Tweet
Hi
I was hoping that somebody in this forum may be able to help me out with my problem. I am doing some anodizing for a jeweler who works with thin wire. It is 5657 alloy (i think) which is mainly used for aluminum soldering. She has been using it for a while, but i wanted to improve the overall production (i.e color after dying, shininess). So I have made a new tank and setup which works great. The color of the metal is fantastic after dying, but unfortunately the metal is too brittle for her needs.
I have been anodizing at 3-5 Amps @12V using a battery charger. The electrolyte solution is diluted sulfuric acid in distilled water. The anodizing time which produced the best color was 3 hrs. My dilemma is that I want to maintain the color quality while allowing the metal to be flexible enough for bending. I understand that the aluminum oxide layer produced by anodizing is quite brittle, so reducing time in the tank may improve the flexibility (at the cost of color quality). However, I was wondering if sealing may also affect the brittleness. I seal in steam for 30 min. Then sometimes put the metal in an oven for 30 min @ 200F. The heating in the oven sometimes improves flexibility, sometimes does not.
I would love any advice from the audience here. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated as I am kinda stuck. Please help!!
Thanks
Aanan
I was hoping that somebody in this forum may be able to help me out with my problem. I am doing some anodizing for a jeweler who works with thin wire. It is 5657 alloy (i think) which is mainly used for aluminum soldering. She has been using it for a while, but i wanted to improve the overall production (i.e color after dying, shininess). So I have made a new tank and setup which works great. The color of the metal is fantastic after dying, but unfortunately the metal is too brittle for her needs.
I have been anodizing at 3-5 Amps @12V using a battery charger. The electrolyte solution is diluted sulfuric acid in distilled water. The anodizing time which produced the best color was 3 hrs. My dilemma is that I want to maintain the color quality while allowing the metal to be flexible enough for bending. I understand that the aluminum oxide layer produced by anodizing is quite brittle, so reducing time in the tank may improve the flexibility (at the cost of color quality). However, I was wondering if sealing may also affect the brittleness. I seal in steam for 30 min. Then sometimes put the metal in an oven for 30 min @ 200F. The heating in the oven sometimes improves flexibility, sometimes does not.
I would love any advice from the audience here. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated as I am kinda stuck. Please help!!
Thanks
Aanan
Comment