I just anodized my first piece of Aluminum. It's not too hard to do. Now I can start making bodies, extension tubes and even hybrid copper/aluminum pills.
This is just a scrap piece that has not been polished in any way. It was parted off, cleaned and anodized.
I gave it a decent scratch test with a knife. It held up well.
Reflectors can be anodized too with very high reflectivity. It may be the best way for us to repair damaged reflectors. It has to be easier than vapor deposition.
I did some more scratching on the test piece and on a D Mag. The ano on the test piece seems to be pretty close to the Mag in scratch resistance. Does anyone know if Maglights are Type II ano? They must be.
yes, M@Gs are type II anodizing. To achieve type III “hard anodizing you need more current and a way to keep the acid cold. There are plenty of websites and vids that show what you need for parts/chems/ etc.
Thanks for confirming that Mags are Type II. My understanding of Type III (Hard Anodizing) is that one needs 1) Double the amps per square foot compared to Type II. 2) Cold sulfuric acid solution (32-40F). 3) Agitation of sulfuric acid solution.
I have the first 2 (at least while it's winter here). Need to figure out how to agitate it. I may have to settle for something short of Type III, but I should be able to do better than regular Type II.
Yes, I thought about using compressed air with a glass pipe to the bottom but I don't want extra oxygen getting in there. Plus the fumes would be bad. I was thinking more along the lines of the high school magnet in a pyrex dish gizmo. Just enough to keep the solution moving should be good enough.
From my experience turning maglites, some are harder than others. I have turned some that would dull tool steel in a matter of a minute. I would assume the anodizing was close to 50 RC since the tool steel was around 60 RC. I have read that a hardness of 55 RC can be achieved from a type II coating. Type III can be from 50 RC to 70 RC. So a Maglite coating is not far behind a type III anodizing. As long as they have been produced and as many that has been made, I would bet that they pretty well have the process down pat. I would assume its about as good of a type II anodizing you will find.
I have always used Rit clothing dye for coloring. Sunshine Orange is one of my favorites.
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I would recommend that you use a professional dye for black. The Rit black doesn’t turn out black, more like a dark grey with a hint of purple.
007, do you use a sealer or just boil in distilled water? Or no sealer at all? I've read that sealing is beneficial with the cheaper dyes, but that it somewhat softens the ano. So there is a tradeoff.