Anodizing welds

[El Camino]

I hope this is in the right forum. When you have welding done on a rail or a frame, and then have it anodized, will the weld anodize the same as the rest of the aluminum?? Or do I need to have a different type of coating done?

[C_losjoker]

can you weld aluminum? or you thinking the classic bodies, those are steal and i dont think they will ano. so you might look into hydro dipping or powder coating.

[Sneaky Sir]

Yes Aluminum can be welded, most common method is using a TIG welder or a MIG with special wire.

But to answer the original question, most of the time, at least everytime I've had welds anno'd, they come out slightly discolored from the rest of the finish. This is because the weld is a slight mix of different batchs and/or types of metals so the overall metal properties are different in the welded spots.

Now the size of the weld also plays a big role in this. If its a big weld, I would probably bet that it will come out discolored if anno'd. If its smaller maybe you'll get lucky. Also the temp and amount of heat that the weld was made with will also play a part. The hotter the welding that was done, more mixing and burning occurs, which would also possibly cause discolorations.

[atech2]

If your getting a multi color anodize pattern done, you may never see it.

[Ando]

[El Camino]

My plan is to weld the front holes on a Pro rail and some work on a intelliframe and then finish in dust black or gloss black. I'm not real picky, but I do want them to look nice. So I thought of maybe doing some other type of coating, something thinner then powder coating, whatever that might be.

[Ando]

Let me know how it comes out. I was wanting to do the same on a rail I have.

Poweder coating will give you no color issues.

[El Camino]

If your getting a multi color anodize pattern done, you may never see it.

I do like the look on CatoRockwell's E-Tac, I just don't want to wait 4 months to get it back.
Not sure, but I was thinking dust colors might hide the weld.

[El Camino]

Let me know how it comes out. I was wanting to do the same on a rail I have.

Poweder coating will give you no color issues.

I will get back to you on this. I'm looking for someone who can do the work without making a mess of the rest of the rail.

[East Coast Ano]

[El Camino]

Hope this was of some help.
carl

Yes it was.
Thanks everyone!

[Spider-TW]

I think the other part of it is that 6061 is usually heat treated. So, even if you had some 6061 filler wire, you would still have to match the heat treatment around the weld only, to match the composition. That may disturb the nearby metal as well. Really tough on small parts.