Traditionally anodizing has been done by controlling the voltage, but now many commercial anodizers use CC instead. If you go with a CC power supply you will be ahead and won't regret it.
As far as chemicals go, the most essential one is sulfuric acid for the electrolyte. Then you need something to clean the part so water will sheet, scrubbing with dish soap and warm water until the water sheets over the entire surface will do the job in many cases, although it is time consuming and tedious work. It is much easier to immerse the part(s) in a solution and let it do the work though, and on complex parts with difficult places to physically reach, it is the only way.
A stripper or etch solution (such as sodium hydroxide/lye) can be used to deoxidize parts, as can bead blasting, sanding, machining, or other method that leaves a new surface. The de-oxidizer/desmut solution, in my opinion, isn’t enough to thoroughly deoxidize some parts in a timely manner, but it does an excellent job of removing the smut left after etching or stripping. That smut is a layer of various metals found in the alloy, that is left behind after some of the surface is “eaten” away by the chemical(s) used to strip, etch, and deoxidize. As sswee said, there are work arounds that can be used. Having certain chemicals can save a lot of labor though.
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