Quote:
Originally Posted by MrB
Heh, I needed some for the same reason, had no idea where to get it so scavenged some from an old car battery. Worked fine.
Now if I could find a decent supply of dyes.
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Simon, I got my dyes from Ron at Moonlite Focusers in the US. He does a side trade in anodising equipment and dyes, sealer etc and offers a good range of colours and they get to you within a week of ordering them. Web page is below (scroll to the bottom for shopping).
http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html
You can import the dyes and sealer no probs but will need to get your nitric acid locally if you want a good pickeling solution or to remove old anodising as that cannot be shipped for obvious reasons. He calls it Deox/desmut but its just dilute HNO3. Sodium carbonate (soda ash/ pH up) is available at bunnings in the pool section and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) is also available at bunnings in the cleaning section. These make good cleaners when mixed in a 1:1 ratio at about 2 mol/L and give the metal that frosted look depending on the amount of time you imerse them for. You can buy conc sulfuric and nitric acid from (PM me for supplier) but be careful as it is a lot stronger then the 33% version used in batteries. It will spit and carry on something fierce when you dilute it to the required 10 - 15% conc if you rush it. Remember always add acid to water and wear all the necessary protective gear. If you are using the stuff out of batteries it is too strong and will not allow the metal to take on the colour as the pores in the oxide layer will be too small. You can dilute the battery acid I guess but its likely to all sorts in it. Best to start with the pure stuff but it's not cheap at $80 for 2L conc (will easily make up 18L dilute). 10% gives good colour take up (large pores) but is soft whilst 15% will provide a hard anodised surface but poor colour absorption (small pores). 12% is considered a good compromise.
Mark