodizing is considered and/or presented as a difficult and expensive procedure. As it turns out, it really isn't that hard or that pricey.

Supplies Needed: The first thing to do is to get the following things together: First on the list is the most expensive item: a 6 to 12 volt battery charger. This item is what might make this too expensive for some paintballers. I (and most other hot rodders) already have one,for my car. If you don't, then you will need to pick one up. They run from $45.00 to $110.00 depending on model, functions, etc. While it may seem like a lot, it does have other uses. (You could charge a battery, for example.) =) The next item, though not that expensive, will take some effort to find: battery electrolyte, a.k.a. sulfuric acid. This should be available at a battery wholesaler for about $2.00/gal. To make the negative ground, you will need some aluminum ground wire and aluminum-foil. The wire can be found at an electronics store for about $35/spool, and you should have the foil in the kitchen. If you happen to be out of foil, you can pick up some more at the store when you go to buy the last item for this project.

No super-special chemicals or solutions necessary to make the colors; just plain-old fabric dye. (Something like Rit dye, for about $5.00.) Rit offers something like 30-40 different colors, so you have quite a number of choices for what color you want your parts to be. An optional item is nitric acid: about $25.00/2.5 L. (This is used to clean parts prior to anodizing, but there are some cheaper alternatives. See end notes.) This is available at chemical supply stores. Should you not be able to find any, you can try to get on the good side of the high school science teacher. He may help you out since you only need a few ounces.

Safety Precautions: There are a few precautions I want to go over to help keep you from blowing up the house or trashing the garage. First of all, do not mix or store your anodizing solution in a glass container. Something could happen to make it break, and most households are not equipped to deal with that kind of spill. You also don't want to knock over the container, so a stable, rubber bucket makes a good choice. You will also need to be certain that the part you want to color will fit in the container without sticking out of the solution, and without touching the negative ground in the bottom of the container. Any acid that you don't use, keep in what it came in, or an old plastic bottle, like a bleach bottle. You can also store your used solution this way for doing more parts later. (Make sure that there is absolutely no bleach left in the bottle. Acid and bleach make chlorine gas. Very bad. Don't breath. Poisonous.) Safety also applies to the nitric acid, but in a different way. It is imperative that you label and keep track of this stuff, as it is a stronger acid than sulfuric, and more dangerous. The breakage/spill problem is not as likely since you won't have that much around. (Unless you bought more than a few ounces from the chem store.) The last note about the acids is to mix properly when adding acid and water. Always pour acid into water, never the other way, and do so slowly, being sure to mix in well. There is a reaction taking place and it releases a lot of energy. During the anodizing process, you will be running electricity through a weak acid solution. This creates hydrogen (just like charging a battery) which is very flammable. This stuff burns at the speed of thought when ignited, so do be careful. (Read as Remember the Hindenburg?) Make certain that there is some way to ventilate the project area, and DO NOT let any sources of ignition near the project area. Other precautions you should take include safety glasses, rubber gloves, and maybe some sort of drop sheet under the area.

Preparations: One of the most essential things you need to do in order to get even color over the whole part is to be sure that the part is absolutely clean. You want it free of all contaminates, from dirt to the oils in your skin. This is where the nitric acid and some rubber gloves will help. A solution of 1-2 ounces of nitric acid in a gallon of distilled water will allow you to clean the surface in preparation for the anodizing. Aluminum oxidizes very quickly when exposed to air, so the easiest way to keep it clean is to clean it just before you are ready to start working on the piece. (You should rinse the part with distilled water before you put it in the next acid solution.) Other options are carburetor or brakes cleaners, or other similar degreasers. Soap and water will work also, or cleaners like Simple Green. These are cheaper, a nitric acid wash is the best. (You decide, it's your money.) =) Make your negative ground with the aluminum wire and foil. Shape the end of the wire into a paddle shape and cover the round part with the foil. What you want to do is create a flat, round shape to sit on the bottom of the bucket, with a lead that comes up out of the bucket. You will clip the battery charger's negative lead to the wire that comes out of the bucket. When you are ready to start, you will want to mix up your immersion solution. In your rubber bucket, combine the sulfuric acid and water to come up with a solution that is about 30% water. (1 part water to 2 parts acid.) Place the paddle in the bucket and attach the negative lead. Then attach the positive lead to the part, making it an anode, and immerse it in the solution. (Remember that the two leads the paddle (cathode), and the part (anode) should not touch.) This is the best time to turn on the charger: once the part begins to fizz, leave it in there for about 10-15 minutes. After about this time the part should no longer conduct electricity. (You can also use an ohmmeter to check conductivity, but this is not needed.) Turn off and disconnect everything, and rinse the part in cold water. Don't use hot water! You'll find out why in the next section.

A couple of notes: I have read some other procedures that say it is important that the copper lead from the charger does not enter the acid solution. The article says nothing about this, and shows a picture with the lead right in there. It may take some trial and error to find out if this is a problem. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get some scrap aluminum and play with it before you start anodizing your paintgun's parts. You can check out the above, as well as pick the colors you like best. If you test out some colors, you'll also learn just how long or short you need to work with the color solution.

Color: So now it doesn't conduct electricity, and is ready for color. It's been rinsed and waits eagerly to change to a new look. Don't wait too long to do the color, due to that oxidizing thing again. You want to mix up a strong solution of dye and water, in a container that can be heated. The solution needs to be at low heat, such as on the stove, so bread and cake pans work well. Again, you need something that will fit the whole part, but it's okay if it touches the bottom this time. I would recommend turning parts every few minutes just to make sure that you get all-over color. Inform your mom or wife that the pan can (and will be) washed out. It is important that the heat be low enough. If the solution gets too hot, you will seal the surface, and it will no longer take any color. (See, told you to rinse it in cold water!) Leave it in the dye until the part is slightly darker than you want it. The next step is to seal the surface of the metal in clean, boiling water. This will leech a bit of color from it, thus the slightly darker color in the previous step.

End Notes: It is important to realize that the process described above will yield only one color on your part. At this time, I haven't found out how to do any of the splash type of anodizing. (That's okay though, it looks really ugly anyway.) =) Should anyone happen to figure it out, I suggest you submit it to Warpig so they can put it up for others who like it.

Also, this process is for aluminum. I don't know how, or if, it will work on other metals. (I doubt it.) Anodizing only works well on rock metal like bar or sheet stock, as opposed to castings. If it was forged or machined, it should have the density to take color through this process. I figure this shouldn't be too big a problem with the guns, but just thought I should let you know about it.

Something to consider when looking for a charger, is how many amperes it puts out. Without getting into any mumbo-jumbo, anodizing relies on 10 to 40 amperes per square foot. For small brackets and such, this is no problem. The larger parts in a gun however, may need the higher levels of amperes. The other note about part size, has to do with how long you leave it in the solution. Above it said 10-15 minutes, but that is for a smaller part. The larger parts may not only need higher amperes, but more time as well. I would recommend an ohmmeter, but again, I have one already.

So there you have it. Quick, fairly easy, and not too expensive. If you don't have the charger, then your first anodizing session could cost as much as sending your gun out to be done. But, then you can do it again for much less. Or do your buddies stuff. Or talk them into chipping in on a setup for all of you to use. We all know ways to help make things cheaper.

And the stupid statement required to cover myself... If you try this and something gets messed up, or someone gets hurt, you are on your own. Deal with it, you can't blame it on anyone else.

--- end included text ---

...lars:read

[lane smith]

it should be noted however, that you can't anodize steel or other ferrous metals-they would be eaten away by the acid/electrolytic process. Only aluminum is really capable of being truly "anodized" (am not 100% sure about other non-ferrous metals, but then stuff like Titanium doesn't require anodizing, so...:confused: )

I have read of stainless steel being used as anode material, but it has problems with it's constituents being leached out or "sacrificed" (like electroplating something) during the anodizing process. Plus it's just not as efficient as aluminum anyway, it's transferance rate sucks compared to aluminum re: conductivity percentage.


*err sorry... about the actual question, i think maybe electroplating would be your best bet- you can electroplate pretty much anything, (using silver/nickel/brass/gold etc.) it's way tougher than the micro thin anodized things and I have never personally had any luck with powder coated things, whatever i have purchased or had powder coated has always turned to rusty/peeling crap in short order:(

soooo having said that, sorry I can't recomend a specific company for 'plating, but open up the yellow pages under "Plating" and there should be tons of companies to choose from, like Hudson plating-I have seen their shop somewhere but can't remember where....

[Jordan]

We take our steel to Hudson Plating for plating, you can get normal finish or bronze finish. I had my 1" lift blocks done with a bronze finish (bling bling!). Hudson Plating is located at 275 West 5th Avenue.

We take our machined aluminum to be anodized at Surftech in Port Moody, 2621 Murray Street.

[desteurm]

Seeing as you are on the Island I would phone a local machine shop and ask for a supplier of Cadnium Plating or Black oxide finishes. You can also get ferrous metals passivated for Salt water resistance.

Just a thought!

[Jordan]

Originally posted by desteurm
Seeing as you are on the Island I would phone a local machine shop and ask for a supplier of Cadnium Plating or Black oxide finishes. You can also get ferrous metals passivated for Salt water resistance.

Just a thought!

I don't think Quesnel is on the island. Close to Prince George I believe.
:mullet

[1bronco guy]

ok so the thing i'm lookin for is a kit that you see in the back of a trukin mag,ya know the add that has a picture of that babe sittin on a stool behind a bmw in a parking lot,thats plating right?

but now that i know how to do allum,has anyone triied that on a pollished alum intake or v/v covers?
wouldn't that look sweet to have a carb intake and covers all tinted in your favorite color !
does anyone have pics?
thanx for the replies

[desteurm]

Anodizing doesn't look so hot on cast surfaces, if you polished the covers and manifold first then it would turn out fantastic.

[Eatflesh3]

[i]

(using silver/nickel/brass/gold etc.) it's way tougher than the micro thin anodized things and I have never personally had any luck with powder coated things, whatever i have purchased or had powder coated has always turned to rusty/peeling crap in short order:(

[/B]

Gold huh? The whole idea of gold plated 4x4 is kinda wierd. I can just imagine Lars coming up the trail. His wire rim daytons reflecting the sun off their gold glossy finish. 36" clarion custom subwoofer making the gold plated sheetmetal bow in and out as it hits. As he drives by the rockface that your standing at, his mouth full of gold plated teeth are gleaming almost as brightly as the 100lbs of Mr. T style 24k gold chains hanging from his neck. He stops to ask if you need some help getting unstuck. You raise an eyebrow as you look at his spun gold winch cable, and say "no I'm ok," knowing that your hole truck isn't worth the amount of money it would cost to replace the solid gold hook on the end of the cable. You are temporily blinded by the intense light reflected from the polished gold sliders and bumpers. As he reaches the crest of the hill you see In gold lettering the bumper stickers, "Tu pac Lives," "I pitty the fool,"and "Hit the hydros 4 the honeys."

You have now entered the twilight zone
du du du du......du du du du......du du du du

[lane smith]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Eatflesh3
[B]

Gold huh? I can just imagine Lars coming up the trail.
the 100lbs of 24k gold chains hanging from his neck.
"I pitty the fool"


:D

[1bronco guy]

eatflesh
tell me more!:laugh

you got a good paint brush there!:p