anodizing

nyman · 4th March 2005, 09:08 PM

Have spent a lot of hours reading "diy anodizing pages" all say the same thing, use aluminium or lead cathode! Is it possible to use a stainless steel cathode instead?

TwoSpoons · 7th March 2005, 11:26 PM

I don't know for sure, but you may find that a stainless cathode pollutes the bath with chromium, which is likely to affect the anodizing. There is a process called chromating which uses chromic acid to make an aluminum surface conductive, so you may get this instead of a nice aluminium oxide layer.

Lead sheet is easy to get (roofing lead).

RHosch · 8th March 2005, 09:51 PM

I wouldn't recommend the substitution. Actually, after many failed attempts at DIY aluminum anodizing (following the various instructions found on literally dozens of websites), I gave it up completely. For that reason, I would be mighty afraid that any deviation would cause even more problems.

4th March 2005, 09:08 PM	#1
nyman diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: southern finland	anodizing Have spent a lot of hours reading "diy anodizing pages" all say the same thing, use aluminium or lead cathode! Is it possible to use a stainless steel cathode instead?

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7th March 2005, 11:26 PM	#2
TwoSpoons diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2004	I don't know for sure, but you may find that a stainless cathode pollutes the bath with chromium, which is likely to affect the anodizing. There is a process called chromating which uses chromic acid to make an aluminum surface conductive, so you may get this instead of a nice aluminium oxide layer. Lead sheet is easy to get (roofing lead).

8th March 2005, 09:51 PM	#3
RHosch diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: SouthEast	I wouldn't recommend the substitution. Actually, after many failed attempts at DIY aluminum anodizing (following the various instructions found on literally dozens of websites), I gave it up completely. For that reason, I would be mighty afraid that any deviation would cause even more problems.

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