Anodizing alluminum frames

[Jason Musgrave]

7xxx series alloy, thinking about having it anodized (black of course).

I'm assuming a special weld-rod must be used. Is it possible to do a Type III (hard) ano with 7xxx series? Do most places that do this also do the bead blasting? What's this typically cost?

[progetto]

You can't really use anything other than 5356 which will probably give you a slightly different colour with the ano on the weld.
Bill

[Jason Musgrave]

noticeably different - or just to the keen observer?? is this with all ano or just hard ano?

[progetto]

Noticeably, but I'm far from an expert on ano. Google Giant TCR alu and find some pictures of the early team ONCE bikes and you will get the difference.

[Jonathan]

Where is Mickey? This question was made for him.

[Jason Musgrave]

yes it was...

along the same lines, would cerakote (oven @ ~250 degrees) eff the heat treat?


**As you might have deduced, I'm after a supremely durable finish.

[Mark Kelly]

As you might have deduced, I'm after a supremely durable finish.

2K polyurethane over Phosphoric Acid Anodisation? This has the advantage of you being DIYable (if that's a word). You'll want to coat the PAA with a low viscosity epoxy (eg laminating resin) before the 2k goes on.

[Dorman]

250 deg. F won't hurt the artifical aging as that is typically done with 6 hours at 200 F and then 4 hours at 320 F for the 7000 series tubes. My understanding is that 7000 series aluminum can turn out splotchy on the tubes when anodized and the welds will be a different color. Not sure about hard anodizing.

[Mike Mcdermid]

As silicon in filler increases the darker type 2 ano gets from memory

iirc doesn't real type 3 hard ano only ever produce grey bronzy parts dependant on the alloy anyways

[zank]

5356 filler rod is an "A" choice for color match on 7005.

[ToddFarr]

As silicon in filler increases the darker type 2 ano gets from memory

iirc doesn't real type 3 hard ano only ever produce grey bronzy parts dependant on the alloy anyways

I can get a couple different colors from these guys. Apex Anodizing I haven't noticed any differences in hardness or wear resistance based on the color. The "CLEAR" type III anodize is the dark grey you are describing.

[Jason Musgrave]

iirc doesn't real type 3 hard ano only ever produce grey bronzy parts dependant on the alloy anyways

250 deg. F won't hurt the artifical aging as that is typically done with 6 hours at 200 F and then 4 hours at 320 F for the 7000 series tubes. My understanding is that 7000 series aluminum can turn out splotchy on the tubes when anodized and the welds will be a different color. Not sure about hard anodizing.

So you're both telling me I need to finish the bike with a "tactical" theme. Whether it's a grey type 3 ano or Cerakote firearms finish -- I'll have to put some 3M velcro patches on, including the headtube which gets a choice morale-patch as headbadge... ;-)


On a more serious note, I just remembered that we have both I9 and Cane Creek here in town, I'll swing by and see what those guys have for input on the anodizing.

[Mike Mcdermid]

So you're both telling me I need to finish the bike with a "tactical" theme. Whether it's a grey type 3 ano or Cerakote firearms finish -- I'll have to put some 3M velcro patches on, including the headtube which gets a choice morale-patch as headbadge... ;-)


On a more serious note, I just remembered that we have both I9 and Cane Creek here in town, I'll swing by and see what those guys have for input on the anodizing.

I dunno

its one of those things that if it was going in a jet plane all these other little factors affect it

we did tactical bridges (the kind you drive a main battle tank over) and because it was impossible to heat treat a fabrication that size (bear in mind some of the parts were machined from solid billets of 500kg aluminium) it was switched to 7020 which brought lots of little problems like stress corrosion cracking and exfoliation cracking near the welds so yup a way had to be found to protect them and hence further work as to if the hard type 3 which was often specified would contribute to or reduce riscs of something going awry

I know a a lot of the wear parts were hard type 3 but never sealed to allow lower friction or wear coatings to gain purchase on them but was sure they didn't do pretty colours It was the model T ford approach only more a case of what colour it comes out

from what i recall of type 2 anodizing the colour comes from a dye before sealing

[Jason Musgrave]

Oh, I wasn't serious about the tactical thing.

p.s. Model-T approach works for me:

darker.jpg

[suspectdevice]

for 7005: Use 5356 and polish the everlasting hell out of the tubes before you weld them together. Andy small amount of corrosion on the exterior of the tubes will be show up gray/dull.

You're still likely to see some difference in coloration between the welds and the tubing, even if you go black.

6061+5356 usually gets you much more consistent coloration.

MAKE SURE YOU DRILL LOTS OF VENT HOLES AND MAKE THEM AS BIG AS POSSIBLE

[caleb]