First try was with a 19v dc 3.5A switchmode supply, lead cathodes, aquarium pump WAY too big for the job.
Aluminum spent 4 mins in water/lye mix, until uniformly black. Then rinsed in AC condensate.
Pool supply store 38% sulfuric acid, cut in half with AC condensate, kept between 70 F and 75 F by adding ice in ziplocks to avoid dilution.
I had some issues keeping continuity, which is normal since anodize is an insulator, and a weird accumulation on the cathodes.
This is NOT successful anodize.
Neutralized in baking soda water, rinsed.
When dyed with Rit black @140 F for 1/2 hour, I got this.
The hanging wires are titanium, but I was still having trouble maintaining continuity.
Added chopsticks (twist if contact is lost) and switched the lead cathodes out for sheet aluminum of unknown alloy.
I also added a ampmeter in-line, and decided that I wasn't happy with the switchmode supply.
One of my TRANSFORMER 12v battery chargers had a free voltage around 15.5vdc, and an analogue meter.
Average current was between 5A and 3A, depending on temp and elapsed time. Worth noting that current goes up as solution temp rises.
This is what it SHOULD look like, 2 hours later.
VERY IMPORTANT STEP!!! ANY LIQUID MUST BE BLOWN OFF WITH AIR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!
If not, you WILL HAVE STREAKS. Trust me, blow it COMPLETELY dry, make sure you get the holes.
Again to the Rit black @140 F, for 1/2 hour, then boiled for 20 mins, then hosed down with diluted lanolin and heat-gunned until it just barely smoked.
I took a dozen pics, and decided on this one which shows the crystal structure nicely. All in all, I'm VERY pleased with this second attempt, showed it to 8 people and no one offered a single criticism. The color is even and deep, but not particularly easy to capture with a camera.
Material costs.
Baking soda, transformer battery charger, condensate water, ice, aquarium pump, chopsticks, all existing.
Traded dumpster Home Depot bucket for new Lowe's bucket, free.
Gallon sulfuric acid, $5. Two 2gal Dollar Tree buckets, $2. Rit black dye, $2.
Titanium wire was... $7? Next time I'll use a heavier gauge, 18 has some issues with resistance.
Total cost, $20-ish, and those are enough materials to do 10 receivers (assuming you wanted all black)
So far I've done 7 in this same setup, the only upkeep has been cleaning the aluminum cathode in lye, scuffing the titanium wires, and a new pair of chopsticks.
My next attempt will be an entire AR in olive drab, with my ultimate goal being to produce Flectarn or maybe Tigerstripe.
Here is a video showing how to get multiple colors. I would be using stencils, and spraying that glue through a paint gun.
Need to order legit anodize dyes, but I'm not sure which colors.
Min order per color is one pound, prices run between $25 and $40 per. FWIW, a pound is enough to do hundreds of (for example) 3D cell MagLites.
Could someone provide input on which colors they like best?
https://www.usspecialty.com/color.php
I'm leaning towards
Fast Gold
Green B
Fast Blue
Neon Pink
Bordeaux Red
Olive looks good to me, but that's just me.
alternate supplier, not enough of a difference in prices to matter
https://kingscote.dreamhosters.com/product/aluminum-dye-kits/
That bordeaux red is cool. Fast gold looks good, too. The olive drab and the grey bl would be in my top choices as well for a lower rcvr.
Fast Blue, Bordeaux Red, and the Black would be my choices.
The olive drab and the grey bl would be in my top choices as well for a lower rcvr.
Thanks for the input guys.
The blue-grey seems good for clones of the original Colts (HA3 anodize is less accepting of dyes, hence limited colors)
Existing anodize can be stripped with lye, and new anodize applied, then dyed in any color you want (except white, doesn't exist)
I'm going to do a couple complete guns, one in olive for sure, and an AR47 folding pistol in highly polished AEN green.
My ultimate goal is to be able to anodize camo patterns, but for right now I'll stick to solid colors.
I'll be doing a complete rifle in hot pink and white, this was the example I showed and got 1000% approval. ? OMFG!!! ?
It will be flat top, no carry handle, and M4 stock, not A2. I'll do a single Stanag mag in pink, with flowers 😉
Most of the pink furniture is pepto-pink (rose?) including Magpul. ? ? ?
This stock was $29, pistol grip $4, the free-float handguard will be anodized with the rest of the aluminum parts.
I'm not sure how anodize dye penetrates nylon, so I bought another stock in white to test.
I also have these, and will be trying to do the ENTIRE gun in gaudy-ass-gold (stainless barrel)
This will be the test run for anodize dye, on that white stock. I know... gold... ? ? ? no politics, it's just aluminum...
EDIT, well apparently the COLOR GOLD is not acceptable on this forum, as part of my post was deleted.
