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Alternative to anodizing aluminum black

2004

Hello,

I am a university engineering student looking to design a temperature controlled hot plate as part of a project. I have a very limited budget and have found that anodizing aluminum is somewhat expensive at our school shop.

I am looking for a material that conducts heat well, can be machined (to make a well to hold resistors and wiring along the bottom of the plate) and is preferably black (to reduce glare because there will be images taken of the material above the hot plate). Can anyone please offer any suggestions?

Thank you,

Mike Rosa
student - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Good finishes do not come much cheaper than anodize. If you do not have a wear problem, you might be able to use aluminum and paint it with a high temp flat black paint. The paint will last better if you chem film it first (Alodine, Iridite and etc). You must let it dry for 24 hours after chem-film before painting.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2004

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You can colour aluminum black chemically (without anodizing):
10 grams ammonium molybdate
5 grams sodium thiosulphate [on eBay or Amazon]
1 lit water
Hot immersion(100 °C)

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
2004