MadEye
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- Aug 6, 2011
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Very nice guide...^^
When I started anodizing I found a very nice german shop which also had all needed tutorials on their page, which helped me a lot.
Maybe a few things I might suggest:
Using Aluminum for your contact points is the easiest way, but If you are going to anodize several parts you should really think about buying some pure titanium wires and parts. These do not react with the acid or passivate, as far as they dont loose contact to the part while current floating... Also you can use a sheet of titanium as your cathode.
To determine the time I found a rule which says 100 cm^2 need 60 Minutes at 1.5A. Since many laser builders have some constant current power supplys this should be worth mentioning.
When I anodized big parts, I had to go to 10A current for severel hours. At such currents the sulfiric acid will get very hot and dissolve the anodizing so you end up with nothing, no matter how long you wait. So I always place my Sulfiric Acid Tank in a bath of iced water (Not just ice on top, first filled with ice from bottom to top and then filled with water...^^) to keep the sulfiric acid at less then 10°C... No matter if you are anodizing with 1A or 10A this will prevent the sulfiric Acid from dissolving the anodizing layer and result in thicker and nicer layers.
When I started anodizing I found a very nice german shop which also had all needed tutorials on their page, which helped me a lot.
Maybe a few things I might suggest:
Using Aluminum for your contact points is the easiest way, but If you are going to anodize several parts you should really think about buying some pure titanium wires and parts. These do not react with the acid or passivate, as far as they dont loose contact to the part while current floating... Also you can use a sheet of titanium as your cathode.
To determine the time I found a rule which says 100 cm^2 need 60 Minutes at 1.5A. Since many laser builders have some constant current power supplys this should be worth mentioning.
When I anodized big parts, I had to go to 10A current for severel hours. At such currents the sulfiric acid will get very hot and dissolve the anodizing so you end up with nothing, no matter how long you wait. So I always place my Sulfiric Acid Tank in a bath of iced water (Not just ice on top, first filled with ice from bottom to top and then filled with water...^^) to keep the sulfiric acid at less then 10°C... No matter if you are anodizing with 1A or 10A this will prevent the sulfiric Acid from dissolving the anodizing layer and result in thicker and nicer layers.
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