Gallery, Projects and General > How to's
Anodising Aluminium - my setup that seems to have worked.
Rob.Wilson:
Hi Lads
You can get battery acid from ,,, companys who supply TRACTION BATTERYS ,, for use in Forklift truck ,electric vehicals and the likes comes 1250SG if i remember correct ,,, you will have to by 20ltrs , about £30,to £40, if you live in the NE of UK ,,,, Battery power ,, washington ,tyne and wear,, will help you out
I will have to get some more acid as i have used mine for pickeling after silver soldering,,,,,,,,,,,must dig out that PS too and give it ago ,,
Cheers Rob
Andy:
I don't know if this is any good to you, but you can get small quantities of battery acid here - http://www.getgeared.co.uk/Battery_Acid and probably many other places as well.
I got my last lot a couple of years ago from my local car spares place - 1 litre bottles.
NickG:
Thanks for sharing that Chris, very interesting. H2SO4 is also used for pickling copper wjem doing silver soldering.
Nick
raynerd:
Glad you have managed to source some sulphuric, like I said, I was lucky in that department.
AndyF mentioned dipping into sodium hydroxide solution before anodising which I believe is good practice, I did this on the very first trial version and it fizzed and gave a better surface....infact, my first piece stained better and I wonder if this was the reason? I didn`t do it on my second pictured trial because I didn`t have any keys for the lockup cubboard and I thought it was a good finish anyway but now in retrospect I wonder if it did effect the anodizing? I mean it has definately worked for a fact but my first piece stained even better. Humm, time for a third and final trial!
Chris
andyf:
Chris, as I remember it :scratch: anodising causes microscopic tubules of some Al compound or other to grow all over the surface, so there are tiny pores all over it. The dye gets into the pores. Boiling (or steaming) the part after dyeing causes the compound to hydrate and swell up permanently, sealing the dye into the surface.
"Satinising" the part with caustic soda before anodising must considerably increase its surface area at the microscopic level. So more pores are formed during anodising than on a smooth surface. More pores = more trapped dye and hence a better colour.
That's my theory, anyway :smart:
Andy
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