My First and Last attempt at Heat Anodizing....

JR88FAN

JR88FAN

Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
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For starters, I am just going to say that I am NOT, nor do I want to be, a knife Ano maniac!

Like the title says, this is a one time thing for me...

I picked up a Sniper Blade Works LPC with an idea (There will be a whole other thread on that)

While the blade was out for some work, and the knife was in pieces, I decided to Heat ano the show side scale.

The knife originally had media blasted scales, so here's what I did in case anyone likes the results....
 
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First, I took the show side scale and sanded it....

I used 3M 2000 Grit sandpaper and did a wet sand.

The Goal:

I wanted this knife to have a kinda worn look to it with a touch of color.

I polished the flats (not to mirror but a high polish. You get much crisper colors on polished Ti)

I left all the handle grooves blasted for some contrast.

 
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For the heat Ano, my Goal was Bronze/Gold/Purple, but more importantly to get an even anodizing...

What I wanted is pretty much what I got, I wanted the front/back/edges of the scale to be Bronze/Gold with Purple hughes through the middle.

I cleaned the scale with Windex to remove any grease (this is important)

I placed it in a baking pan on the stove (not the best idea as you will burn through the pan, but it held up long enough)

I used a Benz-O-Matic torch.

I have read enough to know that you need to heat up the Ti, but the color change occurs with oxygen, so it's important to move the flame away to let the true color develop and, to see where you're at.

I took my time, got the Bronze/Gold I wanted, and then concentrated on getting purple hughes through the center portion of the scale.
I really focused on making sure the colors where even and that I hit all corners/edges.

Also, I could have kept going, but while I wanted a little 'color' the theme was to keep it as subdued as possible... (It's very hard to capture the results in pictures)

I doubt I will do this in the future, it's not really my thing, but I will admit it's fun!

Any criticism/advice is more than welcome incase I change my mind and decide to Ano everything Ti I have!!!





 
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Awesome! :thumbup: I haven't dared to venture into heat ano yet
 
razor-edge-knives said:
Awesome! :thumbup: I haven't dared to venture into heat ano yet
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I read a TON about it before my 'attempt' !!

I guess what made it really easy was that I was OK going into it that if I messed it up I could live with it...

I have a feeling that you would be really good at doing this, the thing is, the results are never going to be as repeatable as electro-anodizing.
Everything would be a 'one-off' and I don't think that would work well with what you do unless the customer gave you a good amount of creative control and was willing to except the fact that it might not be exact....
 
kwick72 said:
I would be proud to carry it. Nice job!!
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Thanks man, I really appreciate that.

I am going to do a full review of this knife when I get the blade back from Josh.

I want to see how this scale looks when the entire knife is back together....
 
I have come to learn through this forum that JR88FAN is no dummy. Very, very smart man actually.
All of that research you did clearly sunk in..

For a first try like this, you have done an amazing job. That DID turn out perfect. Not too much.. Nice and even. Perfect! Nice Job!
Now I can't wait to see finished product after the blade comes back from Josh's talented hands. It's gonna be Epic!
 
Clinto. said:
I have come to learn through this forum that JR88FAN is no dummy. Very, very smart man actually.
All of that research you did clearly sunk in..

For a first try like this, you have done an amazing job. That DID turn out perfect. Not too much.. Nice and even. Perfect! Nice Job!
Now I can't wait to see finished product after the blade comes back from Josh's talented hands. It's gonna be Epic!
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Ha!
Thanks man, you made me laugh!!!

I can be a 'dummy' sometimes!!

I will post a full review here of the entire knife and how it is with the regrind....
 
While we're on the topic...

I just came across my long-lost Gerber EVO and thought it might be fun to modify it a bit. The outer scales, though, are titanium-PLATED. Do any/all of the anodization methods that've been discussed lately work with PLATED matierials?
 
bradrian said:
While we're on the topic...

I just came across my long-lost Gerber EVO and thought it might be fun to modify it a bit. The outer scales, though, are titanium-PLATED. Do any/all of the anodization methods that've been discussed lately work with PLATED matierials?
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I can't answer that, I am not sure how a 'plated' material reacts to heat or voltage....

You could ask the guy in my SIG line below, post #6 in this thread...click his name and send him an email, he may be able to answer this question...
 
bradrian said:
While we're on the topic...

I just came across my long-lost Gerber EVO and thought it might be fun to modify it a bit. The outer scales, though, are titanium-PLATED. Do any/all of the anodization methods that've been discussed lately work with PLATED matierials?
Click to expand...

It will not work. Heat coloring titanium and electro anodizing is only possible on actual reactive metals and not any coating derived of them. If you heated a handle that was coated in titanium you can get a color change but it will not be the result you are hoping for. You can heat color steel but its not a durable finish and the color variation is much more limited.
 
JR88FAN said:
I can't answer that, I am not sure how a 'plated' material reacts to heat or voltage....

You could ask the guy in my SIG line below, post #6 in this thread...click his name and send him an email, he may be able to answer this question...
Click to expand...

Haha thanks Alex but I admit my lack of knowledge on this topic!

PURPLEDC said:
It will not work. Heat coloring titanium and electro anodizing is only possible on actual reactive metals and not any coating derived of them. If you heated a handle that was coated in titanium you can get a color change but it will not be the result you are hoping for. You can heat color steel but its not a durable finish and the color variation is much more limited.
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Sounds about right... thanks for chiming in and answering this so decisively!
 
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