Colouring Aluminium

I have a project that calls for some Aluminium round bar to be coloured permanently, what options do I have, what colours?

it will be a type of Handle/Grip similar to the handle on a sword or staff

thanks

hi, you don't state the colour you intend to use .Normaley aluminium is done by colour passivate, a local plating company will probably fill your requirement.If its to be handled a lot allochrome plating is harder and will last longer , hope this pus you in the right direction.

Thanks Ian,

I don't have any preference as long as its not the original colour of the aluminium, probably Black or any other strong colour such as Red or Blue, that's the reason for the question really as I am not sure what is available out there.

I don't really want to paint it as I am not sure of the finish I could get

cheers

The part that I am making or will be is a customised Light sabre handle - don't ask!

but non the less it needs to be coloured

cheers

The technique you need is anodising. Basically the part is treated electrolitically as the anode in a bath of weak sulphuric acid. The part is then soaked in a dye solution (cloth dyes or writing ink) and then boiled in water to seal the colour in. There is quite a lot about home anodising on the web for example.

HTH

Rod

Hi Rod,

Thanks for the link, that is exactly what I'm after

That's my weekend sorted then

cheers

rods correct im wrong not passivate I ment anodise sorry to miss inform you ian

If you look at the top of the homepage the cover of ME has Ramon's engines which have been anodised, he did an article in MEW a while back on how to do it.

J

www.intrincycle.co.uk

happy to do small orders

Mick,

I have been asked to machine a component for a Porsche (I haven't seen the sample yet) which needs to have a black finish. I have never tried to coat anything but I am due to get the opportunity (via redundancy) to spend a great deal of time trying. Any starter pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Phil H

Anodising new parts is relatively easy if it is a good grade of aluminum.

How big is the part?

Bear in mind that using some battery acid with a car battery charger and food colouring isn't going to work.

You you need to buy decent stuff in the first place. You also need to consider cooling for the tank (if it will get a lot of use).

Dye tanks, stripping tanks (not always), sealing tanks need to be heated to. Generally between 40-100c so you can't use fish tank heaters.

Gateros Plating are good for stuff.

Caswell claim their products work miracles, take anything on their website with a pinch of salt.

I've been umming and arring over starting an anodising forum for the past year...

Edited By Chris123 on 08/02/2014 15:20:03

Mick,

Thanks for the response.

I haven't seen the part yet but from its description - it is an 'L' shape bracket with milled slots on its underside and smooth curved surfaces on its top. Dimensions? I'm guessing 70mm long x 50mm wide with the legs of the 'L' being say 20mm x 10mm section i.e., the part would easily fit in your hand. I would try something like HE30 to machine the part from solid.

I'm doing 1 as a favour for a chap who has a Porsche but he says it is a very common fault on these particular models so who knows?

I'm definitely not in this for profit. It is just because he sits next to me at work (at the moment) and he knows I have a miller. However, I have often thought it might be nice to utilise aluminium for say stationary steam engine bases that would look nice with a camera type satin black finish.

The answer might be to get the Porsche part professionally coated but Im still interested for future parts.

Phil H