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How to do Black Finish on Titanium
adv.
RFQ: Want a tough black finish on some titanium parts bolts washers
Hello! I have a small quantity of like 15 titanium 4-6 mm bolts, 28 washers. I need them colored black to match some carbon fiber engine covers on a Ferrari F430.
We make titanium parts for all cars on a custom basis. I am buying this set ready-made in USA and my vacuum vapor deposition apparatus is across the planet, so it's silly to send them there if someone can do it here ... and we would like to have a source in USA for future projects.
Would like fade-free tough black finish for this project. I am developing aftermarket engine cover bolts kits.
Thanks ever so much !
Kind regards,
- tucson Arizona
June 9, 2022
privately respond to this RFQ
Ed. note: As always, gentle readers: technical replies in public and commercial replies in private please (huh? why?)
⇩ Related postings, oldest first ⇩
Q. What if any black hard durable finish that looks good can we get for our Titanium air tube assemblies?
Van Jacobian air-gun mfgr - Dallas, Texas
2003
A. I think the closest you are going to get on titanium is a very dark color, no true black like a dyed anodized aluminum. We offer a hard, wear resistant, very dark color on titanium (AMS 2488D)
Jon Quirt- Fridley, Minnesota
A. No problem. Please see the picture of durable black Ti anodizing coating.
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Anna, I feel like a jerk. I have seen your coating and will attest that it is black and very nice looking. I was replying to the nature of a durable coating. Again I may I have my foot in mouth. I think of the colors as not being durable, but failed ^to test what I could have -- the sample you provided me with. Van, I suggest you look at Anna's coating; no one else that I know of has an appealing looking black coating like this.
- Fridley, Minnesota
Jon, we want to look at any test you've ran. Please provide more information.
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Anna, That was a typo in my response (will I ever get my foot out of my mouth!) It should have said "I failed TO test what was in front of me." That is I did not test it for durability. I have cut up the samples you shared with me and provided them to a few key customers ... no feedback yet. As far as I know you folks are the only ones on the planet with this black anodize on titanium. Are you going to the MD&M show in Anaheim?
Jon Quirt- Fridley, Minnesota
|
Jon, tell me more about this show: where and when. As to Ti black: it can be matte if the initial surface is not polished, or bright if Ti is pre-polished before anodizing procedure. Anna Berkovich Russamer Lab Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
A. You can give as undercoat acid nickel, later to burn the piece in a bath of black nickel (this offers great hardness) and to complete, if you wish, use furnace varnish.
ivanoguera [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]UNIVERSIDAD - MEDELLIN-ANTIOQUIA-COLOMBIA
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Matte black, abrasion resistant finish for titanium
Q. I am designing positioning clamp out of titanium for an optical sighting device and am having trouble finding a mil spec finish that will be matte black and provide abrasion resistance. We chose titanium for to the weight constraints required by our customer. The clamp is rectangular and about 1/4 the size of a credit card. We are looking at an initial build of 100 pieces with 1000's to follow upon production release. To date I have looked at powder coating, anodizing and electrocoating and have ruled out anodizing due to the low abrasion resistance. Any suggestions or other finishing options I have missed?
Thanks,
Designer - Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA
2004
A. Black matte finish can be obtained on titanium by proprietary titanium blackening technology. This is very new development, and so far the best dark black color (matter or bright) can be obtained on titanium grade 1-4. Other titanium alloy give dark-dark grey or light-black color. We are still working on improvements. Titanium blackening is formation of black oxide layer of 1-2 micron thickness, which is very durable and corrosion resistant.
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A. PVD coating the part will be more than adequate for any of the constraints required by your customer.
Jeff Swayze- Kelowna, B.C., Canada
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors and repetition 🙂
Q. Need assistance in achieving Dark Grey to Black Color for 6AL4V titanium using whatever "informal" process. I have heard of some companies being able to achieve this through anodizing the piece, but is there a thermal or less cost effective way to get a durable finish?
Any help would be appreciated.
Hobbyist - NY, New York, US
2005
A. You probably meant to say "more cost effective", David. The most "informal" process is paint of some type, but you haven't told us enough about the application to know if that has any merit. "Durable finish" probably means both wear resistant and corrosion resistant, right? But cost effectiveness almost always depends on size and shape and volume to be processed. Is this one single piece? How big is it? In short, what is the application? -- then we may be able to offer alternatives. Thanks.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005
by Zhentao Yu
on eBay or Amazon
or AbeBooks
(affil link)
A. Just paint it with 20% shellac solution(instead lacquer You can use any edible oil or fat, use it very sparingly),then heat it up to 400 °C (slowly). Cheap, simple and durable finish.
Good luck!
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
2005
A. Like Ted said...not enough info given.
As for anodizing...I don't think it is possible to get a black on titanium. You can have titanium nitride coatings done but not actual hobby shop setup black anodizing. sometimes people will thermally treat niobium (heat to about 1500 and dip in water) to get beautiful hematite/black colors, or use aluminum and anodize with black dye(which will fade from UV exposure over years)and use these 2 materials in place of titanium, in the jewelry industry for example.
List more info and get more accurate help.
- Flint, Michigan
2005
A. You can do black on titanium, but it is not common or easy. I believe thread 30989 addresses it.
Jim GorsichCompton, California, USA
2005
Q. Dear Sirs, I'd like to anodize a titanium bolt in Black. I made a sample with 180 V and PO4H3 and I just got dark grey. Please could you tell me how can I get black?
Thank you for your help.
Regards.
Claudio
Teacher - Argentine
July 30, 2008
Q. I'm wondering if there are any updates to this thread. An eBay search for "black titanium bolts" yields hundreds of matches, many costing less than $2. They are mainly grade 5 titanium. So there must be a simple (read cheap) process for black coating titanium. As far as I can tell, this rules out PVD and electroplating. I've seen videos where parts are heated red hot and dipped in WD-40 ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or something similar. But that seems unlikely for bolts. Can anyone tell me how these parts are being finished? I'm thinking in terms of an anodizing type process using an unusual electrolyte or maybe the cold black oxide (actually copper selenium) process for steel but this is just wild speculation.
William VynHazards Testing Company - Santa Barbara, California
May 25, 2017
A. Grade 1-4 titanium is anodized into matte or bright, depending on initial surface preparation. The surface is pretty durable. See photos 1,2, and 3 attached.
Grade 5 titanium is anodized always matte by the same method.
There is another possibility which is to AMS 2488 anodize grade 5.
adv.
Our method produces dark black and VERY durable surface without fur coat. Slightly beaten by glass beads -- will create the image of bright black (the very right valve on photo 4).
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A. Hi William,
As far as "low cost" is involved: labor is the biggest cost of most things, but metal finishing can be funny because sometimes it can take no more labor to process a basket or barrel holding 200 pounds of bolts than a single bolt.
Although hobbyists sometimes blacken bolts with heat and oil, the production method is more likely to be anodizing. A youtube video shows how to quickly and cheaply anodize titanium in a solution of magnesium sulfate fertilizer.
But please tell us the situation. Black anodizing a doohickey for your own purposes may be one thing while anodizing medical instruments can be quite another.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. I have made our wedding rings in Titanium grade 5, and want them coated to matte black finish, I have grooves that are only 0.35 mm (0.0137 inch) wide, and want the coating to not build more than some microns. Do you have any suggestions for me ?
Best regards,
Arnulf ByeBye-Tech - Bryne, Norway
April 30, 2019
A. Oil your rings with linseed oil, but very very sparingly. Then heat them slowly to 300-400 °C (with hot air gun). Repeat it if needs. Age-old process, and very simple and cheap too. Hope it helps and good luck!
Goran Budija- Zagreb,Croatia
May 4, 2019
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