Dyeing too light

[bomscho]

So thanks to this forum I've sorted out a lot of my problems, but isn't there always something..

I used to dye pieces for 3-5 minutes and get great, dark, deep results. Lately everything comes out thin and pastel-like, though I leave it in 140 degree dye for 20-30 min. I tried to take pictures but you can't see the difference between old and new dye jobs in them. It's even hard to do acid washes because I can only tell where the dye is removed in very intense light.

Is it a problem of pore size maybe? I'm doing everything by the book now and it's so frustrating to not get results I used to get when I was more careless.

[Cartierusm]

Again, no expert here, but sounds like it didn't get anoed enough, pores too small. Is it possible they lost connection? What are you using for wire to hold the parts?

[bomscho]

no you're right cartierusm, point well taken. i'm using this as a pretext to improve my setup. contacted Servisure (awesome folks) and got a TI rack solution put together for less than $50. Vulcanium had some stuff too but servisure was faster on the ball.

been racking the parts with 1/16" holes, which require 18ga alum wire folded up and jammed into them. 30% failure rate besides the racking process being, well, wracking. took me an hour to rack 8 parts last night cos the wire kept breaking, etc.

sure, they ano, but i've been thinking maybe not enough. some DO lose connection, some just take dye really badly = turquoise ends up being a light blue sheen, for example. can't wait til my rack arrives; even if it doesn't solve the problem it will save me nuff headache

[Cartierusm]

You're not reusing the wire right? Once aluminum is anoed it's nonconductive, even if it's just the wire.

I use cheap plastic screws from Grainger, look for their discounted items and get 250 for $5. If there is a hole that's not tapped I just use a knife and make a wedge out of the plastic and tap it into the hole with the wire.

[bomscho]

nope, not reusing wire. it's way too brittle without stripping in lye even if i wanted to reuse.

that's a good idea with the plastic screws, but i'm wondering if my problem is not PARTIAL connection..enough to ano, but not enough to ano very well/thickly. don't think i've read about that, even here. i think the rack will fix that; it better, b/c these HAVE to be 1/16" holes.

[stayhi]

another noob here but im thinking youre right on the partial anodize. i was getting the same results last week because i was re-using wire w/out stripping.
so it sounds like your solution is on the way. could you post pics of the rack when it arrives id like to se what i could get in the $50 range

[bomscho]

i don't think i've read anything here about partial anodizing, if anyone knows of a definitive thread pls call my attention to it. i'm not even sure it exists but it would help explain these thin, weak results.

stayhi, you don't have to wait til it arrives. they sent me a pic of the "tiny parts" rack PART...this goes into assembling a larger rack, but i don't need that many stations, so they just sent me one of these parts. put a couple holes in it, hang it from a conductive hook, it's done!

they have crazy racking solutions for every conceivable size and shape of part, and their prices are surprisingly reasonable for all that CNC shearing and stamping in troublesome TI.

[bomscho]

did my first run with the titanium rack, and i highly recommend it. zero failure rate with 7 pieces of all sizes..the only one that didn't anodize well was probably interfered with by something else on the rack that may have been bumping it. no bad connections, no partial anodize.

BUT the dyeing still seems really light. i'm beginning to suspect it's an alloy issue because i buy the same scrap from the same yard that i think has the same sources. it's all in an "aluminum" bin. should buy some aluminum sheet/plate that i KNOW what it is; my "pale dyeing" jobs have only been while using these unnamed alloys that are usually leftover from some die-stamping application.

can light/faded dye come from certain alloys? continuing to trawl for threads on the topic..

[p8ballmafia]

Check ur PH levels on the dye, I think they're to low!