DEFINING ANODIZING

Anodzing is an electrochemical process by which an oxide layer is grown on the surface of a substrate, in
this case aluminum. This is accomplished by placing the work piece in an electrolytic solution and passing
current through it to a second piece called an electrode. In this case, the work piece forms the anode of the
Anodizer cell, a lead plate forms the cathode and the electrolytic solution is a mixture of sulfuric acid and water.

WHY TO ANODIZE ALUMINUM

The advantages of anodizing are two­fold. The first advantage is the stunning color that may be imparted to
the piece. The second (and debatably more useful) advantage is the dramatic increase in hardness of the
surface. The surface effectively becomes sapphire (Al2O3) when anodized. 6061 is a common alloy of
aluminum because it is the least expensive to purchase and fairly easy to machine. Alloy 6061 also happens
to be the easiest to anodize. The hardness of this alloy is less than 25 on the Rockwell C scale. Anodized
aluminum has hardness close to 80. For comparison, diamond tops the scale with a hardness of
Anodizer_PS approximately 100.

WHAT IS REQUIRED TO ANODIZE

A POWER SUPPLY
Anodizing requires some special equipment. The first piece of equipment is the power supply. Anodizing
Eyepiece_Adaptor_1 can be done with many different kinds of power supplies; however, if you want to predict the timing for
your anodizer, your options are fewer. In such a case it is necessary to have either a “constant­voltage” or a
“constant­current” supply. Many people use automotive battery chargers to anodize; these are examples of
“constant­voltage” supplies. A “constant­current” supply allows the voltage across the cell to vary while
maintaining the current through the cell at some value. Below is a schematic of my power supply, which is
of the “constant­current” variety.
Eyepiece_Adaptor_2

Eyepiece_Adaptor_3

1_Before_Top

2_Before_Bottom

Components
T1 24V, 2A Transformer
3_Anodizing_Cell D1­D4 1N5401 3A 50V Diode or equivalent
C1 40,000 F 40V electrolytic Capacitor
R1 Depends on Fan (limits current)
R2 1.7k – 2k Resistor (limit current in LED)
R3 ~450 2W Resistor
R4 220W Power Resistor (or two 1 10W in series)
LED1 Garden­variety red LED
4_Bubbling_Cathode
Z1 1N5229 4.3V Zener Diode (note reverse bias)
Q1 3A NPN Power Transistor (like a 2SD2185)
FAN 12­Volt

The above values are mostly calculated in retrospect; some of the components I used were grab­bag items or
just what I had lying around. Consequently, I had to tweak the value of some of the resistors (namely the
value of R3 depending on Q1). Also, C1 doesn’t need to be 40,000 f, 5000­10,000f would be more than
adequate as long as it is rated for 40V. I just happened across this one and what self­respecting technophile
5_Bubbling_Anode could resist using it?

AN ELECTROLYTE BATH
The next item necessary is the electrolyte bath. It sounds very technical, but it is actually only a mixture of
sulfuric acid and water. That’s only half the story, however. You also will require a container to hold the
solution and the parts. Just about any plastic or glass will do. I scrounged a plastic bucket. (ACE should
6_Anodized pay me for advertising) The ratio of acid to water is what is important. About 1 part acid (96%
concentrated by volume from a chemical supply store) is required for 6 parts of water. This ratio may be
adjusted based on the concentration of the acid. WARNING: ALWAYS ADD ACID SLOWLY INTO
WATER; NEVER QUICKLY AND NEVER POUR WATER INTO ACID! The temperature of the
water will rise significantly when you add the acid to it due to the exothermic solvation occurring. The
temperature of my solution increased by 40º C. Allow the solution to cool to room temperature before using
it.

It’s nice to have something from which to hang your electrodes. I found a piece of wood with two holes
7_Dyeing through it to be a simple and effective solution. One electrode of your cell will be the part to be anodized;
the other will be a lead plate.

HOW TO PREPARE THE PIECE

If you want the piece to be smooth after it is anodized, it must be smooth before it is anodized. Polish your
piece first with fine sandpaper and then buff it to a mirror finish if desired. Anodizing will not hide any
8_Dyed faults in your piece. After polishing is completed, clean the piece well using a non­abrasive precision
cleaner (if possible) or detergent. Rinse thoroughly, handling the part only with latex gloves or tissues or
something similar after cleaning.

The next difficult preparation is to attach your aluminum electrode wire. There are many ways to attach to
your piece; the method you use will often have to be incorporated into your design. The point of attachment
will not get anodized for a small radius around the wire. On some projects this hardly matters, for others,
you’ll want to hide the point of contact. My method of connection thus far has been a 4­40 tapped screw
hole. 16­gauge (AWG) aluminum wire folded over at the end and crimped can easily be force­threaded into
9_Sealing such a hole. If your project has such a hole, then the screw head will likely cover the un­anodized point.
Otherwise, consider putting such a small hole (0.089”) on the bottom of the piece.

ON TO ANODIZING
SURFACE AREA
10_Sealed Now you need to know the surface area of the piece, at least to a close approximation. It is not necessary to
use precise measurements or to account for every detail of the shape. In the example to follow, I will
estimate the diameters and ignore the ridge around the top of the piece. All my pieces have been small, thus
far and I measure their surface areas in square inches (sqin). Below are four useful formulas for finding
surface areas:

11_Buffed

Area of a rectangle of length l and width w: Arect = lw

Area of a circle of radius r: Acirc = r2
Area of the outside of cylinder of radius r and height h: Acyld = 2rh
Area of a sphere of radius r: Asphe = 4/3r2
=3.1415926…

Using these formulas, one can approximate the area of almost any surface as a sum of many simpler
surfaces. Now, we can calculate the area of this eyepiece adaptor. It is essentially a cylinder with a smaller
cylinder inside it; the top and bottom we approximate as the difference of two circles.

The outside diameter is 2 inches, the inside diameter is 1.25 inches and the height is 0.68 inches. The
surface area of the outside of the big cylinder is Asurface = 2  (1) (0.68) = 1.36 . Saving the ’s until the
end makes the math easier. The surface area of the small cylinder is Asurface = 2  (0.625) (0.68) = 0.85 .
Finally, the surface area of the top and bottom is the area of the large circle minus the area of the small
circle, Asurface = (1)2  – (0.625)2  = 1 – 0.391  = 0.609 . That makes our total surface area the sum of
these values: Atotal = 1.36 + 0.85 + 2 (0.609) = 3.428  = 10.769 square inches.

ANODIZING TIME
The amount of time in the anodizing cell depends on the surface area of the piece. The time­honored rule
for this is 900 amps per square foot per minute. This sounds as if an enormous power supply is required,
but that is not the case. Once you know the surface area in square inches, divide by 144 (the number of
square inches in a square foot); this will give you the surface area in square feet. For our example, this
gives us 0.075 square feet.

Next you multiply this by 900 to get the number of amp­minutes to anodize. For our example, we get 67.5
minutes or one hour, seven minutes and 30 seconds. This is the time required using an estimated area. To
compare, after calculating the surface area using exact measurements and accounting for all surface features,
I computed 68.23 amp­minutes of anodizing time. There is virtually no difference between these numbers,
for our purposes, thus an approximated surface area will suffice for these calculations.

The number of amp­minutes corresponds to the time required to anodize with a steady supply current of 1
amp. A supply of 2 amps will work twice as fast, etc. Consequently, we now divide our amp­minutes by
the current supplied by our power supply. In the case of my supply, this value is 1.95 amps. This value can
be measured as the short­circuit current with an ammeter of sufficient robustness and a current­limited
supply. An ammeter in series with the work cell can preferentially measure it. With my power supply, the
time required is 34.62 minutes. Since it doesn’t hurt anything to run the time long, and you don’t want to
remove the piece from solution before it is finished, I like to increase the time by 20 percent. This leaves us
with 41.53 minutes @ 1.95 amps of current. Thus, the formula for time for a given supply for any piece is:

T = time in minutes, I = supply current in Amps, A= surface area in sqin.

By plugging in the supply current, you can get a unique “anodizing coefficient” for your supply. For my
supply, this would be 3.85 min/sqin. Once this is known, the anodizing time can be computed by multiplying
the surface area in inches by this coefficient. To check this, our computed time of 41.53 minutes should be
approximately equal to 3.85 x 10.769, which equals 41.42. Close enough!

THE WET PROCESS

Now, set up your electrolyte bath in a well­ventilated location. Either a fumigation hood or outside would
work best. As the anodizing occurs, the cell will produce noxious (and possible corrosive) fumes. Next,
hang the lead negative (­) electrode (cathode) at one end of the electrolyte bath and hang your work piece,
the positive (+) electrode (anode), at the other end. Ensure your work piece is completely submerged and
not touching the sides or bottom of the tank. It is also a good idea to tilt your piece so that no bottom
surface will trap bubbles thus forming a pocket of gas next to your piece. If such a pocket is formed, no
anodizing will occur under it. Now, attach the positive lead of the supply to the work piece electrode
(anode) and attach the negative lead of the supply to the lead plate electrode (cathode). Turn on the supply
and begin timing the anodizing. Observe the bath, there should be bubbles coming to the surface from both
electrodes, though there may be more forming at one or the other. Check back in a few minutes and make
sure no lead sulfate is forming. Lead sulfate will appear as a brown dust forming on the lead plate and
drifting to the bottom of the tank. If this occurs, it indicates that your power supply leads are backwards,
switch them and reset your anodizing time.

Once the time is up, look at the piece in the solution. It should appear slightly more yellow in color, and
perhaps a little shinier. If your time was accurate and your power supply was reliable the piece is certain to
be anodized. Remove it from the bath and rinse it with cold water to remove the acid. Do not use any
cleaning solutions on it. Once it is clean, dry it with a lint free cloth or paper towel or Chemwipe or
whatever. After some time passes, you will notice a powder­like layer of yellow oxide forming on the
surface. This is in addition to the oxide layer formed by anodizing. This is just a reaction to the oxygen in
the air and is not harmful. It is not necessary to remove this oxide before continuing, as it will return in a
few minutes. After dyeing and sealing, this extra oxide may be removed with a buffing wheel or similar
polishing device. (It may be possible to prevent or inhibit this oxide formation by leaving the rinsed piece
submerged in water until the dye bath is ready)
DYEING AND SEALING
Next, it is time to dye the piece. The dye I use is from http://www.caswellplating.com and is specifically
formulated for dying anodized aluminum. You can find the dye listed in the “plating kits” section. $9.00
will get you any color you want (from their list) except black, which will cost you $27.00. The procedure is
the same for all their colors. Mix the dye with the prescribed quantity of water. (For the Caswell dye, one
bottle mixes with 2 gallons of water) Use distilled water from the grocery store to prevent water spotting.
Heat enough of the dye to cover the piece in a container to 140º F (60º C). Hang your piece in the solution
for 15 to 20 minutes. After this time, take the piece out, but don’t bother rinsing it. Return the dye to its
storage bottle (probably what the water came in); it can be reused almost indefinitely. Fill your container
with enough distilled water to cover the piece. Bring the water to a boil. You can now seal your part by
boiling it for 15 to 20 minutes or by hanging it in the steam for 30 to 40 minutes. Hanging in the steam will
prevent water spotting if you are not using distilled water.

FINISHING
To finish your piece, you can buff and polish to a mirror finish or leave it matte. You may also paint the
surface. Most paints, which will not adhere to aluminum, will successfully adhere to the anodized surface.
The anodized surface is very hard, but also very thin, it may be scratched by sharp corners or instruments.
Cleaning may be effected with mild detergents; caustics such as lye will remove the anodized layer.