Starting an aluminum anodizing plant

Need help finding information on establishing a small anodizing plant capable of producing about 10,000 nameplates per year. Any pointers on Chemicals, Dyes and Power Supplies, any books or organizations that I can access would be appreciated. Very little information freely available here in Australia. Regards.

A. Hi, Steve. You can look for relevant texts on-line here in our list of recommended plating books; many include reviews.

Good reference chapters can be found in the Electroplating Engineering Handbook ⇦ this on eBay, AbeBooks, or Amazon [affil link] , edited by Larry Durney, and the Metal Finishing Guidebook & Directory.

Robert Probert's Aluminum How-To is a recently published and very readable book about aluminum anodizing and conversion coating. The classic on the subject is Surface Finishing and Treatment of Aluminum and its Alloys, by Wernick, Pinner & Sheasby.

You might find the website Anodizers' Plaza interesting [Ed. note 2007: sorry, no longer able to locate]. You might consider joining the American Electroplaters & Surface Finishing Society and/or The Institute of Metal Finishing.

Best of luck!

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey