Rig for Anodizing Pen Barrels?
Hello, all. As part of my senior design project, we're making prototype aluminum fountain pens (10 total; 5 in one color and 5 in another). We want to anodize the pen's barrel, cap and a sealing end-piece such that all three pieces color match. The system that we're using belongs to the university machine shop, so I'm not sure of the details. I do know, however, that the anodizing "tank" was a medium-sized beer cooler in a former life.
Our stock is 6061 Al.
I've got several questions that I bet some of you can help answer:
1) Would it be possible to anodize all parts simultaneously and get them to color match that way? (Each piece has a very different size and surface area.)
2) We're thinking that the endpieces (which will friction fit into the bottom of the barrel) would be best anodized by drilling holes in a thin sheet of conductive metal and letting the endpieces sit in the holes. Is this a reasonable approach? Would a similar system using dowels be a good way of anodizing the caps and barrels?
3) If we were to sand-blast the pieces and anodize sans dye, would that give a nice slivery-white finish to the pieces?
Thanks for your help!
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