Thanks this is working great for me. I added a neutralizing step after it comes out of the acid bath, just before it goes in the dye bath.

Very interesting 😁👍🏻

This is the best anodizing tutorial on KZfaq, very well explained. Thanks for posting this.

An extremely clear and concise method shown on this process! I will keep this video for my reference when attempting my first anodizing - thank you very much!

Very well paced and easy to follow instructions, thanks for the video.

Richard, A video that I have saved to my favorites so I can easily go back to it, Also new subscriber.

Richard, I never knew how anodizing was accomplished. Great demonstration video.

Always something cool cooking in Richard's shop. Thanks for sharing!

Finally an anodizing process I can follow. Well done Richard, thank you.

Outstanding. Straight to the point, clear valuable information.

I'm a mechanical engineering student who spends a lot of time in the garage, right up my alley. Great work and right to the point, no lack of preparation, explained everything efficiently. My man!

Well done Richard. Very informative and to the point.

Thank you for posting this. I have always wondered how the process was done but it sounded all mysterious and scary the way it was explained to me before....you know, the "dangerous chemicals" and expensive equipment blah blah blah. This process is simple and done with common sense not dangerous at all. I have most of the things needed to do this right now in my home. You earned my like and gained a new sub too!!

very easy to be done, you explained it very well.thank you.Richard.

Great video man! Lots of steps but you definitely made it seem doable for a beginner.

Amazing video!! Excellent work!!

New subscriber I appreciate all the detail temperature I think I’m gonna give it a try myself I saved your video to go along to make sure it comes out great. Thank you.

Great video, well done Richard

Thanks for your efforts,just learning and this was most helpful.

Great video and a very clear tutorial. Thanks!

Looking pretty righteous! Thumbs up for that.

Simple and worthy Thanks for sharing knowledge

Thank you for a very helpfull and well laid out Video.

Excellent info!

Great video. Thanks!

Good Job Richard Thats Quite A Prosess , I like the black...

Holy dang, as someone who's only ever anodized titanium I gotta say that looks like one heck of an involved process, comparatively!!! The ease of manufacturing ones own aluminum parts is obviously a very important factor too, though. Very nicely presented!!!

A college professor teaching chemistry said always add acid, and think of the triple AAA logo. Good video. Spokane Valley, WA

Thanks for making this informative detailed guide. I have been searching for ever for goblin green gimbal stick ends for my radio transmitter and now I'll just make my own.

This video gave me the encouragement to give anodizing at home a try and now I'm happy that I did. Thanks for the info and encouragement. My first attempt was a failure with my parts only taking enough dye to make them look dirty. In my second attempt I used PB Blaster to thoroughly degrease, followed by a 10 minute soak in hot detergent water, followed by a deoxidizing soak in hot trisodium phosphate solution for 15 minutes, a distilled water rinse and then into the anodizing bath. Based on Caswell's LCD (Low Current Density) anodizing process I intentionally kept my battery charger current below 2 amps for 90 minutes, in a solution which was cold to begin and didn't rise much during the anodizing. A quick rinse in distilled water and then into my 120-140º dyeing solution (2 qts distilled water to 1 bottle black Rit dye) for 15 minutes followed by a seal in boiling water for 10 minutes. After polishing with a cloth, my home made parts now look deep black and professionally coated and I'm a bit stunned at how good they look. I'm also eyeballing the disposable aluminum cookware at the grocery store as single use anodizing vessels since they already have the cathodes built in.

Cool. Thanks for sharing

Nice continuity!

That was a really neat process, I may try it soon. Great lesson that a Geezer like me can understand, Thanks Richard. Oh, new to your channel.

This gives me some ideas for my jewelry designs. Thanks!

Thank you for this, appreciated

Interesting, well presented and an excellent result.

You are one of the most chronically under subbed you-tubers ever. Love your channel.

Interesting video, well explained and shot. Thanks.

I like it!

Sweet. Going to have to give this a try.

exact details of each part would help me up alot in setting something like this up myself.

Awesome video details

you deserve 1000 likes

Very interesting , i'm planning to something like this to my bicycle wheels

Thank you Richard for posting this great tutorial. Looks like it did a really fine job on your part. Perhaps you wanted to do a scratch test...? See if it holds good and at the same time check the depth of the anodizing.

Awesome

well done !

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Thanks Richard, this taught me to anodize. One thing, the current does not flow between the two cathodes. If flows from the +positive anode terminal (the part now) to the cathode (your nicely machined aluminum one). This is the direction of "conventional current flow" as in all engineering books. The electron flow itself is from the -negative cathode to the +positive anode or part, thus the part is anodized. All the rest though is 100%.

Thanks much and many blessings. I once had two dogs named Something and Nothing. Nothing was the mother, so I got Something from Nothing!

You can use rtv sealant as a masking to prevent certain areas from being anodized. It's important to let the rtv to fully cure before starting the anodize process. You csn also use rubber plugs to mask threads and holes.

Love da thermometer holders

Thanks for this video. I think I am brave enough now to anodize my own AR lowers to the color of my choice.

Interesting...great job

Thanks a lot for your tutorial video.I'm very interested in plating.

yea, this all looks super easy...

thanx for the video, it's nice summary. For those interested in more details, for instance how much current to apply (4.5 amps per sq foot of surface area) check out caswells anodizing manual

Just wanted to be that guy who asks the same question: What is the cathode made from? However, you answered it already, thanks!

nice vid..informative

Awesome video with extremely easy and simple steps to follow.by watching this video I'm going to save about $150 by being able to not only change color of my rc parts but also make them look new again.granted itll take some time to do but in my opinion knowledge is power not to mention I'll be able to do any other aluminum parts I may want done myself.thanks for video.

I haven't worked with this process myself but I seen some of the process at work years ago. The the dye used was Sandoz product and the sealer was nickel acetate. I hear Rit brand dyes work for coloring aliminum too with decent results. Very nice video :)

Love that bud. I have never done it but now I have the ways and means to make it happen. I assume for clear finish I would just not use the dye or is there something chemically needed in it.Over the years I have found parts that are anodized are extremely reliable as far as finish. Thanks a bunch eh !

Glad it is easy for you guys in the US to source sulphuric acid readily. Here in Australia, virtually the only way for a man on the street to get some is to buy a battery and tip it out! I tried a few years ago to do some anodising, and gave up trying to sulphuric acid. I was considered either a terrorist or sicko that wanted to throw it in someone's face. Same story from numerous outlets. Friggin Nanny State :-( Good news is swimming pool acid is almost the same formula, which you can get easily. I tried it and had success, but the times/currents were a little bit different.

Niiicce

Thanks for the informative video. I followed your steps buy came up with a less than desirable product. It looks like an oil spill but not solid black like I was aiming for. What did I do wrong?

I have seen this done using a base instead of an acid... I assume the results are the same .... good video sir...

Interesting process. I wonder if there is another way without electricity.

When I was much younger I worked at a plant called cardinal aluminum. We made the trim pieces that go around bath tubs and such. We had giant tanks of chemicals that big ranks of parts went in to anodized them. I anodized every piece of chrome on my 68 cougar. Well all that was aluminum anyhow. It turned out awesome. Was a royal blue, almost like the transparent blue tint. ((I miss that car))

What ratio would you recommend for a good royal blue color? Also, will the powder rit dye work as well? I was told that they use the powder dyes to make the liquid dyes. Thanks in advance. Great, informative video. :)

So watching the process, and the different temperatures of the various chemical vats... I now have to Back Plan this so I can perform all tasks AND have enough time to clean the kitchen stove and air out the house before my wife comes home from shopping. Guessing there should be some sort of "Warning Label" for failing in this...

Excellent! Just what I need to anodise the oil pump cover on my Buick/Rover 215 😁 - wonder if this will be as durable as the factory anodising? 🤔 Well, anything is better than untreated alloy, plus I won't be needing dye.. Hehe

I bought a bunch of that exact brake cleaner at advanced auto today, buy one get one free, pretty good deal.

I got so much I would like to anodize. Almost the first comment...:-)

Thanks Richard, good, solid information! I wonder if other acids would work? Like HCl (pool acid) instead of H2SO4, (battery acid). Or other acids depending on concentration. My sense is the reaction is more temperature driven than concentration driven. Hmmm- will have to read up on this! Thanks again, great simple process!

Hey Richard, can you leave it bare without dyeing it? Nice Job. I've often thought of doing that but thought you had to have a whole bunch of chemicals to do it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Best Wishes N Blessings. Keith Noneya

Would this be considered "bright dip" or "type 2" anodizing?

Great video Richard. Have you tried some of the other colors, such as the reds , blues , & golds that have that rich candy color after it's been done. You see it a lot on show cars on the steel branded fuel lines and coolant line fittings. Just wondering if it came out with the rich candy color. Thanks for the informative videos , and easy to learn and follow instructions.

do you have to "charge" your electrolyte solution? With zinc plating, you ring a cathode and anode in the solution without a part to get zinc ions to be suspended in the solution. same for this process?

Wondering if you can reblacken aluminum grille in the middle of a stovetop? This might not be good for heating and cooking on?

Lol. Not at this point. I work with a buddy of mine in a full restoration shop from time to time when he gets in a bind or behind. We do old cars such as 60 models camaros , mustangs and so on. We use them fittings a lot. I just wish I had taken pictures of all the parts I had made on the lathe that we have used on them. It would have been cool to go to the car shows and been able to say look I made that part on your car. He's won several best in shows and first places with the cars we have done. But to answer your question I see a lot of anodize parts. However we have never tried to diy our on stuff.

I absolutely love this video. It gets to the points without a bunch of nonsense. I cant wait to try this out. Where do you get the aluminum wire and the aluminum you used for the cathode?

can you skip to a dye bath if you use parts that were chemicaly stripped with hydrochloric acid based rust remover? i want to go from yellow anodized to black.

Thank you very much. Very educative.... I am on my way to try your technique. This is my first time :-)

you can protect threads with silicone pull plugs, most are rated for 250 fahrenheit +

How I set the parameter in anodizing different tank like sulphuric,nitric,caustic,sealing.with dm or normal water ...

Thanks good video. Has anyone tried using Synthetic RIT Dyemore Dye? I've had great results with the regular RIT but am wondering if the synthetic is different? I couldn't find anything about it online.

Do the cathodes need to be of a particular hardness or quality or does the process of anodizing make the finish more durable than what is being anodized ?

I assume you can use any color of rit dye that you want. Just so I understand, the acid bath etches the part so the dye can soak into the metal?

So you used fabric die ?Is it water based or? Very nice looking part indeed.Could you do the coloring and anodizing in a same pot at once ?

Is this okay with motorcycle engine parts, the heat?

I always smile when I hear aluminium pronounced aloooooominum.. 🤣 but not as much as when I hear my car is a Jagwar 🤣😂 nice job Richard. 👍

how would you recommend masking sections to apply a different color? I was thinking this might be a great way to make jewelry out of old soda cans (after melting down and casting), but while I was watching, it occurred to me that I might need multiple colors at some point, unless you think that's not possible?

Thanks for all the info. Can you please link some of the stuff you used in the description? I am having trouble replicating your process and would like to mimic exactly what you have done.

good video and i love the black finish! but i thought the bottle said royal blue? how does it turn out black?

Excellent video, very informative. I want to anodize an HEI distributor black. It has bronze bushings on the inside that cant be removed. Will tge bronze bushing mess up the anodizing process of the aluminum housing?

How does the original finish effect the anodizing? If I take my aluminum part to a mirror finish then anodize it (black), would it come out a nice glossy/mirrored black finish, or would it turn it to a matte finish due to the etching process??

Good video what material did you use for the cathode and diode

can you use a different acid? or is that the only one that you would recommend? I have a yoyo that is raw aluminum and I want to refinish it. I will probably plan to sand and satin the body, then annodize.

Richard, good example of anodizing. It looked like it turned out great. I have never done it but read up on it thinking about doing some cast aluminum parts only to find out that it doesn't really work well on cast. This tutorial was laid out well and I think I could even follow it. Thanks for sharing! BTW, never got your email and it looks like Kendall may be out of business? Joe

Great video. I always wanted to have a go but I have cats and I think the mix of acid and curiosity may not be a good one. I take mine to a local company. They have huge heated acid tanks 40' long and 6' deep. I once asked the guy operating the part lowering hoist what would happen if you accidentally fell in and he said - "We would push you under". I think he meant that would be the kindest thing to do!! Uuuuhh. Since then I have taken all my stuff there, but I only go in the office now :-)