Why not anodize the titanium?????

[OD-SnG]

21 years of those grey handles, please please the good people at crk offer us some color in our lives. Think of how cool purple or blue or red ti scales would look. The rock group u2 always changed to keep it fresh, is asking for a little color instead of grey all these years to much to ask for.

 

[DaveH]

Yes they are pretty restrained even on their unique designs.

The below is NOT factory done:

 

[colubrid]

Here's mine:

 

[RobME]

I just sold my flamed small 21 and miss it already...

CRK has their finishes dialed in. From time to time they do some beautiful limited production color work but you'll never see colored ti handles from them. Bead blasting the natural ti is their bread & butter finish.

 

[Fooj]

No offense to the owners of the beauts shown, but personally, I like anodized surfaces that are somewhat "protected" -- typically a bit below the surface that the user comes into contact. Anodizing is pure aesthetics, and since finger oils dull the colors, and anodizing "rubs off" after a while, IMHO CRK does anodizing right on their handle slabs. As for the anodized thumbstuds . . . great look when new, but I dislike the look when the blue or gold is partially rubbed off.

 

[RobME]

@ Fooj... I don't believe the thumbstuds are titanium (someone correct me if I'm wrong). They're chemically blued and the color does wear off. Anodizing is really the wrong term for coloring titanium and however the color is achieved on the ti, whether by direct flame or the more precise electro-chemical method; the coloring doesn't wear off. It might 'shift' a bit. It will dull down from handling or finger oils - but it'll come right back by cleaning. That the color is set into the engraving, doesn't make it more protected.

 

[PURPLEDC]

and the great thing about Ti is if the finish ever does get buggered up its much easier to refinish than aluminum. Though A true red on Ti with heat or chemicals i dont believe is possible.

 

[hunterfisher808]

I have a BM 635 Mini-Skirmish that I sent to STR to check out how I would like colored Ti scales; and also cause I did'nt want to experiment with my CRK. Well I gotta say that it is sweet! Now to decide who goes first, my Sebbie Or my Umnum

Oh and Colubrid that Umnumzaan is sweet!:thumbup:

 

[Fooj]

@ Fooj... I don't believe the thumbstuds are titanium (someone correct me if I'm wrong). They're chemically blued and the color does wear off. Anodizing is really the wrong term for coloring titanium and however the color is achieved on the ti, whether by direct flame or the more precise electro-chemical method; the coloring doesn't wear off. It might 'shift' a bit. It will dull down from handling or finger oils - but it'll come right back by cleaning. That the color is set into the engraving, doesn't make it more protected.

In the case of the Sebenza components, anodizing is the process by which a layer of oxide is formed on the surface of the titanium by electrolytic means. The "color" that your eye is perceiving is a function of the thickness of the oxide – when light hits the surface of the anodized Ti, depending upon the thickness of the oxide, a narrow band of the light spectrum is reinforced, other wavelengths are destructively interfered with (like multi-colored interference patterns that you see on an oily surface, etc.) The "color shift" that you're describing is either due to the thinning of the oxide caused by the wear of ordinary handling, or the addition of finger oils on top of the oxide, effectively making that top layer thicker. Either of these conditions cause a shift in the frequency band that is reinforced, which in turn causes a change in the color that your eye perceives. Over time, the oxide layer can get worn away completely on "high traffic" areas of the anodized surface due to handling, and as a result, you'll lose the perceived color. CRK's anodizing in the "valleys" of the titanium surface significantly helps to protect the oxide layer by reducing physical contact to the surface, and thus prolongs the colors perceived.

Hope that helps.

 

[bigmark408]

In the case of the Sebenza components, anodizing is the process by which a layer of oxide is formed on the surface of the titanium by electrolytic means. The "color" that your eye is perceiving is a function of the thickness of the oxide – when light hits the surface of the anodized Ti, depending upon the thickness of the oxide, a narrow band of the light spectrum is reinforced, other wavelengths are destructively interfered with (like multi-colored interference patterns that you see on an oily surface, etc.) The "color shift" that you're describing is either due to the thinning of the oxide caused by the wear of ordinary handling, or the addition of finger oils on top of the oxide, effectively making that top layer thicker. Either of these conditions cause a shift in the frequency band that is reinforced, which in turn causes a change in the color that your eye perceives. Over time, the oxide layer can get worn away completely on "high traffic" areas of the anodized surface due to handling, and as a result, you'll lose the perceived color. CRK's anodizing in the "valleys" of the titanium surface significantly helps to protect the oxide layer by reducing physical contact to the surface, and thus prolongs the colors perceived.

Hope that helps.

Well said fooj!! even i can understand.....do you know how CRK does the valleys and lows ?

Are the knives masked , machined and beadblasted after the ano ?

Is the ano done in house ?

 

[zephy5]

That looks awesome colubrid! I was looking for an excuse to buy a second Umnum, now I have one

 

[Fooj]

Well said fooj!! even i can understand.....do you know how CRK does the valleys and lows ?

Are the knives masked , machined and beadblasted after the ano ?

Is the ano done in house ?

The "valleys" are usually done on a mill, either automated like on the CGG models, or manually like Lisa's unique designs. The sequence of the processes vary, depending upon what's being accomplished. In general, however, the milling takes place, anodizing performed in-house, the face gets masked, slab gets sandblasted, face masking is removed, then the surface is polished on fine grit paper stretched over a flat surface (the machined portions remain un-touched, the unwanted anodizing on the top surface gets removed, and the nice polished surface remains) . . . if my memory serves me correctly . Piece parts like backspacers, thumblugs, etc. get anodized before assembly.