- Joined
- May 18, 1999
- Messages
- 1,709
I'm anodizing some ZT0801 scales and am baffled by what is happening with one of them:
At 25V I get a deep purple/violet hue, except in the cutout for the lockbar, which bubbles like crazy and doesn't do squat color-wise. I am using some lithium CR123a batteries, a big metal plate for the negative terminal and Ti wire attached to everything to ensure the stainless steel clips stay out of the water/TSP solution. I have used a Scotchbrite pad, acetone, a spray degreaser, Dawn, and alcohol on this spot to make sure it is physically and chemically clean. Both scales remained the violet color until I unclipped the lock-side scale (the pic below shows some Scotchbrite work done on it. Except for the cutout and around it, the rest of the knife anodized evenly). The other scale immediately turned the color of blue that I was shooting for (looks lighter under the fluorescent lights than it really is):
What in the world is drawing away the current and preventing it from anodizing correctly?
At 25V I get a deep purple/violet hue, except in the cutout for the lockbar, which bubbles like crazy and doesn't do squat color-wise. I am using some lithium CR123a batteries, a big metal plate for the negative terminal and Ti wire attached to everything to ensure the stainless steel clips stay out of the water/TSP solution. I have used a Scotchbrite pad, acetone, a spray degreaser, Dawn, and alcohol on this spot to make sure it is physically and chemically clean. Both scales remained the violet color until I unclipped the lock-side scale (the pic below shows some Scotchbrite work done on it. Except for the cutout and around it, the rest of the knife anodized evenly). The other scale immediately turned the color of blue that I was shooting for (looks lighter under the fluorescent lights than it really is):
What in the world is drawing away the current and preventing it from anodizing correctly?
