Anodising

[Kev L]

Quick question for anyone in the know. I am looking for a lasting finish for the rearsets once I get them smoothed down and having spoken to the large East End Spaniard he recommended an anodised finish, which I quite like the sound of. My issue is that the few bit's of anodised ally that I have on the bike, in particular the pre load adjusters on top of the forks, have faded from black to chocolate brown in a year.
Is this to be expected of all anodised finishes or is it that they were poorly finished to a price and better quality jobs hold up better?
If this is the case can anyone recommend a good company?
Thanking you in advance for any sensible answers, whilst anticipating a lot of piss taking!

[agentpineapple]

give mark a shout dude....
my rearsets are spot on, although i can't tell if they'll stand the test of time with my oath like size 12 feet clumsily flapping around knocking 7 bells of brown stuff out of them....

[benny hedges]

try this - if you want a diy gunmetal effect, get yourself a gallon of arco hard surface cleaner (from arco!)
and soak the parts overnight.
you get a very even oxide coating that looks great imo.

you could then dip dye them if you wanted to.

as the metal is then oxidised all over, it cant corrode.

i found this when i soaked a 2 stroke cyl head overnight to loosen up the carbon.
i ended up leaving it as it came out of the tub, just rinsed it off.

it's also a great hard surface cleaner lol!!! probs the best there is - for about £13 for a gallon

[Kev L]

give mark a shout dude....
my rearsets are spot on, although i can't tell if they'll stand the test of time with my oath like size 12 feet clumsily flapping around knocking 7 bells of brown stuff out of them....

Ahh, your use of your mother tongue to paint a mental image is only equalled by the renowned wordsmiths such as Wordsworth, Shakespeare or Vinny Jones!

[Kev L]

try this - if you want a diy gunmetal effect, get yourself a gallon of arco hard surface cleaner (from arco!)
and soak the parts overnight.
you get a very even oxide coating that looks great imo.

you could then dip dye them if you wanted to.

as the metal is then oxidised all over, it cant corrode.

i found this when i soaked a 2 stroke cyl head overnight to loosen up the carbon.
i ended up leaving it as it came out of the tub, just rinsed it off.

it's also a great hard surface cleaner lol!!! probs the best there is - for about £13 for a gallon

This isn't an early April fools is it? I am familiar with your Northern humour. If I do this it won't disolve anything it comes into contact with?
Thanks for that Benny, it's the look I'm after

[agentpineapple]

give mark a shout dude....
my rearsets are spot on, although i can't tell if they'll stand the test of time with my oath like size 12 feet clumsily flapping around knocking 7 bells of brown stuff out of them....

Ahh, your use of your mother tongue to paint a mental image is only equalled by the renowned wordsmiths such as Wordsworth, Shakespeare or Vinny Jones!

i can't understand why i got an E in english lit, its beyond me, me old mukka!!!!.....

[Virt]

i can't understand why i got an E in english lit, its beyond me, me old mukka!!!!.....

What, they'd already created the alphabet back when you were a kid?

[agentpineapple]

i can't understand why i got an E in english lit, its beyond me, me old mukka!!!!.....

What, they'd already created the alphabet back when you were a kid?

only up to the letter E.......

[Virt]

Haha, well played!

[VTRDark]

I was looking into anodising the other day as I was thinking about getting nuts and bolts done and possibly my rearsets. After a bit of research the DIY method appears to be a bit of a faff.
I did come across a kit http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Anodising-Kit.php
I think there is a certain element of skill involved though, with getting the right temperatures and how long to soak things. I expect there is different quality's of dyes and fixers which may explain why some fade over time.

(:-})

[benny hedges]

If I do this it won't disolve anything it comes into contact with?

no lol, but ffs dont do what a mate did and soak an ap50 cyl head overnight in caustic soda.....

in the morning there was a lot of foamy shite and what looked like a roman coin that'd been in the sea for 2000 years lol

[NHSH]

I was looking into anodising the other day as I was thinking about getting nuts and bolts done and possibly my rearsets. After a bit of research the DIY method appears to be a bit of a faff.
I did come across a kit http://www.gaterosplating.co.uk/Anodising-Kit.php
I think there is a certain element of skill involved though, with getting the right temperatures and how long to soak things. I expect there is different quality's of dyes and fixers which may explain why some fade over time.

(:-})

That is pretty cool!!!

[gl_s_r]

First thing to ask is "are the rear sets you made cast aluminium?" This doesn't normally anodise well or sometimes not at all.

Generally people will not try and anodise this is as it is a problem where cast aluminium precipitates silicon to the surface and you can't anodise silicon.. plus all the other stuff/impurities such as copper, zinc etc in cast can actually make it a real problem to the plating company. these impurities/extra elements sometimes don't etch away and can cause a grey/black kind of smut, looks terrible and the finish will not be smooth and bright.

Ring and ask a plating company and see their response to anodising cast bike parts... I know the people I use don't do it and this was how it was explained to me.

As for colours fading, that can also come down to sealing the anodising and the pore size... BSM's were hard anodised and dyed black (type III)...and as such have a very tight pore structure and then sealed to protect against UV. with this type of coating it should give him a good ten years on them. The hard bit only refers to the coating though and the process doesn't harden the material in any way.

Some people will offer hard colours but as far as I am aware there is no true "hard colour anodising"... it's just harder than then normal "soft" colours (type I sulphuric)

[Flatline]

There you go.........that explains it then

[Flatline]

Kev, this may be useful

For iron or steel

http://www.frost.co.uk/coatings/chemica ... -kits.html

Or this for anodising

http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-elect ... -kits.html