Anodizing Thread

[PBR Allstar]

Okay, so I know we've all talked about an asked about anodizing, and now I'm looking into it, but the info I've found on here is so scattered. So I figured since so many of you have had custom work done maybe it would be useful to have it in a single thread.

In this thread, post up:

1) Pictures of the work you had done
2) Name of the person or shop who did the work

[Charlie don't surf]

Don Martin in N.M. is really good.

[LowClassCC]

colorsinc.com

minimum prices are $132 for the bright finish and $120 for satin finish. they will mix any custom color you may want but that costs extra. 2 week turn around. here are the before and after pics showing the 60 pieces i was able to get done for the minimum price. if you contact them they will send you some color samples if you would like to see the exact color before you order.

BEFORE

AFTER

[8rad]

I have had a red batch done by an outfit close to me in Ottawa called Alfin Metal Finishing. Very happy with the outcome.

[PBR Allstar]

wasn't there a member on the board that was doing some really nice work?

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I have an idea coming up so this is a timely post. Is it cheaper to ano or powder coat? Also, which offers more colors? I would guess powder coating, but can you get just about any color you want with ano? That seems stupid to say, but I mean obviously powder coating is prolly unlimited, but how limited is ano? I'd rather ano, but I have a very specific color in mind.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

BTW Lowclass I need to find a pic of my 88 Cougar LS because I had it painted that exact shade of green(metallic). Sold it... one of my biggest regrets.

[LTO_Dave]

I have an idea coming up so this is a timely post. Is it cheaper to ano or powder coat? Also, which offers more colors? I would guess powder coating, but can you get just about any color you want with ano? That seems stupid to say, but I mean obviously powder coating is prolly unlimited, but how limited is ano? I'd rather ano, but I have a very specific color in mind.

It depends on the business. I've seen prices for both powdercoating and for anodizing that are just insane. But I've also seen prices so low for both services that it makes me wonder how those businesses actually make a profit. Also, I've found that some larger businesses don't even want bothered with smaller items and/or just a few parts, and need a lot of parts to fill a batch order. Which I can understand based on the cost associated with running the equipment and paying employees. If we do parts that are small enough to fit in a small household oven we have, that's where they get baked. Our large oven is 220V and takes a good 30-45 minutes just to reach the curing temps. Add up the cost of the powder, the energy costs to run an air compressor for the sandblaster and a few hours for using the oven, and you can see how it adds up.

With powdercoating, there are places that will custom mix you any color, but you usually have to order between 50 to 250 lbs. of powder, which is not only a lot of powder but also a lot of cash up front.

There are things you can do with anno that you simply just can't do with powder and vice versa. Even though I'm a powdercoater, I love the effets you get with anodizing. And you don't have to deal with tolerance issues like you do with powdercoating.

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

Do you have to do any prep work for either? What I mean is, can you just ship off any old thing in any condition to have it done or does that figure into cost? Sorry for all the questions, but I have a beautiful picture in my head.

[LTO_Dave]

Do you have to do any prep work for either? What I mean is, can you just ship off any old thing in any condition to have it done or does that figure into cost? Sorry for all the questions, but I have a beautiful picture in my head.

I guess that depends on the business also. Some places charge more if they have to degrease and/or strip/blast the parts. We usually charge less if the parts are already stripped and prepped. But what most people consider clean is uaually not clean enough for a new coating. There are a lot of things we've done, especially aftermarket car wheels and quad/dirtbike frames and parts that have a crazy amount of durable layers on them. We usually send them out to a local guy with a big diesel sandblaster to be stripped and have to add that to the total cost. Powder doesn't like any dirt, grease, paint, etc. You can usually powder over powder if the first layer is clean.

We always pre-bake our parts to remove any old grease and cleaners before coating. Most anno services I've inquired about told me not to do any stripping and send the parts as-is and they would do all the necessary stripping before applying the new anno.

[Coelacanth]

Do you have to do any prep work for either? What I mean is, can you just ship off any old thing in any condition to have it done or does that figure into cost? Sorry for all the questions, but I have a beautiful picture in my head.

As anodizing is very unforgiving of the surface finish, and shows every little scrape, scuff & blemish, if you're planning to anodize used parts, the job is up to you to do a proper surface prep. Yes, you can just have the anodizer strip and anodize, but how can you vouch for what the final result will look like? If you want a shiny, polished surface, you might as well break out a can 'o' elbow grease and go to town with some wet-sanding and rubbing compound & polishing BEFORE you send out your parts. If all you want is a dull satin matte finish, then let the anodizer do the strip & ano for you.

The bottom line is, there's no lazy shortcuts to a beautiful, glossy anodized finish. Either you do it yourself or you entrust it to the anodizer, who doesn't have the same vested interest in the final result as YOU have.

[klavy69]

wasn't there a member on the board that was doing some really nice work?

Jake (bigjeepzz) had some mixed results with some he was doing. Mostly good if I remember right...

Todd

[PBR Allstar]

wasn't there a member on the board that was doing some really nice work?

Jake (bigjeepzz) had some mixed results with some he was doing. Mostly good if I remember right...

Todd

No, there was another guy that seemed to be on here for a week or two and did some crazy multicolor stuff, really wild! then he kinda stopped posting? this was in about the last year.

[klavy69]

romulus or something like that. I think he had a place doing some stuff for him. He might've been part of that place. Not really remembering it. He had some multicolor and color transformations goin on. Will see if I can find some of his threads...
Todd

[klavy69]

close...it was Romulus-10 and here is one of his posts
http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20813&hilit=purple+anodizing
another
http://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=20479&hilit=purple+anodizing