Anodizing

BigBadDodge

BigBadDodge

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Hi my name is Scott and I am addicted to anodizing. Anodizing, is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than bare metal. Anodic films can also be used for a number of cosmetic effects, either with thick porous coatings that can absorb dyes or with thin transparent coatings that add interference effects to reflected light.

I had seen anodized work before but never had the need for it. Last year I spoke with a guy about it here in Cali and he informed me that there is a shop that does anodizing here in town. I swung by, checked it out, and was impressed; really impressed with the cost it’s cheap. I can take in a huge basket of stuff and not even get to thier minimum fee of $80.00

I immediately saw ways in which I could benefit from using anodizing on the pull truck, not just for aesthetics, but as a major time saver when preparing to take the truck to events. With the bare aluminum I was spending day’s polishing and keeping it looking like chrome, way to much time. Last winter while we were swapping the body out I decide to remove some of the aluminum parts, and re-fabricate some of the metal parts out of aluminum and drop them off. I liked the blue and red colors as they look good with all the blue and red AN Fittings at the ends of the Aeroquip lines I have been installing. All in an effort to clean up the motor a little.

I did a lot stuff last winter and I was right it saved me huge amounts of time I just wash and dry and it still looks good. Needless to say I decide to do a few more things this winter

Has anybody else been bitten by the anodizing bug?
 
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Here are a few items I had done this week, I just need to get them on the truck and make up the new lines.

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Sharp. If I had more parts I would do it. Do they just offer the red and blue? I like Mr. Gaskets Shadow line of AN fittings and was wondering if they had anything in the charcoal and black side of the color range.
 
That is awesome!! I really like that. I might have to get some of that done on my truck

Kevin
 
The three substrates that can be anodized are aluminum, titanium, and magnesium. Steel or stainless steel cannot be anodized.
 
Thats a good idea... might have to look for a shop here in St. Louis.
 
ride42 said:
The three substrates that can be anodized are aluminum, titanium, and magnesium. Steel or stainless steel cannot be anodized.
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Steel definitely can be anodized. Think brake boosters, brake backing plates, hood hinges and the like on the old muscle cars. Anodized.
 
Hey Scott I love the pics. I discovered anodizing during my time in the the Navy and got hooked on it as well. Only thing I discovered is the life cyce reduction that happens on aluminum. I was in the process of building a kit helicopter and spoke to a fellow that cashed one because he decided to have every little thing anodizied. Post crash made us aware that severe reduction in strength over time is cause by the chemical process that is used in anodizing. Not that I think that any harm is has been done to BBD but would like you to know that a highly stressed part such as a rotor blade or torque tube is bound to fail way under its design lifetime. Don't bash me to much for this fellas but there is plenty of research out there to back this up. PS, Scott the truck looks great.
 
PRattenbury said:
Steel definitely can be anodized. Think brake boosters, brake backing plates, hood hinges and the like on the old muscle cars. Anodized.
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By definition, you cannot anodize steel. It is almost always a different color changing process, such as blueing or acid etching. You are dying the aluminum oxides on the surface, created by the electrical charge and acids. It is well documented how much it weakens the metals, just like chrome plating weakens steel.

"First off, anodizing is the formation of a layer of oxide on the surface of an aluminum piece, using a bath of dilute sulfuric acid as an electrolyte, and charging the piece electrically. This is where the name comes from; the piece being anodized is the anode, or positively-charged pole of an electrical circuit. In the anodizing bath, usually a large lead plate is also immersed in the electrolyte, which becomes the negative ground pole, or cathode. While magnesium, titanium and even copper can be plated similarly to aluminum, the process is rarely used for those metals, and does not provide as wide a range of colors. Steel, iron, stainless steel, brass and other metals cannot be anodized. In fact, if a steel or iron part is left on the piece to be anodized, such as a setscrew or plug, it will react violently with the charged electrolyte bath, usually burning itself away, as well as heavily eroding the aluminum piece."
 
ride42 said:
Sharp. If I had more parts I would do it. Do they just offer the red and blue? I like Mr. Gaskets Shadow line of AN fittings and was wondering if they had anything in the charcoal and black side of the color range.
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The place I go to has about 8 different colors I can't rember if they had a black chrome finish.

BBD
 
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