Need Help With A 7th Grade Science Project

:)>

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I need some help finding stuff to do a 7th grade science project. My son is doing a project that will require him to anodize titanium and aluminum and I am looking for a cost effective way to do this without breaking the bank.

Do you have any ideas on where and what I can buy that will not cost an arm and a leg? I don't need to do anything like hard anodization.

Thank you.
 

loving light

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Hi,I read a very interesting thread over in Homemade and Modified Lights section,it was written by O4orgZx6r.He got some very nice results.Hope this helps.
 

Sgt. LED

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Coke plastic container al Ti wire foil a few batteries

I need to find you the link........ this is an easy thing to do.
 

:)>

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Thank you, I am all ears... I mean um eyes:)

I told him that I could ask around the forums and get some good information.

I have to hit the sack so that I can wake up tomorrow.

Thank you again, I could really use the help.
 

Pher

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Wow! That's quite the project to do for a 7th Grade Project. I myself am a 7th grader:twothumbs so take all this with a grain of salt as i have never actually tried anodizing:rolleyes:. From what I understand is that it really isn't to expensive as long as you have a car battery charger. It might be overkill for aluminum foil but will probably work. What you'll need is:

Car Charger
Battery Acid
Aluminum foil and wire
Some kind of Dye(Rit will work if you can find It)
Soap and water or degreasers to clean the aluminum before Anodizing
A 2 pans that you can boil in.
And a Bucket and rubber gloves.

First you'll need to make a mixture in the bucket that is 2 parts acid and 1 part water. Make sure you pour the water in first and then the acid.Then make a negative ground with the aluminum and wire. You'll want a flat shape that you can put near the bottom of your bucket. You will clip that to the negative end of the car charger. Then take a wire and connect it to the foil that your anodizing. Connect that to the positive part of the car charger. Make sure that none of the copper ends on the charger are in the solutions. Once the parts start to fizz, take them out about 10 to 15 minutes later. You'll have to experiment with how long you leave it in. Make sure you turn everything off before you take them out. Rinse whatever you anodized in cold water.
Now you'll need to make your die solution. Make it very strong and and heat it up to a low heat. Make sure its not to hot or the aluminum wont take the color. Dip the part in and take it out when it is slightly darker than you want it. Have another pan full of clean boiling water and dip the part in so that it seals the color in. The water leaches a tiny bit of color so that is why you make it darker than needed.
Now for Titanium, I don't really know much on that. You can not use the same process as this for titanium so take a look a Sgt. LED's links. Hope your project goes well.

Chris
 

jugg2

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All you need to anodize Ti is heat. I did the clip on my Spyderco Pacific Salt with an oxy-acetalene (sp) rig, but you can do it with a propane or mapp gas torch easily. Check around and you will find it's not too hard, but don't push to get the green color anodize, if you go to far you end up with a dull gold color. You have to sand it down (no fun), and start over again.
 

:)>

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Wow! That's quite the project to do for a 7th Grade Project. I myself am a 7th grader:twothumbs so take all this with a grain of salt as i have never actually tried anodizing:rolleyes:. From what I understand is that it really isn't to expensive as long as you have a car battery charger. It might be overkill for aluminum foil but will probably work. What you'll need is:

Car Charger
Battery Acid
Aluminum foil and wire
Some kind of Dye(Rit will work if you can find It)
Soap and water or degreasers to clean the aluminum before Anodizing
A 2 pans that you can boil in.
And a Bucket and rubber gloves.

First you'll need to make a mixture in the bucket that is 2 parts acid and 1 part water. Make sure you pour the water in first and then the acid.Then make a negative ground with the aluminum and wire. You'll want a flat shape that you can put near the bottom of your bucket. You will clip that to the negative end of the car charger. Then take a wire and connect it to the foil that your anodizing. Connect that to the positive part of the car charger. Make sure that none of the copper ends on the charger are in the solutions. Once the parts start to fizz, take them out about 10 to 15 minutes later. You'll have to experiment with how long you leave it in. Make sure you turn everything off before you take them out. Rinse whatever you anodized in cold water.
Now you'll need to make your die solution. Make it very strong and and heat it up to a low heat. Make sure its not to hot or the aluminum wont take the color. Dip the part in and take it out when it is slightly darker than you want it. Have another pan full of clean boiling water and dip the part in so that it seals the color in. The water leaches a tiny bit of color so that is why you make it darker than needed.
Now for Titanium, I don't really know much on that. You can not use the same process as this for titanium so take a look a Sgt. LED's links. Hope your project goes well.

Chris

Are you sure that you are a 7th grader?

:nana:
 

:)>

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thank you guys for the help... that is what I needed and I am going to get him started w/this material. He wants to anodize my lights and I told him that he could only if he got real good w/it:)

Thanks again.
 

MicroE

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I set up a process for anodizing Ti in the jewelry business.
We used 80 - 100 VDC and the anodizing solution was a few cents worth of trisodium phosphate (TSP) dissolved in water. Cheap and easy. The voltage determines the color. The color depends upon the thickness of the TiO2 layer.
You can get the TSP at a hardware store. It is an industrial detergent.
 
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