Anodizing?

[grob23]

(I don't know if I put this in the correct place, feel free to move it to where it belongs!)

I'm finally to the point with my crawler where I'm done changing parts (for now). I've pretty much got my setup dialed in to my likings, except for how it looks. I've got alot of black on my rig, and hate seeing bare aluminum. It's an OCD type thing... I' hella picky about the way my rig looks. I've got a few aluminum parts I'd like anodized (black of course). My rear axle truss, knuckles, and the battery plate I made.

Anyone know of a someone who does anodizing? I'd be willing to ship my parts, pay for them to get anodized, and pay for them to get shipped back. It's not a huge deal, but I feel it's the last thing my crawler needs to really be mine...

Is it possible to anodize stainless steel? My C's are stainless... just wondering

Thanks in advance for any answers!

[ultimate_monkey]

just paint em, chances are the rocks are just gonna scratch em up any way, and 3$ for a rattle can of blacks a hell of alot cheaper and free touch ups when ever u want

[grob23]

I thought about it... wasn't sure how it'd look though...;) Like I said, I'm pretty dang picky

Can you paint Stainless with spray paint and get good results?

[NeXt559]

powder coating would probabbly hold up alot better than anodizing, and it should be alot easier to find a local business that will do it for you

and yes you can paint stainless. but it will not hold up as well as anodizing or powder coat

[rockerrc]

If you crawl it's going to get messed up any how so I would just paint them also I've painted stainless before you just need to clean it real well before you paint get all the oil off first.

[Hoppa]

You can only anodize aluminum. Stainless should paint just as good as anything else. (as long as its not polished) If your that anal about your parts have them powder coated.
2 minutes to late.

[grob23]

I've got a few cans of flat black out in the garage, might have to do some paintin tomorrow!

The only reason I was thinking of getting everything anodized is because that's usually the way aluminum RC parts come... I thought about powder coating, but I'm not sure I'd like the way it looks. It might come out looking to bulky and thick...

[Eritex Inc.]

I use a local place here in Omaha, NE. Really great finish;)

[fernando]

This rig is not a shelf queen, so the cost vs reward isn't worth it. Just spray can job the links, and have the freedom to do it whenever you want afterwards.;)

[C*H*U*D]

Check around with your local machine shops. Anodizing is a bulk charge.....they charge you per job not by the piece. If you really want your parts done, you might be able to piggyback onto a shop that is sending out parts.....bring them some beer.

[clockworks]

You could try "oil blacking" your steel parts. I've used this process on mild steel many times. I believe that it works on stainless, too.

Hold the part to be blacked with pliers or suspend it on a steel wire (don't use copper wire, it might melt). Heat the part with a blow torch, then dunk in a tub of ordinary auto engine oil.
Allow the excess oil to drip back into the tub, then heat/dunk again.

After several cycles, you should get a satin blue/black finish.

[Ktbone]

You could also try some gun black. You can get it at any good gun shop and it penetrates the surface of the metal so small scratches won't show. I've had good luck with it on Al and SS (double the set time for SS)

[grob23]

Awesome ideas!

The Gun Black sounds cool, might be pretty neat for bicycle parts too. Same with oil blacking.

As much as I would love to have these parts anodized, I'm gonna be cheap and try spray paint... and pray I don't hate the way it turns out!