Anodizing at home

[foakes]

We are fortunate to have a great bunch of clever folks on here — that I continue to learn from!

Best,

Fred

[Donnyboat]

Thanks Mike, I love the violet colour, also the multi colour with the violet , you have really spent some time on this Mike, credit to you thanks again, cheers Don.

[milne]

Mike, that is amazing stuff,
        The possibilities are endless with what you've achieved, there are indeed some people on this site with incredible talent,
  To say the least...

Col

[Maxed Out]

Wow Mike, your anodizing looks great and you have come a long way in very short time

Ted

[oc1]

You're drifting from the science to the art Mike.  Really nice stuff.
-steve

[mhc]

Thanks everyone, it's encouraging to know people are interested in the process.

We are fortunate to have a great bunch of clever folks on here — that I continue to learn from!

Best,
Fred

I agree Fred, there are a lot of clever people on here with a wide range of skills - too many to list but you are up there with the leaders of the pack. I don't consider what I'm doing here as particularly clever or skillfull, I'm just copying the work of others that have been generous enough to share their experience. 

Looks really good, the fades in particular is a nice effect. Should make for some unique reels.

Nice experimenting Mike! I really like the lighter and darker colors together.
possibilities with the mixed colors combinations are now endless.
Sal

Thanks Mike, I love the violet colour, also the multi colour with the violet ,cheers Don.

You're drifting from the science to the art Mike.  Really nice stuff.
-steve

Thanks again, the range of colors and dying techniques available has the potential to become a hobby in itself - I didn't think I would have a problem sticking to my original goal of a functional silver (clear) finish but after experimenting with the colors & seeing some of the great artistic work done by others on the net, I'm losing my resolve and will probably end up trying custom dying techniques on some parts - for no practical reason other than it can look good if you get it right.

Wow Mike, your anodizing looks great and you have come a long way in very short time
Ted

Gee you've put some time into this! Hope you are getting the confidence to start getting some finished pieces done for your projects.

Yeah, It's been pretty interesting though, I'm learning a lot. The fundimental process is simple but getting the desired result consistently is a bit more involved - I'm still getting 'surprise' results, but not as many as when I started.    I sort of think that maybe I'm almost confident enough to finish pieces for projects....soon.   

Mike

[mhc]

A few more mask dyeing experiments using Elmer's removable rubber cement or tempory stickers from one of those 'organizer' wall calanders as the masking agent;





and a few black fade over a very light application of blue (a few seconds in the blue dye)



Mike

[oc1]

That's just way cool Mike.  Where it's black and gold do you color the whole thing gold, mask off areas, then color the whole thing black?  Can you put one color on top of another?
-steve

[mhc]

Hi Steve, with the black and gold piece the whole thing was dyed gold, masked then bleached for a second or so to get most of the gold out, rinced in distilled water then dyed black. You can dye over colors but they will tend to blend together where it isn't masked. If you dye yellow, mask and then apply blue the background will be green or greenish depending on how long you leave it in the blue. The Coral Trout inspired piece with the two tone blue blotches on a red - orange background was a four step process, 1) a very quick application of blue then mask a few spots. 2) a longer application of blue over the unmasked area followed by more masking to make the blotches larger. 3) bleach the blue in the unmasked area then dye orange. 4) apply red over the orange to get the faded effect.
I'm learning some colors or dyes don't bleach well, the black dye I'm using doesn't seem to bleach at all - untill the anosized layer is disolved by the bleach & green, orange and yellow seem to leave a light yellow. Blue red and violet are bleached instantly - dip and rinse.


Mike

[Donnyboat]

Mike thanks for passing all this on, very informative, you have really spent some time on this, cheers Don.

[Alto Mare]

This is amazing, Mike...Always something interesting.

Sal

[mhc]

Thanks guys. Maybe a little too much time Don, I haven't used my files for weeks!  You're right about it getting interesting Sal - the more I look into the colors and dying techniques the more interesting it gets and the more I want to experiment.
The black fade over light blue test pieces were trials for the underhead 501 XN project - Instead of straight silver or black as originally planned I decided on a fadeing gunmetal finish.





To make sure the fade lined up on the frame parts, I loosely assembled the reel after anodizing and hung it on the wires you can see to dip the reel in the dyes to get the fade effect - not quite the contrast I wanted to achieve but I'm pretty happy with the color despite a few defects in the finish. I had intended to post these photos on the underhead thread after I finished the reel but that might be a little while off.

Mike

[Fishy247]

That underhead looks awesome Mike!

[Crow]

I agree....it's outstanding, what you have done !

[xjchad]

Simply amazing work Mike!
You not only set the bar high, you put it out of reach!