Has anyone ever tried to ano anything themselves?

[thecavemankevin]

I tried to ano several things today following the instructions on Warpig but i couldn't get anything to accept color.

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/anodize.shtml

Does anyone have any experiance with this?

[Reo5th]

Yeah, I/we failed miserably because we're horribly incompitant. The whole experience was really funny though. We got the first part in all right and switched up the anode and cathode. When we figured out that we had switched them up it wouldn't transfer electrons (most likely because it was already anodized.) We had lots of fun with the sulfuric acid and barely anodized a drop...we haven't tried since.

[Mossman]

Ya, I failed along with Reo5th :)

We had it right but it wasnt doing much (we later found out that's what it should have been doing), so Angry Man (his name on this forum), insisted we switch it around to the way where it bubbles a lot....we later found out we were de-annoing it if i remember correctly :)

Anyhow, Magman007 successfully annoed his emag at home. He had minor problems with the grip frame, but he can still help you. PM him or let him find this :)

[thecavemankevin]

so i take it you two were unable to ano anything correctly? I followed the intstructions like i said, but when i put it in the dye solution, nothing would take color.

oh well, i will try magman007, thanx for the heads up

[magman007]

hey hey, what am i here for? lol


first off, go here, to the mid of the page, and read those 3 sites... they will help you immensely, the guide on warpig isnt all that great, and is more of an overview than an actual help sheet.


2nd off, your solution. take it, pour it into an old milk jug, label it ant toss it in the frige over nite, a cold solution conducts more, once it goes over rom temperature it is useless. Other ways to keep it cold, is when it starts to heat up a little, thow a big ol chunk of ice in there. it will be fine.

3rd off, your plate or what ever you want to call it, should really be a big thick ring thag goes around the bottom of the bucket. i mean like 2 inches tall, and all the way around. what i used, instead of aluminum, was lead foil, baisically impossible to find now, but well, it kept it from floating well.

4th. make sure your getting great conductivity. what we did, was tok aluminum welding rod, and pounded the white stuff off, cleaned it, then pounded it wide so it could screw in to the body rail, gripframe etc.


5th. dying. what we did, was got the dye to a little darker than the color desired, then put the piece in to soak. usually a few hours till it looked like it had absorbed as much dye as possible, or over night even. Some pieces and different aluminums are fickle, and need a warmer dye, dont be afrait to heat the dye if a piece seems to not be taking it fully, but do not boil it.

6th. boil that sucker, di it for a bout a half hour, really seal that stuff!


any thing else? just give me a hollar!http://www.whitewolfairsmithing.com/serv02.htm

[BajaBoy]

magman, did u say u anoed your whole gun at once?

"4th. make sure your getting great conductivity. what we did, was tok aluminum welding rod, and pounded the white stuff off, cleaned it, then pounded it wide so it could screw in to the body rail, gripframe etc. "

ir did it sepret(sp)

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and also wile i have the chance to ask u said to chill the acid. if i remeber right mine was at 77 i think and it didnt do much other then pit the metal.
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Oh just one more thing. the part isnt spoze to bubble right?

thanx alot for your help b4 and now dude. (magman007)

[magman007]

YES, CHILL THE ACID! also, i did it separately

[thecavemankevin]

hey, can you give us a pic of your gun again magman?

Also, i don't think it is, but is it possible to ano a regular body of an automag? I know it is steel, so i dont think so.

[Spray Painter]

no, you can't ano a steal mag bodies.

[Pand0ra]

2nd off, your solution. take it, pour it into an old milk jug, label it ant toss it in the frige over nite, a cold solution conducts more, once it goes over rom temperature it is useless. Other ways to keep it cold, is when it starts to heat up a little, thow a big ol chunk of ice in there. it will be fine.

This sound very odd to me. I don't see any reason to do this. Just keep the current at a value around 1A per dm² of surface, and you'll have a good result.
There's no reason at all to cool the tank (at least with small setups). If the current is too low, just increase slightly the voltage to get the correct A/surface value.
Also, at the beginning of the anodisation, the current is very low. It start to climb quickly after a few minutes, so keep an eye on the power supply at the beginning of the process.



3rd off, your plate or what ever you want to call it, should really be a big thick ring that goes around the bottom of the bucket. i mean like 2 inches tall, and all the way around. what i used, instead of aluminum, was lead foil, baisically impossible to find now, but well, it kept it from floating well.

Indeed, a very critical point. I use a cell comming from heavy batteries as a tank for my anodisation needs (30cmx30cmx120cm). The whole surface is covered by lead.
If you don't use a cathode big enough, you'll anodise only the part of the piece the closest to the lead, which is not good at all.

To anodise, connect the anode to the piece (red connector out of the power supply). The cathode goes to the lead in the bottom and around the tank.

BTW you get bubbles from the two electrodes. On one you'll get hydrogen, and on the other oxygen (two times less oxygen than hydrogen).

@++

[thecavemankevin]

i have another question about my charger i am using. It is a small one with three settings 6amp-6volt, 6amp-12volt, and 2amp-12volt. I was using the 6amp-12volt. Is that the best setting?

Also, i noticed that the meter on the side would pop up for a few seconds and then off for a few and then back up. It did this the entire time, and when it was on i could see the boubling, and of course when it was off it was not. Is this normal, or should i use a higher powered charger?

[toymyster]

Sounds like your battery charger will not be strong enough!! You have what's called a Trickle charger!!What you need is heavy-duty charger that will give you about 15-30 amps!!