Summary for anodizing aluminum dye is splotchy Discussion
Anodizing aluminum dye is splotchy in this jeweler’s thin basket, and the thread excerpt mainly captures the question rather than a full troubleshooting exchange. James Peyton of Seattle says he is trying to anodize a very thin aluminum basket for jewelry work and, after much experimenting, can dye it somewhat successfully but cannot get an even, consistent color. He asks for advice on how to improve the result. The excerpt does not include a technical answer or diagnosis, so the only solid takeaway is that the problem is uneven dyeing on a delicate aluminum part and that further process guidance would be needed to improve color consistency.
Q. Hello, I’m a jeweler interested in using aluminum in my work. I tried anodizing an aluminum basket, about 0.5′ square and 0.2mm thick and had a difficult time getting good results. After a lot of experimenting I was able to dye the basket fairly successfully, but wasn’t really able to get an even consistent color. I’d appreciate any advice or insight that might help. Thanks!
James Peyton
– Seattle, Washington
October 21, 2024
Aluminum How-To
“Chromating – Anodizing – Hardcoating”
by Robert Probert
You’ll love this book. Finishing.com has sold a thousand copies without a return request 🙂
A. Hi James,
Unfortunately it is hard to narrow down what is wrong, all the way from cleaning to sealing.
• Are you sure there was no previous anodizing layer, or if there was, that you removed it?
• Are you sure the basket was spotlessly clean? If any doubt, scrub the basket with a tampico scrub brush, and a solution of powdered pumice and a dash of dish detergent before your normal cleaning.
• Did you do any etching or desmutting? If so, did the aluminum still look the color of raw aluminum before you proceeded.
• Was the anodizing done at reasonable current density (say 12 ASF), and did it look fine before dying?
• Are you using a high quality dye made for anodizing rather than a fabric dye? Did it already look inconsistent at this stage?
• What method and timing did you use for sealing? Nickel acetate would probably be ideal.
Send a pic of it to finishingdotcompublic@gmail.com for posting here.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
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