DIY Home Aluminum Anodizing |
||||
|
Some comments on home aluminium anodising DyeAfter the aluminium has been anodised in the acid bath, it is time to dye it a pretty colour. There are commercially available anodizing dyes. I have no doubt that these provide good, repeatable results. However, they do cost. Depending on the colour, they cost between £20 and £40 for a dose of dye that makes about 4 gallons. This is not overly expensive, but still, a cost to be avoided if possible. The other problem is that there are only a handful of places that sell it to the home anodiser. As I have said elsewhere, clothes dye makes a pretty good replacement. A few points about clothes dye:
I have not had much luck with food colouring. Food colouring advertised as "natural" sort of works, but clothes dye with a much more striking finish to home anodised aluminium parts. THe only clothes dye that I have found that works is Dylon Multi-Purpose dye. Other Dylon brands do NOT work. I guess the dye particles are not small enough. Dyes that do not work include the Dylon COLD range and the dylon PURE COLOUR range.
These dyes do work. Navy Blue give an almost black colour. Ebony black is a great black. Most of them give pleasing results, but after a few uses start to give poorer results.
These dyes do not work. Don't bother trying them
|
|
Contact me on tomh at tomh@tomhow.me.uk