I don’t think it makes much difference at all. Britelumens heatsinks are all anodized for mag lights.
http://www.britelumens.com/
You could send me the light to use for a month, much of the anodizing will be gone, not very targeted, but c’est la vie
No, aluminum oxidizes in air within milliseconds… I don’t know about that aluminium stuff that they use in England.
its more polite, enjoys cucumber sandwiches and is used to cameras on every street corner
True, but it still can be anodized with out problems. Its after a day or so that it needs to be dipped in caustic soda to remove any oxidization that has formed that might cause the anodizing not to take. I guess I should have made that more clear.
Its still a good idea to dip it in a caustic soda solution before anodizing for 30 seconds or so. I always had a weak solution to dip in right before starting the anodizing.
What method do you use for ano and what dyes?
I usually only do small parts. For larger parts require more acid and larger tank with considerable more current.
I use battery acid at a ratio of 1 part acid to 3 parts distilled water. Battery acid is 50% water and the preferred mixture is 1 part reagent grade sulfuric acid to 6 parts distilled water. So automotive battery acid at 1 to 3 ratio should be about right according to what I know.
I clean the parts with soap and water first then dip in a caustic soda solution for about 30 seconds. Then begin anodizing in the acid solution at a 2 amp setting on the charger for about 50 minutes then switch to 10 amps for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
The color I use comes from wally world, rit clothing dye in a liquid form. I use a container big enough to submerge all the parts and add about 8oz dye per gallon of water. Once its finished in the acid bath I submerge the parts in the color solution and I slowly heat the colored water with a hot water tank element that I rigged up, for about 30 minutes. Bringing the water to a boil for the last 5 minutes. Then let it set in the color solution without adding any heat for about 20 minutes. That should seal the anodizing. Take the parts out and rinse in cold water until clean.
This is not a perfect method I know but does work well for me. There are much better power supplys than a automotive charger, I just can’t justify the cost for the small amount of stuff i do. The professional dyes also work much better. If you want black I suggest that you do use a better dye. I have never had the black clothes dye to actual end up black on the part. If you have a better power supply than me this calculator would probably benefit you greatly in improving the annodizing process.http://ndhsubmersiblescience.com/ano/720rule.html
No. It’ll turn the gelatin into soap.
Thanks, Don. Is there something else that could turn it into more of a paste or will that affect the stripping?
Probably - but I’m not sure which gelling agents won’t be destroyed by sodium hydroxide. It is now nearly 30 years since I was a chemist.
Xanthan gum maybe?
Mask off the area around the surface to be repaired, using masking tape. Use sodium hydroxide to remove the damaged metal oxide coating from the surface. Flush away the sodium hydroxide with deionized water.
Pass sulfuric acid through a tubular cathode rod, while applying the cathode rod to the metal surface to be reanodized. The cathode rod will release positive hydrogen ion charges at the surface, while the surface itself will act as an anode, accumulating metal oxides. Continue until metal oxides have accumulated to the thickness characteristic of the undamaged surface
Easy off oven cleaner works way faster and easier 
Type II and Type III anodic coatings on aluminum can be stripped off, though some, like Type III (hardcoat) are more difficult to strip than others. The thicker the coating, the more difficult it is to strip.
Chona (profile)