Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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DIY anodising in a sheltered workshop for disabled people

Hi folks, I help to run a small workshop in Salisbury England for disabled people ( 50 employees) we make motocross sprockets from 7075 aluminium. We send it away to be anodised which costs us a small fortune and as a charity we are always looking to cut our costs. Is it a safe process for use in the factory? what are the h & s requirements? would it be that much cheaper? Any input would be a help

Peter Hamilton
shelwork industries - Salisbury, Wiltshire, England
2005

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2005

By the time you include applying for all the proper permits, buying all the waste treatment equipment, hiring a consultant to show you how to do the process, and dealt with all of the increased insurance costs, it is doubtful that you would ever show a profit on choosing to do your own anodizing. If you want to take a look at some of the previous responses to people wanting to open shops, just do a seach using the finishing.com search engine on "opening a shop" or something like that. There was a LOT of good adive given to a gentleman from Manitoba in Canada not too long ago while he was opening a new jobshop (because his shop would handle many customers work instead of just one - your own - there was sufficient profit potential for him to get involved). If you do a search on that city name (Manitoba) you'll find most of the letters.

Good luck.

Jim Gorsich
Compton, California, USA