Matte Black Plating: Durable Black Anodize Solution

Summary for matte black plating Discussion

Durable matte black plating is the goal for an off-the-shelf D-Sub connector shell made from cast aluminum with zinc plating and a blue-toned chromate conversion coating. Reuben Sandler asks what finish would hold up well on the already plated shell. Guillermo Marrufo’s practical suggestion is to strip off both the chromate and the zinc first, then anodize the aluminum and dye it black. The thread is brief and does not present alternative methods or any disagreement, so the main takeaway is that a black anodized finish is the recommended route rather than trying to plate over the existing zinc/chromate system.