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Canopy Rail Finish

RV8RIVETER

RV8RIVETER

Well Known Member
Patron
Trying to decide between anodize and polish.

Anyone care to report what finish they chose and how it is holding up?

Thanks,
 
Rail

I polished mine since I was going with a polished finish. It is added work to keep it polished. If I were painting my plane, I think I'd anodize it to match my color scheme.
 
polished rail

Polished mine up, but it is a hassle to keep it that way. It's the grab point for entry, and always needs attention. If I had it to do over, I would have it anodized or Martin Hard coated. 2 cents!!

Chris
 
Would love to anodize mine but can't find a place near me to have it done. Not to crazy about shipping them off.
 
anodize

I anodized mine black. John - I'm sure there are a couple of places in Gulfport that will do it for you. One possible issue is the length - the places near me only had a vat with black that was long enough for the rails.
 
Annodizing works well

I annodized my canopy rails black and they look great, work great, and show no wear after 475 hours. No maintenance at all. At many annodizing facilities, there are several color choices.

Dan Miller
RV-8
 
rv8ch said:
I anodized mine black. John - I'm sure there are a couple of places in Gulfport that will do it for you. One possible issue is the length - the places near me only had a vat with black that was long enough for the rails.
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Yeoww! Wouldn't be hanging the arm over a black rail in sunny Florida nor would people grab onto it more than once!
 
rv8ch said:
John - I'm sure there are a couple of places in Gulfport that will do it for you.
Click to expand...

I would think so too, with all of the boat/yacht building they do here.

I guess I don't know where to look or I'm asking the wrong questions. None of the guys at the airport know anyone that does it either.

Any suggestions of what type business I should look for? Is it something that a person can do themself or are the chemicals really nasty?
 
I plan on Clear Anodized

I plan to fine sand them to an almost satin finish, then have them clear anodized, much like the eyeball vents. Whatever color you decide, get all the scratches out first, or the Anodizing will highlight them for you.

As for where to find a shop to do it, start with plating shops (Chromers, powder coaters) or machine shops. Some of them may be able to do it themselves. If they can't, they're your best bet at finding who can. I called about four shops before a Chromer knew exactly the shop I needed. If you're in a small town, your odds are slim.
 
powdercoating shop

John - here is a guy that does powdercoating. That's of course one option, and he may be able to direct you to another shop that does anodizing.

http://www.tinmans.net/

Mike - Black is a great color for canopy rails when you live where I do - we need all the solar heat we can get here! :)
 
Anodizing can be done in many colors or you can get hard anodizing done which is generally a pleasing pewter color which won't fry your arm. The hard anodizing is way more durable than powder coating and more durable than color anodizing.

Can't easily DIY as this is an electrolysis process and control of cleaning and solution temps need to be right to get a good job.
 
RV8RIVETER said:
Trying to decide between anodize and polish.

Anyone care to report what finish they chose and how it is holding up?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

I painted mine with the same rattle can paint that I used to paint the rest of the interior. It was the Cardinal Industries paint that matches the powder coating of the steel parts. It's holding up just fine after 70ish hours and a year of flying.

I don't know how much it costs to anodize, but paint is cheap. If it gets dinged up after a few years, just remove the rail and repaint it.
 
I just got mine back from anodize today. It cost $70, I had them do the cap spacer too since it didn't cost any extra money and it will hardly be seen so the color doesn't matter much.

I thought blue would go great with my grey interior but they went a little dark so it doesn't look as good as I had hoped, I was looking for darkness equal to the AN fittings. Oh well good enough. If you want something done right you have to do it yourself.:rolleyes:


http://img402.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=picture001eus.jpg
 
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