Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Coloring Aluminum

I make a range of sand cast aluminum charger plates, salad servers etc which are finished to a shine with polishing waxes. To add a new look to my articles I wish to color part of the details on them. I have tried anodizing and dying which works but the shine is obviously removed from the areas that have been unavoidably anodized. Is there some form of masking that could be used when anodizing or is there a better alternative that would be painting or coloring just the areas required in a non-chip and non-toxic product ?

Fabio Peretti
- Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
2002

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Conventional thicknesses of anodizing don't do much to mask reflectivity--in fact millions of reflectors are made of anodized aluminum. Your pretreatment may be etching the specularity out of the aluminum though.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2002