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Bleedout problem from pits in anodized fishing reels

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I own a company called REEL COLORS. We take Penn International fishing reels from around the world. Strip the existing gold anodize. Machine the scratches and pitting on our lathes and re-anodize them to match their color sample. My problem is sometimes I can't get to the bottom of a pit (pitting from salt water). Even though it is so small you can't see it without a magnifying glass, there is a good chance I'll get a bleed mark. Is there any way to prevent this? My anodizer does their best but it is a big problem. Now I'm telling my customers with badly pitted reels that they should consider going with black. I don't seem to have this problem with black. Thank you very much for your time .

Tom Testa
- Deep River, Connecticut

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Hi Tom. I'm surprised that the problem is less severe with black anodizing.

i think there isn't much you can do about pre-existing pits, but you may be able to do something about the bleedout of the sulfuric acid from them. Ask your anodizer to try these three ideas:

 

1) neutralizing the anodizing solution with sodium bicarbonate;

2) displacing the anodizing solution by a dip in dilute nitric acid;

3) hot & cold rinsing after the anodizing.

 

The three ideas can be combined, i.e., rinse hot & cold; dip in nitric acid; rinse; dip in sodium bicarbonate; rinse.

Ted Mooney, P.E. finishing.com Brick, New Jersey