Topic: Home Anodizing

[Randy]

http://www.thefintels.com/aer/homealuminumanodizing.htm

So whats the deal?.. would this work on the Front Brake Master Cylinder?

[Lostboy Steve]

I have also been toying with the idea of doing this. I was also interested in home nickle plating. It all seems a little dangerous. I'm no physicist, but I'm almost positive this is why meth labs usually wind up burning down.

[CycleRanger]

The search button is your friend. 

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=75004.0

[KJ790]

I have a bit of knowledge in this field (I'm an engineer at a metal finishing plant, anodizing is one of our big money makers). I have set up a small anodizing line in my garage similar to what is in the link, and it works great. You don't need to make anything too complicated, anodizing is really a simple process. The problem is that cast aluminum parts tend to look like crap when they are anodized and then dies. Cast aluminum tends to have a lot of impurities that do not build an aluminum oxide layer and so the color will come out blotchy and odd colored after dying the part.

The big thing with anodizing is using the correct amps/square inch and keeping the temperature constant. As you anodize the part will heat up, and in a small tank (like a 5 gallon pale) this can really begin to affect the temperature. At work we have huge tanks with chillers and agitation to control the temperature, but at home I have had good luck with using ice cubes in a zip-lock bag to cool the tank down.

[Randy]

I did do the search ... and found that page.. I just did want to go threw buying the stuff. I also live in apartment, so smelly stuff will alert the neighbors in thinking I'm cooking dope in my apartment.. so the black dye was my next step..I do have a friend that can anodize for free..I was just wondering about the cylinder and how that would effect it..Would it build inside the cylinder causing a leak?..

[KJ790]

I did do the search ... and found that page.. I just did want to go threw buying the stuff. I also live in apartment, so smelly stuff will alert the neighbors in thinking I'm cooking dope in my apartment.. so the black dye was my next step..I do have a friend that can anodize for free..I was just wondering about the cylinder and how that would effect it..Would it build inside the cylinder causing a leak?..

You will want to buy a fume suppressant and have proper ventilation. Anodizing gives off hydrogen gas which can be poisonous and explosive, so you need to be carful. The thickness build up on typical type II anodizing is in the range of 0.0001-0.0002 inches so the dimension change won't affect a brake cylinder. You can mask off the parts you don't want anodized with plugs, paint, or tape. As I mentioned before though, cast parts tend to come out looking like crap.