Color anodize prep.

[RVG8tor]

I have made some brake pedal extensions and I have seen another builder (the guy I copied) had his pedals color anodized. How would you prepare a part to be color anodized? Do I scotch brite, the part? I am thinking I should polish the part then clean off the polish residue. Anyone have experience with this. I also need to find a shop here in NW Washington if anyone knows of one. l If this gets into the too hard to do category I will just paint them but I like the idea of color anodizing.

Cheers

[rleffler]

Check out this site on Anodizing Aluminum

http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html

[rv6ejguy]

The shop will clean/ etch the parts prior to anodizing. You just need to remove any cosmetic flaws you don't want showing through.

[penguin]

The anodizing bath uses some nasty chemicals, so don't worry about polishing anything before hand. Do remove scratches and dings as the anodizing doesn't hide anything. Pete

[G-force]

If you want the finished part to be smooth and glossy looking, you need to polish it first. If you want it a matte finish, you can scotch brite or bead blast it. As mentioned, anodize will hide nothing so make sure the surface prep is an even texture. All anodize shops will have a polish shop, they can most likely polish it for you if you want.