general questions about HA-III

Is HA-III a separate process from HA-II? Is it possible that a thick HA-II layer would be more durable than a thin HA-III? I think my Excursion LS4 has HA-II, and considering that it originally listed for $190, that's vaguely disappointing unless a thick HA-II is better than a thin HA-III. Not that it's showing any damage or that i plan on babying it, but we always want the best for our favorite.

My understanding was that there's not really any such thing as "HA-II," and that it's either HA-III or just "anodized," but that may only be some kind of semantic thing, (or I may be wrong entirely!). From my experience, though, there's a pretty wide range of quality from "regular" anodizing. To me, some is even nearly mistakable for HA-III, and maybe that's the case for your light. But I don't think anything beats true HA-III.

Also, I think "thicker" is not always what you want. If it is thick, it could more easily chip. Anodizing is supposed to be something very integral to the aluminum, really changing the characteristic of the metal, and not so much a coating.

My guess is that they are not separate processes, but just different voltages. HA-III uses a higher voltage?? This is something I'm curious about too, and do not know! Maybe someone very knowledgable can tell us. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yep. No such thing as HA-II. Hard Anodized IS III, same thing. I called around here a while back and most places that do anodizing in my area don't even do HA-III. So there must be something to it more than just pumping up the juice. Not sure, though.

II is simply softer than III, still gonna scratch/ come off

So if "standard" anodization is Type II, is there a Type I? I assume Type III can be better/worse just like Type II can?

SureFire state that their "HA" is Hard Anodised to Mil-A-8625 Type III Class 2.

Mil Spec Type II is sulphuric acid anodising which is usually dyed provides the very basic in corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, and dielectric properties.

Mil Spec Type III is sulphuric/oxalic acid anodising which produces a thick and dense "hardcoat". This "Hard Anodising" or hard coating provides excellent abrasion resistance and corrosion protection, but is often difficult to colour.

Thanks, Al; that's good information. I didn't realize it was a actually military specification. So it sounds like the processes are altogether different. Google brought me this:

http://www.aacoa.com/anodizing/specs-mil.htm

, which indicates a "Type I" as well. Is that the kind you can just about rub of with your thumb?

I wonder if anodizing places have to get inspected/certified that their process is conformant, before being allowed to advertize "type III" ? At least, there must be some kind of certification for places that want government contracts, I would imagine. (?)

I suspect that the products would be tested to the various "Mil Specs" during the process of submitting a product to military or government tender.

For the most part I guess that only the Military care whether something is truely (tested and certified) "Mil Spec".

I do not know what the regulations are in the USA for claiming performance.

Al

I used to work with Mil-specs, they are amusing.

Basically, if it is for the military, it has to meet certain specs or it fails QC. Most of the items on the market are said to meet mil-specs, but they are not actually mil-spec.

Also, HAIII is a weird saying to me, as it is type III anodizing that requires cooler temperatures. The finish on my AR rifles is type III anodized.