My anodizing journey

[Drcemento]

What would you say is the bare minimum equipment to be able to do this?

Watch both KMDPB 's videos here- I mimicked his set-up almost exactly, and now that I've done it a few times I would say that I am so happy i didn't skimp, and would call that the bare minimum. Can you get away with a little less? yes. Will you likely get frustrated and iffy results and end up getting what you didn't the first time? almost guaranteed. The only item I would say is somewhat optional is the ultrasonic cleaner - I'd say soap and hot water are fine 90% of the time.

all told i'm out $760.00. this included:
caswell de-smut and nickel acetate,
a big enamel pot to boil it in,
4 cereal containers for dye,
4 basic dye colors
,titanium wire,
10A power supply,
3 quarts sulpheric drain cleaner and lye drain cleaner.
This also included 2 very nice immersion water heaters and controllers for dye ($107), that you can get allot cheaper and smaller and a large, nice ultrasonic cleaner 107.00 both of these items I've got other uses for and have wanted for awhile so i didn't mind buying better ones.

Hidden costs not included above are distilled water (you will use a TON of it - i'm around 12 gallons on day five) and nail polish - the stuff i found dries the fastest and pours the best is 9.99 per tiny bottle!!! that automag going on round 3 is close to 30 bucks
in nail polish!!! paper towels and gloves are no joke either!

if your thrifty and creative you could keep it around $500 for the equipment, maybe less if you really shop around.

Its a big investment and you end up with buckets of expensive nasty chemicals you have to dispose of. I felt it was worth it to see if I could get to a pretty pro level of anodizing and start chipping away at my collection of of markers that would otherwise cost in the thousands to send out for anno, and who knows maybe it could be a little side hustle here and there. Its pretty frickin' fun.

[Drcemento]

Day 5. Now that I kinda have a process, I've found i can fit some anno work in during work ... its a nice break every hour or two from end of year financial computer hell to walk out and move parts along, so I managed to strip and re- ano the mag, with much better results. the gas-through still is slightly darker than the rest. all parts went in the dye for exactly 2 minutes, and looked identical to the other parts when it came out. maybe different alloy. anyway, I am calling this one good!

[Drcemento]

It is a classic valve. I ran a metal shop for years that did allot of high end decorative custom steel work for houses, so we got pretty good at patina. Turns out you can turn stainless steel black to. It took us a couple years of trial and error to develop a process that was actually durable though - its not all that dissimilar to ano and involves allot of acid and some heat but only one color option. I've always wanted to try it on a mag... and i finally did! For prep I sanded the valve to remove the laser logo and sandblasted everything... maybe a bit heavy but I like it. Then acid bath, heat and dip in the patina bath. durable as ano at least. still need to darken the air line.

[Cal440]

Did you apply the same technique to the body, really like the overall look?. Following your ano journey.

[Drcemento]

Yep, same process for body except the sanding part. I just sandblasted it. That process I’m confident in. If you want a body and valve done pm me.

[Maxwell]

Ajackz This is the guy I was talking about. Crushing it look at those parts.

[Chuck E Ducky]

You should try your hand at Tiger Stripe 😉

[Drcemento]

Ha - one of these days!

[Drcemento]

Update - took a break from the actual ano'ing to jump right down another deep rabbit hole - polishing, surface prep and generally cleaning up idiot marks and small dings etc, and am now working towards the next project... a sniper I've had forever made from a 2k body. Going for a mirror finish bronze with a silver splash. 100 bucks on amazon gets you a really nice 3/4 horse polishing grinder, wheels and rouge - it will make a dremel and sandpaper seem like torture. Feeling like I need to really get a little more serious about keeping tabs on my acid bath and getting the hang of amperage and surface area a little better for more consistent results, as well as upgrading my "Bus Bar" Stay tuned!

[Drcemento]

Found some time to run some parts this week. Made some upgrades to the ano bath and "bus bar" and started fresh with some Kleen-out drain cleaner. After worrying about the de-smut, and degreaser dulling my mirror polish I just went for it and lo and behold - the polish came right back after rubbing the nail polish off. lots was learned - still plagued by color inconsistencies - though much if it ,my own doing and possibly a faulty thermostat wire. Thinking maybe i need to just lower the dye temp and be more patient. The grip frame did not ano the first time around so I had to do it again today - resulting in a different tone as well.
despite it all it turned out pretty amazing when you put it all together! My son did the splash pattern and picked the colors. he'll be rocking this at midway tomorrow

this is what I started with:


.... and here she is in all her bronzed glory!

[Cal440]

Looks great, I really like that color 😀

[KMDPB]

Looks great!

[Melrosejedi]

Fantastic job.

[Drcemento]

Got a little overwhelmed with the giant ano mess in my shop where I'm also trying to make a living to, so took a break to make some space, reorganize, and most importantly go back and try to finish a couple projects that I had started prior to the ano sideshow. One of them was my second "Darkmag" - a Minimag I got a long time ago that I slowly built out and tweaked and actually really enjoyed playing with - now it was time to make it pretty - if your into black anyway. - I am and have had this in pieces waiting to get my stainless black treatment ever since I proved it would work with the previusly posted mag body. This time I wanted to go full black - including the Yorlock fittings and what I thought was the stainless BOA barrel (turns out after beating my head against a wall trying to get it to patina that its actually nickel plated brass! anyway without further ado.... the Darkmag!

[Drcemento]

Cal.. it’s Stainless Black from Sculpt Nouveau. Sandblasting and a dip in muriatic acid are pretty essential to the process.

Kmdpb- I have a fab shop specializing in precast concrete - furniture, counters, pots - you name it. Lots of mold making - fiberglass etc.

[Cal440]

Thanks

[Jordan]

Yeah, BOA barrels have always been plated brass. The early ones were hard chromed instead of nickel plated so everyone assumed they were SS.

[Drcemento]

Finally got some time to break in the new ano area I set up in the shop and try to get a scheme I've had rolling around in my head since the start of this. It took a few tries, but pretty proud of this one.... first hurdle was tackling Matte finishes - which means sandblasting. I always just figured you had to have allot of pressure to siphon the sand and get everything to work, but it really pitted the surface of the aluminum. After stepping it down to 40 psi with some fine glass beads I started getting that nice subtle matt sheen I see on other markers. This was also my first foray into blending dyes to achieve some of the colors I've got in my head. A major frustration is the dyes basically all look the same in the containers, and there is really no way - at least that i've found - that you can gauge what the finished color will be without ano'ing something. You can bleach out the dye and adjust the color and dye again, but you are working with a finished piece. patience is not my strong suite, and ano demands it, along with attention to every detail. Every time I tried to rush something or think it will be ok and move on it kicks me in the ass! Mad respect to the pro's like pooty, and caustic. crappy phone shot but I was so excited!