Photos first, before and after:
https://imgur.com/a/rVxPMM5
Method: household batteries to anodize the titanium blue, and heat to bronze the SS screws.
Warning: I had to take Electrical Circuit Analysis twice in college, and barely passed the second time. This post is for entertainment only. Don't try this at home. Or if you do, I don't take any personal responsibility. This is me sharing a relaxing weekend I spent tinkering on my toys. I happened to not blow myself up or get electrocuted or worse.
I might add to this later if necessary. But I encourage you do do your own research and learn about the steps if you are going to do it yourself. I probably spent a total of 10 hours reading about these things before I began.
Costs: under $10 total.
$6 - TSP (trisodium phosphate) from big box hardware stores.
$2 - aligator clips
$1 - gallon of distilled water
End. (everything else I had lying around the house)
More photos of the end result (for now, it's never entirely over):
https://imgur.com/a/TbuOLtk
Walkthrough for titanium electro anodizing:
I referenced a youtube video: Anodizing Titanium - Start to finish. Part 1
created by: Effenberk Knives
(not sure what the protocal is, that's why I didn't link directly)
Photos of the process:
https://imgur.com/a/cn6bQhO
1. watch the youtube video.
2. get materials:
- windex (or generic)
- stainless steel bowl (larger the better)
- TSP (trisodium phosphate) from hardware store
- baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) from pantry
- aligator clips (I purchased, you can use any copper cable you have lying around, it's easier with clips)
- 6" piece of titanium wire (i got it free from a vape shop. If they charge you, it shouldn't be more than a buck or two)
- rubbing alcohol (or your cleaner of choice)
- batteries (whatever you have lying around, I used D's, C's, AA's, and 18650's)
-- with the batteries, just connect negative to positive, negative to positive, etc. Voltage is addative. The voltage is listed on the battery. i.e. 10 AA betteries are 1.5v x 10 = 15v.
- the guy in the video has a power supply, the string of batteries serves the same function.
- One of my photos shows how its all set up. The negative terminal on the one end is the cathode, and the positive of the battery at the opposite end of the string is the annode.
- distilled water
- eye protection (safety first)
- latex gloves (because why not)
3. combine youtube videos with the ingredients, ..., profit.
4. special notes (not step by step, just follow the video and look at my photos):
- use gloves for two reasons: so you don't get shocked, and to keep the titanium clean. Finger oil on anodized titanium doesn't look good.
- remove the lock bar insert. After you unscrew it, it's still pressure fit pretty tight in there. I put a piece of plastic between the overtravel stop of the insert and the frame, and pushed firmly until it formed a little gap. Then I used a thin screwdriver (covered with cloth to protect the metal) to pry it all the way off.
- I didn't do this, but you should use nail polish on the detent ball.
- the more time you spend cleaning the titanium, the better it will end up.
- Google titanium anodizing voltage chart.
- gold was about 15v, purple 20ish, blue was closer to 30v.
- start low, and work your way up slowly in voltage. You can go up in voltage/color but not down without removing the oxide layer and starting from scratch.
- I was too cheap to get a power supply or 9v batteries, which are the common power sources. The batteries I had around the house worked for me, and it gave me 1.5v increments.
Heat bronzing SS hardware:
Photos of the screws:
I didn't really take that many photos... not much to see...
https://imgur.com/a/eZYjlSQ
1. remove the black coating
- you can do it using sandpaper.
- to get a mirror finish, it's good to have the screw being sanded along two axis.
- I used a ken onion worksharp with fine belt at low speed combined with the screw rotating in a dremel. Just use the dremel chuck and cinch the screw in there. Turn the dremel on low, and as it's spinning, move it along the belt sander.
Heat the screw:
- test it out with a random screw of comparable size first to get a feel for how fast it turns colors.
- I used channel lock pliers and a gas stove.
- don't use a bic or any other heat source that's yellow.
- the color of the heat is an indicator of temperature. yellow/orange/red are on the low end, blue/white are hotter.
- using a bic gave me a soot layer on top so I couldn't tell what color the screw was underneath.
- if you go to far, it will start turning purple, etc. See my lock bar stabilizer, i wasn't expecting it to heat up as fast as it did. Looks ok though so I left it as is.
- wash carefully in windex, dry completely, and don't touch the screws without gloves to contaminate before heating.
- drop the screw in windex as soon as you get the color you want to set it.
- if you put your head above the stove to get a better look at the color of the screw, you might singe your hair. Ask me how I know...
The END.
https://imgur.com/a/rVxPMM5
Method: household batteries to anodize the titanium blue, and heat to bronze the SS screws.
Warning: I had to take Electrical Circuit Analysis twice in college, and barely passed the second time. This post is for entertainment only. Don't try this at home. Or if you do, I don't take any personal responsibility. This is me sharing a relaxing weekend I spent tinkering on my toys. I happened to not blow myself up or get electrocuted or worse.
I might add to this later if necessary. But I encourage you do do your own research and learn about the steps if you are going to do it yourself. I probably spent a total of 10 hours reading about these things before I began.
Costs: under $10 total.
$6 - TSP (trisodium phosphate) from big box hardware stores.
$2 - aligator clips
$1 - gallon of distilled water
End. (everything else I had lying around the house)
More photos of the end result (for now, it's never entirely over):
https://imgur.com/a/TbuOLtk
Walkthrough for titanium electro anodizing:
I referenced a youtube video: Anodizing Titanium - Start to finish. Part 1
created by: Effenberk Knives
(not sure what the protocal is, that's why I didn't link directly)
Photos of the process:
https://imgur.com/a/cn6bQhO
1. watch the youtube video.
2. get materials:
- windex (or generic)
- stainless steel bowl (larger the better)
- TSP (trisodium phosphate) from hardware store
- baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) from pantry
- aligator clips (I purchased, you can use any copper cable you have lying around, it's easier with clips)
- 6" piece of titanium wire (i got it free from a vape shop. If they charge you, it shouldn't be more than a buck or two)
- rubbing alcohol (or your cleaner of choice)
- batteries (whatever you have lying around, I used D's, C's, AA's, and 18650's)
-- with the batteries, just connect negative to positive, negative to positive, etc. Voltage is addative. The voltage is listed on the battery. i.e. 10 AA betteries are 1.5v x 10 = 15v.
- the guy in the video has a power supply, the string of batteries serves the same function.
- One of my photos shows how its all set up. The negative terminal on the one end is the cathode, and the positive of the battery at the opposite end of the string is the annode.
- distilled water
- eye protection (safety first)
- latex gloves (because why not)
3. combine youtube videos with the ingredients, ..., profit.
4. special notes (not step by step, just follow the video and look at my photos):
- use gloves for two reasons: so you don't get shocked, and to keep the titanium clean. Finger oil on anodized titanium doesn't look good.
- remove the lock bar insert. After you unscrew it, it's still pressure fit pretty tight in there. I put a piece of plastic between the overtravel stop of the insert and the frame, and pushed firmly until it formed a little gap. Then I used a thin screwdriver (covered with cloth to protect the metal) to pry it all the way off.
- I didn't do this, but you should use nail polish on the detent ball.
- the more time you spend cleaning the titanium, the better it will end up.
- Google titanium anodizing voltage chart.
- gold was about 15v, purple 20ish, blue was closer to 30v.
- start low, and work your way up slowly in voltage. You can go up in voltage/color but not down without removing the oxide layer and starting from scratch.
- I was too cheap to get a power supply or 9v batteries, which are the common power sources. The batteries I had around the house worked for me, and it gave me 1.5v increments.
Heat bronzing SS hardware:
Photos of the screws:
I didn't really take that many photos... not much to see...
https://imgur.com/a/eZYjlSQ
1. remove the black coating
- you can do it using sandpaper.
- to get a mirror finish, it's good to have the screw being sanded along two axis.
- I used a ken onion worksharp with fine belt at low speed combined with the screw rotating in a dremel. Just use the dremel chuck and cinch the screw in there. Turn the dremel on low, and as it's spinning, move it along the belt sander.
Heat the screw:
- test it out with a random screw of comparable size first to get a feel for how fast it turns colors.
- I used channel lock pliers and a gas stove.
- don't use a bic or any other heat source that's yellow.
- the color of the heat is an indicator of temperature. yellow/orange/red are on the low end, blue/white are hotter.
- using a bic gave me a soot layer on top so I couldn't tell what color the screw was underneath.
- if you go to far, it will start turning purple, etc. See my lock bar stabilizer, i wasn't expecting it to heat up as fast as it did. Looks ok though so I left it as is.
- wash carefully in windex, dry completely, and don't touch the screws without gloves to contaminate before heating.
- drop the screw in windex as soon as you get the color you want to set it.
- if you put your head above the stove to get a better look at the color of the screw, you might singe your hair. Ask me how I know...
The END.
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