Regarding 'Black oxiding' of aluminium

August 27, 2013

Q. Greetings for the day.
I work as a fixture designer and usually come across materials like EN31, EN8 and MS plates. We usually black oxidize the plates before dispatching the fixtures. Recently, we came across a fixture for plastic component which was to be made of aluminium (HE30). I wanted to know whether oxidizing of aluminium is possible and whether aluminium can be hardened.

Karthik M
Fixtures designer - Pune, Maharashtra and India

A. Hi Karthik. I believe that HE30 is the same thing as 6082 and can be hardened, but surely not as hard as ferrous metals.

The question of black oxiding it is probably a semantics issue; that phrase is usually reserved for a treatment on ferrous metals. But aluminum can be anodized and dyed black. Good luck.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.

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