Home anodised mag 2D - Orange

Here is my home anodised 2D maglite. I though it would be an interesting project as there is no 2D mag in orange as far as I know. I've seen 3D and 2AA but not 2D. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out although there are a couple of minor blemishes which you can't see in the pictures.




Here is the orange in between a stock red and copper mag.

Looks Sweet mate and did you do it yourself or have it done elsewhere.

Thanks, yeah I did it myself. I bought the all the chemicals and power supply etc. from here in the UK. Probably works out quite a bit more expensive than getting it professionally done but now I have the ability to do more lights. I'd be quite interested to try out a finned mag.

Does this involve using acid ?
If it does Im not even going to try it. Knowing my ham fisted approach, I'll probably
burn the house down

Will you be offering an anodizing service ?

I fancy having a Mag 4C in orange or one of my SF M6s in black

Hi tx

There are a few corrosive chemicals involved but nothing really poisonous. Some noxious fumes are given off though so I do it outdoors.
Stripping the ano requires Sodium Hydroxide
de-smut - Nitric acid
Anodising - Sulphuric acid
My high school chemistry lessons have finally come in useful.

I won't be offering an ano service due to the high probability of me screwing up someone's nice M6 or spy 007! Also I haven't been well for a while so don't really have the energy. Might offer some mags for sale in the future though but I'll have to see how things go.

Excellent home job... What voltage and current did you use? Water temp? Details please.
Thanks

That looks sweet!

350xfire said:

Excellent home job... What voltage and current did you use? Water temp? Details please.
Thanks

Click to expand...

I bought an anodising kit and made a few modifications to accommodate a maglite.
Type II anodise is quite forgiving with the temperature range (unlike HAIII). Anywhere between 15 and 25C is fine for the anodising stage. It does heat up quite a bit, so next time I'll try a putting the container in a cooling water bath. Dyeing was done at ~45C. The current required depends on the surface area of the aluminium. I used ~10A for a mag 2D. I don't have a current controlled power supply so had to constantly adjust the voltage. It started off around 16V and gradually reduced to 11V as the sulphuric acid cleans the lead cathodes. The power supply I used is rated to 12A 30V max.

I'd say that the most important stage in obtaining a good finish is polishing after the NaOH stripping. Anodising does not cover up imperfections in the aluminium so the surface finish before is the same as it will be afterwards. Go through all of the stages and use distilled water to make up the solutions. Rinse thoroughly between stages.

1) Degreasing - washing up liquid and hot water.
2) Sodium Hydroxide stripping - I used 250g of solid NaOH in 5L of water. It's good for about 1-2 mag 2D's then needs to be replaced.
3) Polishing with brasso
4) De-smut and de-ox. I'm not sure what this solution is but it contains nitric acid.
5) Anodising. Sulphuric acid, lead cathodes, keep under 25C. I built a custom aluminium anodising rack for the maglite.
6) Dyeing
7) Sealing. Boil in solution with "GP anoseal" (I have no idea what it contains)
8) Polish with car wax.
9) re-strip electrical contacts.

I haven't worked out any of the concentrations in mol/l. Just made up the solutions as instructed in the kit.

You ave made a cracking job of it mate and the best thing about it is that you have done it yourself and now you can stand back and say ..WOW i done that ........Well Done.

Very nice burnt orange colour.
So, in theory, you could anodize other metals such as Ti?

easilyled said:

So, in theory, you could anodize other metals such as Ti?

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I haven't read up on it but I think Ti requires a different process with different chemicals

That is a nice-looking orange color. I like it!

Here is a site that explains the anodize process http://www.focuser.com/anodize.html

A few comments:
De Smuting removes the other materials on the surface of the aluminum. Different aluminum alloys have different amounts of other elements mixed in - everything from 2024 to 7075

Polishing - I use a buffing wheel with white jewelers rouge. Depending on the initial finish, I have a small lathe that I use 1200 wet or dry to first remove any machine marks or scratches. Then it is to the buffing wheel to get a mirror like finish. The buffing setup I have is simple - The wheel goes into an electric drill which I have mounted in a vise. The only gotcha with the jewelers rouge is that it leaves a waxy residue. I remove that with kerosene, then a hot bath with soap and water.

great job with the orange...

is there a vid that shows the steps to do this......and where did u buy your kit ?

i'll take it!!!
please put me on the list for one when you decide to release one in 2d flavor. love that color. great job!!!

One other item to consider is the use of masking. I know that shops use this to cover any areas that don't get anodized. I have heard there are different types, some are easy to remove, others not so easy....

Thanks for comments guys.

@las3r
I got the kit and dye from here. They are a UK company so I doubt they will ship overseas due to the nature of the chemicals. The kit is designed for smaller items so I had to improvise with containers and the anodising rack. An adequate power supply is also very important. I'm sure there are plenty of US companies that offer a similar kit too. I don't know of any good video guides, I just learned by googling really.
Do be careful if you decide to have a go yourself as some of the chemicals can cause nasty burns.

@hron61
I probably won't take an interest list but I'll let you know if I ever get round to selling them. (If I remember that is!)

@will
Masking is actually something I haven't been able to find out much about. I think a lot of anodisers keep it a secret. It would certainly be useful for the spring contact. Do you have any good links? thanks.

monkeyboy said:

@will
Masking is actually something I haven't been able to find out much about. I think a lot of anodisers keep it a secret. It would certainly be useful for the spring contact. Do you have any good links? thanks.

Click to expand...

I don't have any links - The information I mentioned I got second hand. I would think it is some kind of rubber like material that sulphuric acid would not eat through...

I vaguely recall someone using "dip" products similar to this...

-DF

Nice Orange!