Anodizing color/treatment question

I asked my local shop if they can anodize few of aluminium my parts and they asked lot of questions I didn't know answers to. They asked what kind of anodizing I want, hard anodized, natural anodized, bead blasted, sand blasted.. etc. Matte black seems to be pretty easy, but dark grey is harder..

I've been googling colors I'm looking after so maybe these can help you to give me some info what I should ask them to do. The grey I'm after is something like this: http://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/upload/47398/images/Ram-Zebra-Putter.jpg

I think that's not aluminium though, is it possible to get similar color with aluminium?

Any help is appreciated.

There's a very interesting thread here which shows what can be done - there are some amazing anodise finishes that can be done. Scroll down to post #12 there, where you'll see some pics, and read on from there. In post #66 you'll find a list of companies that achieve some extraordinary anodising effects. The finshes you are looking for would be child's play for these guys to do.

Judging by the wrap around graphics I would bet these are not hand painted as this would make a $40 premium simply unfeasible. My best guess is they are using a process called water transfer printing. It's a pretty cool process as shown in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6gjArwuIWE

Your thread didn't really help. I edited the post to be simpler. I only need help with the grey color now. I'm after this kind of dark grey: http://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/upload/47398/images/Ram-Zebra-Putter.jpg

Is that possible with aluninum?

Day,

Short answer is yes. However, long answer is its difficult to get an exact match. There are two common types of anodizing.

type II: The most common type, it does give limited finish protection and it can be dyed to almost any color but it isn't durable.

type III [also called "Hard"] anodizing; Very hard & durable. The finish depends on the metal surface, and the anodizing conditions: electrolyte temp, chemical bath composition, anodizing current, and time. You will see finishes that vary from dark charcoal to grey to olive drab. Surface finish can vary from satin to flat, again dependent on the parts finish before anodizing.

Ok, thanks for that information. I sent them some pictures and they said they can't do exact color from pictures because every computer screen has different colors and I need to send them the item that has the color I want for them to be able to do the exact same color and finish.

So I'm going to try to buy some item that looks like this: http://www.mygolfspy.com/wp-content/uploads/JawsCCWedge-2.jpg

or then buy the golf stick and sen that to them But that is made from 1020 carbon steel and has "slate" finish. If I send that to them are they able to do same looking parts from aluminium? Or will they need to machine the parts from carbon steel too?

If the anodizing business has the ability they can match the color and finish. And yes the part will be made of aluminum.