Anodising DIY

Black is probably the colour i'd try too.

tonycee wrote: What did you use to get a black finish, nunga? It is what I wanted but the Birchwood chemical didn't seem to do it.

What you will need is  sulphuric acid diluted down to 5% in distilled  water. (by weight) I use a lead sheet as the cathode that goes down the side of the container, along the bottom then back up the other side. The parts must be very very clean. You will need a power supply that you can adjust the amps to suit the surface area of the part. I think from memory it is .025 amps per 25mm of surface? you might want to google that. It will still work if you have less amps but will take longer. You can get away with an old 12V router power supply for very small parts like a trigger or something

You will also need the die to get what colour you want. I use printer ink. I use the brother printer ink from their inkjet LC range like LC38BK cartraide as they are big and easy to take apart. You can use clothes die as well. or metal die if you can get it. People heat the die when coating to seal the part but you can also drop it in boiling water for 10 minutes.