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Anodising


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I did some a few years ago, I went for "Hard Anodising" From What I remember...

Ebay benchtop power supply for the current, start off low amps for a few minutes then ramp up.

You need to keep the heat right down I used a small storage box for the Anodising tank inside a big 300x400x300mm box full of icy water. I made a coil of10mm aluminium tube for the cathode and used a fish pond pump to pump the icy water through that as well. The two tanks idea seemed safer incase of Acid leaks as well.

Diluted (18%?) Rhino Drain cleaner from Wickes for the acid.

If I tried to do more than one part at a time one worked the rest just sat there.

It was difficult to maintain good electrical contact with the part I was Annodising.

Getting the depth of finish seems as much art as science. After a while the electrical resistance was more than the power supply could deal with this often dictated the colour.

Finish the parts really well to start off with, the marks really show up.

I went for a grey finish because I couldn't get a reliable colour.

Edited by Dibble
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I think if you used some kind of glass jar for the inner tank rather than the plastic box I used it would keep the temperature down enough, it did suprise me how much heat was generated. I bought the big bags of Ice from the supermarket.

The caustic soda stage at the start only worked with warm water.

I'll dig out some photos of the Silencer at the weekend but this was the first try.

 

ls1.jpg

You can see here we didn't get the blue right , I think the surface area was too big for the power supply but if you look at the end cap I got that almost black.

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I do a bit in the workshop now and again.  Type 2  anodising is quite easy,  just an old 4 amp battery charger works but I have also used a 10 amp computer power supply. 

Sulphuric acid, I use "one shot" drain cleaner. Quite ok in a plastic Tupperware type container.

Caustic soda (again ok in plastic container)

Dye bath (plastic container)

Something to boil the finished part in for about 10-15 minutes. I use an old steam wallpaper stripper with the top cut off.

Originally I used Dylon fabric dyes but find spending £10 on pukka dye is well worth while

This is the best guide I've found to home anodising.

http://astro.neutral.org/anodise5.shtml

Here are some scope mounts I've recently made to fit the old BSA Martini target rifles.

3kWLTF0l.jpg

00YLxlnl.jpg

WGoIn6el.jpg

 

Edited by 1066
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On 29/01/2020 at 22:49, 1066 said:

I do a bit in the workshop now and again.  Type 2  anodising is quite easy,  just an old 4 amp battery charger works but I have also used a 10 amp computer power supply. 

Sulphuric acid, I use "one shot" drain cleaner. Quite ok in a plastic Tupperware type container.

Caustic soda (again ok in plastic container)

Dye bath (plastic container)

Something to boil the finished part in for about 10-15 minutes. I use an old steam wallpaper stripper with the top cut off.

Originally I used Dylon fabric dyes but find spending £10 on pukka dye is well worth while

This is the best guide I've found to home anodising.

http://astro.neutral.org/anodise5.shtml

Here are some scope mounts I've recently made to fit the old BSA Martini target rifles.

3kWLTF0l.jpg

00YLxlnl.jpg

WGoIn6el.jpg

 

Brings back memories. Funny seeing one with scope on. Great rifle. 

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7 hours ago, spandit said:

I've known of your skill for some time but you never cease to amaze me...

You're too kind Spandit, but thank you. :)

The old BSA Martini's are still greatly undervalued, although the prices of good ones has gone up considerably over the last couple of years. These were used as club rifles in their thousands for donkeys years, the Mod 12, 12/15 and then the International Mk1, 2,3,4,5 from the 1950's to around the mid 1980's

They still shoot extremely well and with the rising popularity of .22lr benchrest competitions you can set yourself up with a competitive outfit for not a lot of money.

My 40 year old Mk 5 still going well

GsuJPLPm.jpg

 

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