Anodising Aluminium?

Has any-one got a set up of thier own, i need to know how to get started.

Cheers

Some years ago I anodised the face of this home made electronic speedo for my CB500 four.



It's the only anodising I've done so far but would like to have a go at using different colours. I just cleaned the aluminium with steel wool before putting it in the acid and turning on the power supply.

The links below should explain the process.

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~chrish/t-anodis.htm
http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize99.html

Getting the sulphuric acid might be a problem, a work mate got mine it's a 10% acid and water mix.
You might be able to get hold of some battery acid which is sulphuric acid, but at about 20%.
Best to use some eye protection and rubber gloves with this stuff.

Post some piccys of your work if you get some success

[johnnyrod]

A couple of general warnings if you try it... Always dilute acids by adding the acid to the water, not the other way around, as it can produce a lot of heat. I only had a brief look at the firstlink but saw a mention of sodium hydroxide (aka caustic soda and probably loads of otehr names). Adding this to water or an acid will also produce a lot of heat, so be careful. it's also corrosive to skin so gloves are a must - ordinary rubber ones are fine for acids and alkalis. All this stuff washes off easily in water so it's easy to clean up afterwards. Enjoy! Will have to read the guff properly later...

[embee]

www.frost.co.uk do various kits for anodising, stripping, colouring etc but they're not cheap. I'm sure they're available elsewhere.