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Q&As since 1989


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Darkening aluminium

 

I'm a live role player making a suit of armor for an orc character. I'm working in 2,5-5mm aluminium plates, thickness depending on the location in the suit. I work in thick aluminium to give the illusion of a very strong and heavy suit of armor and still keep the weight at an absolute minimum.

Now, my problem is that the colour of the aluminium sort ruins the illusion, so what I would like to do is darken the aluminium to a near black or bluish. I don't want to anodize the suit as that wouldn't result in a very real color either.

What I'm thinking of is to heat the aluminium and apply oil as when bluing steel, but this procedure don't seem to function that well on aluminium. I've been experimenting with heating the aluminium soaked in linoil on a grill. This gives a very fine result though the black colour wears of quite fast. Any ideas on how to give aluminium a nasty dark blackish/bluish texture?

Jon M.
- Farum, Denmark

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Hard coat anodizing should produce a color that is perfect for you. Check out hard coated aluminum pots and pans. The brand is Calphalon or something like that. Also stay with 6061 for a good finish.

Drew Nosti, CEF
Anodize USA

Ladson, South Carolina