At home anodizing?

Cozze44

Cozze44

Junkman
I've been gathering up parts for my new build, and been think of anodizing the aluminum pieces such as the billet front cover, tappet cover, and freeze out plugs. I did a quick search on google and it seems as though its not very difficult to do yourself at home. Anyone ever give it a go?
 
I've wanted to since Eastwood company started selling the kits in the 90s. I think Harbor freight sells the guns now
 
biggy238 said:
I've wanted to since Eastwood company started selling the kits in the 90s. I think Harbor freight sells the guns now
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From what I read, no gun is needed, just a tub, baking soda, battery acid, lye, dye and some cathodes.
 
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I'd practice on a few smaller pieces besides the freeze plugs prior to doing the front cover or tappet cover.
 
cumminspa75 said:
I'd practice on a few smaller pieces besides the freeze plugs prior to doing the front cover or tappet cover.
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Thats what I was planning on, i'm gonna gather up the supplies this week and give it a go. I'll post the process and the results.
 
I just know that when some friends anodized pieces for their race bikes the finish wasn't always consistent. I think it had to do with the voltage and quality of lead for the cathodes or voltage they used in the beginning. It's been 4 years now so I couldn't tell you for sure. I wish I was more knowledgeable on the process. Good luck!
 
It's a pretty easy process. Finding a good DC power supply is the hard part. Does take some messing around to get right, but once you do figure it out, you'll wanna do everything.

Best advise i can give you is this:
1. The shiny-er the part is going in, the shiney-er the part is coming out.
2. Make sure the part is EXTREMELY CLEAN
3. Dont touch it with your bare hands after cleaning it...it will leave marks.

I dont rememeber where we got the coloring or what we used. Could probably get that info at a later date. Good quality lead plates are a must.

If ya have any questions, let me know and i'll see if i can drum up an answer.
 
ISBand4BT said:
It's a pretty easy process. Finding a good DC power supply is the hard part. Does take some messing around to get right, but once you do figure it out, you'll wanna do everything.

Best advise i can give you is this:
1. The shiny-er the part is going in, the shiney-er the part is coming out.
2. Make sure the part is EXTREMELY CLEAN
3. Dont touch it with your bare hands after cleaning it...it will leave marks.

I dont rememeber where we got the coloring or what we used. Could probably get that info at a later date. Good quality lead plates are a must.

If ya have any questions, let me know and i'll see if i can drum up an answer.
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Great! Thank you, I was hoping someone had some experience. I already polished all the pieces, so as long as I get them nice and clean, they should anodize nicely?
 
I was looking into this a while back. Never could figure out how the voltage needed to change in relation to surface area.
 
Caswell is the place to go to for certain. Nothing is hard about doing it IF you break down and buy the proper components. The rectifier will set you back $400-500 to provide enough amperage to do a part the size of a front cover. RIT clothing dye works as well as any dye labeled as anodizing dye. Also make sure no other metals are present other than aluminum. Steel will burn out of the part when charged and destroy it.
 
crackerman said:
What kind of current and voltage do you need? I can build you one from spare parts for pretty cheap.
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24vriviera said:
If you want to do it, I can provide you a super clean dc power supply with variable output..
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I haven't done much reading on it yet, from what I see there are equations depending on the area, and the thickness of coating. Seems as though there is much to be learned before I decide what I need...
 
Found a great website. Teaches you everything you need to know. Looks cheap and quite easy. Thefintels.com
 
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