DIY Anodizing!

[Killz]

I'm not a chemist or whatever so take this with a grain of salt. It works, though.


Supplies


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BBME8K8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081JQV816/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001QV3DCO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CT1NR6H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


IN THE COLOR OF YOUR CHOICE!


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07456SPMF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Battery acid


Plastic/Glass tubs


Aluminum or titanium wire


Distilled water

Degreaser


The process


First thing is you gotta find whatever you want to anodize. I'm using some scrap links for this tutorial. You're only limited by the size of your containers.


Degrease your part and polish it if you want to. Keep it surgically clean and don't touch it with your bare hands. Use distilled water only.


Next, mix up distilled water with a dash of that lye in there. Hang your part in there, let it stew for 5 minutes or so. It'll turn grey.

Dunk it in some distilled water.


Next, hang your part in your 30% battery acid/distilled water. Clip the negative part to the lead sheet, and the positive part to your part. Turn on your power supply. I leave mine at 16 volts. Let it stew for 20 minutes-ish. Turn on your hot plate, add distilled water, and put some dye in it, make it hot. Bubbles will form on your part. Thats fine and what you want.

After that, toss your part in your dye bath. Leave it in there until you get the color you want.

Take your part out, wipe it off in the water. Done.

Its way easier than the internet makes it seem. Any questions? Don't overthink it.

 

[MOVIN-SLOOOOOOW]

I throw all my fresh machined aluminum in the dishwasher with the dishes and a couple stainless pans. comes out with a grey to brown finish

 

[Timmahh]

Did a fair bit of DYI Anodizing a while back, Not hard, but it is tedious. getting a good connection is the key to success.

Raw aluminum will discolor in hot water no doubt.

 

[dCowler]

We will try this experiment next after we finished installing the suspension from 4Wheelonline onto the Wrangler this week.

 

[Timmahh]

There is also a Sealer you can get.
The thicker you make the ano layer the better it will take the dye. Some dyes wont take because the die molecule is too large to fit into the anodizing pits created.

The thicker the ano layer, the more aluminum you lose (turns to Ano) so your parts can/will shrink if you do it too long.

The sealer is used after the dyeing and thorough rinse and will make the color look great.

there are 2 types of ano. Normal that does any color for the most part. and Hard Anodizing which can only take Dark Colors thus all the black, Dark Dark brown/kind of bronze color, Darker Grey are generally hard anozided *more durable, but harder to do as you need a chilled ano take to keep the temps around 36*f.

if you're dying colors I recommend the sealer as it really does help keep the parts looking professional over time until they get scratched up.

but you can use a battery charger for power source so long as it is a constant feed, and does not have an 'intermitment type' charging system, or a kickout for safety.

I used a power supply like you would use on Tattoo Gear. 15v/15a Power supply. Works good for some larger batches, but nothing too big.