shine after dyeing prob

[danahenderson]

Just wanted to ask a few questions regarding getting your parts to shine . After coming out of the dye bath the alu parts have a beautiful shine, when the part has been sealed and set the shine seems to dull some what ,the part still has some shine but when it came out of the tank it was just a brillant shine, I know pre polishing will dictate the finish and end result so i did some looking and found caswell clear coat finish that im going to try its a little expensive but i hope it works,if i simply spray the parts with water it makes the part shine so i figure the clear coat should work . Also any suggestions on a good thicking agent for caswell dye? thanks for any suggestions and help!

[M_D]

I posted a longer response to this yesterday, but I don't know what happened to it. I have found several things that will cause a dulled finish. One is a long anodize time. Another is not having absolutly clean parts before the anodizing process.

How are the parts cleaned, anodized and so forth? Is there a layer on the sealed part that can be wiped off, or is the dullness actually the part itself? I believe a bad connection can cause a dull finish too, the part anodizes but not well with a good, and even surface.