After having a need for the random part being anodized and not wanting to pay the minimum order prices and the long leed times. I decided to do it myself!
Here is an XYB galvo mount with years of wear and tear not to mention abuse and a hack job of a mod which I milled flat.
From here the mount was stripped of it's old anodizing in a bath of sodium hydroxide.
Now the surface is sanded and scrubbed clean and get's dipped in caustic again to prep the surface for anodizing.
After that, It's time for the anodizing acid bath.
Towards the end you can see the aluminum starting to develop a different tint and finish.
From there, the aluminum gets another bath to neutralize the acid.
Then the piece goes right into hot dye.
Draws in color really fast!
After an hour of soaking in dye I moved it to a boiling bath and let it simmer for an hour to lock in the dye.
After removing the piece looks very matte.
From there, all you have to do is buff it with a paper towel for a few minutes and BAM! Looks just as good as a professional job. Tough as hell too!
If anyone is interested in having this done to their parts, let me know. I'm thinking of putting together a large batch anodizing set and running through a bunch of parts at my shop. I can probably offer a way better price than what the anodizing firms are charging.