Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Medical equipment specialist asks about stainless steel anodizing

Hola,

Necesito conocer información sobre anodización del acero inoxidable. Voltages, decapante utilizado, medio electrolítico. Como conseguir una gama de colores en la superficie. Gracias.

Copito
medical equipment investigator - Barcelona, Spain
2003

Ed. note June 2004: Apologies but the site has become so busy that we can no longer print postings except in English. We are sorry but, with our lack of command of other languages, the time we spend on one non-english letter means ten letters in english would have to go unposted :-)

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Dear Mr. Copito,

To my knowledge there is no public domain way to anodize stainless steel. We do, however, have a couple of supporting advertisers--B&M Finishers / Prismatic Stainless Steel [a finishing.com supporting advertiser] and Russamer Labs--who can offer that process and perhaps license it. If I am in error and anyone can cite a published technical article on this topic, please do.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003

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2004

Electrolytic colouring of stainless steel(Cr18/Ni8):

H2SO4........1 lit.
Na2Cr2O7.....7.5 gr/lit.
temp.7o-95 C(+-3)
o,06 A/dm2
1,3 V
lead cathode brown-blue-yellow-redish brown- purple-green colour cycle (depends on immersion time)

From Dettner/Elze (edit.):Handbuch der galvanotechnik,1968 [adv: this book on eBay, AbeBooks, or Amazon] (Electroplating handbook),Hanser Verlag, Muenchen

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia

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Fishlock also describes very similar process in his book Metal Colouring.

Budija Goran
- Zagreb, Croatia
2004