ANODIZE SET UP

[ses5925]

Looking for a reasonable anodizing set up. Anyone have good suggestions for a cheap but effective rectifier? What’s your set up? Baking soda ? Tsp?

I have watched a couple videos, but any pro tips for knives/hardware would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[RustyIron]

Get a handful of 10A diodes off Amazon. It'll set you back about two bucks. Four of them are required to make a bridge rectifier. To control the ac voltage you'll need a variac, which might be harder to obtain. Or you can use a potentiometer on the DC side.

You can also use a car battery charger if you're looking for 12 or 6 vdc. Again, a potentiometer will let you adjust the dc voltage.

 

[Tensaw]

I've just recently started playing around with anodizing titanium.
I have a 120 volt DC power supply from Amazon
Titanium wire from Amazon
I'm using baking soda in the electolyte solution (haven't tried TSP yet)
For etching I'm using Multi Etch. You have to buy it direct from Multi Etch. A lot ot folks use Wink cleaner from most hardware stores
About four plastic containers, nitrile gloves, safety glasses and about two gallons of distilled water will get you going.

 

[ses5925]

Mind if you link or tell me the power source? Thank you so much! Great info!

Is multi etch or whink a must prior to anodizing? Or just really cleaning it with simple green.

 

[toker]

I'm in the same boat. Very tempted to give this a go.

 

[Ozmose]

Here's the PS that I use. It's nothing special. Any old DC power supply should get the job done. Just make sure you get a 120v model if you want to hit the full range of colors. I think it stops color shifting in the mid 90s. You can do bronze and blue at a relatively low voltage, but I know green is pretty high up there. You don't necessarily need to etch first, in some cases you'll actually want to avoid it depending on the finish. You do need to clean everything very thoroughly first though. I use acetone. It's best to wear gloves. You don't want the oils from your skin getting on things once you've cleaned them.
It's honestly very easy. Just start a little low of the voltage you want to hit, and dial it up slowly until it's the color you want. It can vary dramatically depending on the surface finish, so don't expect to dip a blasted finish part along with a satin finish part at the same voltage if you want them to match. If it goes too far, a quick dip in some Wink will bring it right back to raw.

120v 3-Amp DC Power Supply

 

[ses5925]

Thank you very much. What amp setting do you use? I see most models very between 0-3 amps.

 

[Ozmose]

Thank you very much. What amp setting do you use? I see most models very between 0-3 amps.

You don't need to set an amperage. At least not on my PS. Just dial in your voltage and you're good to go. You'll see the amperage fluctuate as you're anodizing. I usually wait for it to stabilize a bit before removing my parts.

 

[Tensaw]

My unit is very similar to the unit posted above.


There is a set up process, according to instructions. You set the voltage at 5.0. Then you create a short by touching the leads together and set the amps at 3.0. I'm pretty ignorant about all things elecrical so I didn't do this, at first. But when anodizing, it would never reach the voltage that I set. After following the instructions, the unit worked like champ.