PSA: There's no such thing as HAII anodize

A brief public service announcement, in hopes of reducing confusion:

99% of aluminum flashlights are covered in one of two types of anodization.




Because of this extra strength, type III is also named Hard Anodize.

An abbreviation for this is HA. There is only one kind of HA, type III.

Were type II described in the same way, HA would not apply.

SA perhaps, as in Standard Anodize or Soft Anodize.

Post crash bump

hi guru .
is there a variety of different finishes within each category?. for eggzample 4sevens preon 1 and 2 appear anodized but are dull and grippy to touch. or is that just a function of the dye they use to get colour. if i remember this thread did say something about the colours available and dyed/natural.

beerwax said:

if i remember this thread did say something about the colours available and dyed/natural.

Click to expand...

This thread sparked an excellent discussion the first time around, but I didn't think to capture it in time from the caches


There are a few things going on with different finishes. The first is thickness:




So a brightly colored HA something has less than half the ano thickness of a full thickness gray or black.

In general, thinner ano (including type II) is shinier. But another finish factor is the final texture of the metal before the ano is applied. Metal that is tumbled will look softer and more matte, versus metal that is polished.

just saw wiki. interesting.
organic acid anodizing can produce a white coating with 80% reflectivity .

I recall in the 70's being told that colours weakened aluminium , still true? , cheers .