Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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Looking for bright dip anodizing advise or a jobber

We are a small manufacturer of musical batons. We have a line of batons that features anodized aluminum handles in silver, gold and black. I understand from my machinist who supplies these for me that they are bright dipped before anodizing. We are a small shop, purchasing perhaps several hundred handles per order, and often the resulting product has been less than stellar. The gold in particular comes out cloudy, sometimes with a greenish haze to it. I have two questions:

1. Having read other posts on this site, I realize bright dipping is something I will not be doing in house. Is it possible to have the handles bright dipped by a jobber, then I could do the anodizing in house, or is this simply not practical?

2. If not, then can anyone recommend jobbers who can service short run customers like us? We would like to expand our color range to perhaps 8-12 colors.

Thank you!

Bob

Bob Mollard
business owner - Bath, Ohio
September 22, 2010

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September 23, 2010

Hi, Bob.

We can't recommend particular anodizing shops in this forum, but there are certainly shops who can reliably bright dip, anodize, and dye these items for you.

Usually a bright dip line will be integrated with the anodizing line. It probably isn't practical to bright dip the components and then ship them without anodizing, but I can't say that it's impossible to sufficiently protect them with a preservative to make it possible.

You may want to find a shop who can bright dip and anodize these for you on their existing line, and then unrack them to 8-12 small dye tanks they install just for you.

Regards,

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