So i started doing my own anodizing 🤔

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I have sean I found a site that sells various pieces. My biggest issue at the moment is finding a pure cathode. I spoke to caswell before which they weren't much help but when I pull the part from the dye im getting minor dye transfer to the rag im wiping the smut off with. Caswell says its most likely contamination.. my color and the anodized part is fairly scratch resistant its still a learning curve
 
Update: the anodizing bath needs to stay around 70-76 degrees Fahrenheit so I have put the air stone back in to help cool the bath but this time on low. My cathode is now an old jato 3.3 chassis plate since I would assume its a better quality aluminum. Result is a much better stream of micro bubbles coming from the piece. Ill report back once I have run the top portion of the velocity stack
 
@Rep732 another thing you can do is place your small container for anodizing inside a much larger container containing just water filled partially up your container. Should get good thermal transfer and act almost like a heat sink.

F57D2D5D-255D-4FC9-A009-6FCDBDD53ED3.jpeg
This one is setup with bulkhead connector and plumbed to another tank to recycle and have a cooling effect. Probably a little overkill for what you are doing, but it’s an idea that has a lot of merit.
 
Rep732 said:
Im at a stalemate till I can figure out how to plug threaded holes and o ring grooves. Ive read wax is a good mask as well. Im going to pick up some paraffin wax later and ill report back
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When we send out parts to be hard coated our plating sub contractor uses these rubber nipple caps (push them into a blind hole backwards ) for tapped or tight tolerance dowel pin holes). Can't help you with the o-ring grove masking.

https://www.stockcap.com/store/1.187-x-1.500-Black-EPDM-Cap-5-Bag.html?msclkid=af8a3d084f7517df1a955dc11fdad024&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping: Product Listings&utm_term=1104001269903&utm_content=All Products

You can also just chase the anodized threaded holes with a solid carbide tap. I have a ton of carbide taps, if you need one PM me and i'll hook you up n/c .
 
Rep732 said:
thanks @Polar_Bus ill keep that in mind, ive heard of filling the holes with wax and then they get melted out in boiling water... but the caps seem like a better way as any wax outside of a hole can mess with getting the anodized coating
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Just try to make sure the rubber plug is a tight fit if possible or the chem bath could seep into the threads. Just giving you some alternate ideas. We often have to chase masked holes any way as even masked holes the threads can become covered with etching .
 
No reason to hide anything with this as I wanted this thread to be educational and open to critique... this time I tried type 3 anodizing which is a hard coating. Granted I don't have nor feel safe to ramp it up to the required voltage I tried with what I have and the process focuses more on voltage rather than amperage with type 2. You can see the color difference between the parts. The darker parts is my limitation for type 3 and the bath was kept at 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The lighter purple by the coil is type 2 also with the wrong way to dye the parts. I had stumbled upon the right way I believe to dye and its not heated to 120 degrees Fahrenheit but yet its left at room temperature and the dying process takes about a minute ..

Also if you want uniform pieces you have to dye them all at once or have an exact way to measure time

End result the colder process yielded a more abrasion resistant finish...took a screw and sawed lightly at it and the finish didn't come off.

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