That would be one option, but in the long run it could be just as well to get the kit and start getting some experience. Except for the buckets and the small air pump, there wouldn't be much else you would have in duplicate, but you would need more dye, cleaner, and etc.
If you decide to get your own containers I have some tips. We usually heat the cleaner to 150-160º F, the dye to 140º or so, and the sealer to boiling. You tend to loose quite a bit of water to evaporation, and the temperature approaches boiling the rate gets really high. So, for those tanks it seems best to get ones with a tall aspect ratio. In other words, don't look for big flat tanks, even though they seem to be the right size in gallons, as the increased surface area makes the evaporation rate higher, and if you loose 6” in a 12” deep tank it is half gone. For the sealer tank, you want one that has several inches of reserve capacity above what it takes to cover the parts. Also, covers or lids for the tanks help to retain the heat and saves by reducing the amount of water lost to evaporation. On the dye, you want to keep the concentration consistent, so you wouldn't let it go up and down too far on the water level.
You also need to keep in mind that it doesn't do much good to have a bunch of 50 gallon tanks where some are low, and others are tall. That's because you need to move the parts from tank to tank, and you can only do a load that will fit in the smallest, or shallowest one. Also, it is good to have the rinse tanks slight taller than the solutions, so you can be sure the rinse will reach up high enough on the racks.
The one exception to the tank size rule, in my opinion, is that a larger anodizing tank is an advantage for several reasons. One is that you loose a lot of space to cathodes and the agitation system. You need to have a boundary zone of 2-3", and that takes up a lot of space in smaller tanks (even in 50-200 gallon tanks). The larger anodizing tanks also are more stabile in temperature, reducing the need for a chiller if you are doing enough parts where the temperature would otherwise raise too much in a smaller tank.
I think that in most regards, if you can do the parts you need in the kit, that starting that way and getting some experience and practice would make it easier for you to design your own custom setup latter on, without making bad choices in the selection of tanks, etc.
|