[Jonnyb]

Can you anodise rivets and the manufactured head keep some colour after setting?

Thinking of anodising my panel black and would like the rivets to be the same colour.

 

[David Paule]

Why not just paint or wrap it? It'll be cheaper and probably as fast, but heavier (several grams).

Dave

 

[wirejock]

If possible, it won't be cheap.

I'm not familiar with rivets on an 8 panel, but Dave's solution is cheaper. Paint, wrap or powder coat.

 

[D-Dubya]

Anodize the whole thing when it's finished. There's probably a shop that can do it if you don't have the setup for it.

 

[climberrn]

A quick way is put a little matching spray paint in a dish, dab with Q tip, and touch the rivets. After they are set of course.

When I was finishing up my -7 I spent a better part of a week looking for black screws that didn’t rust for the panel. Ended up drilling a bunch of holes in a block of wood and screwing a bunch of AN Cad screws in. Hitting it with a brass wheel, then rattle canning them. Still looks good 12 years later.

 

[climberrn]

We powder coated my panel and a couple extra pieces while we were at it. Took a couple test pieces to a trophy shop and tried the laser etching. When they got the settings dialed in, they laser etched the whole panel for about $80.

 

[skirting_virga]

We powder coated my panel and a couple extra pieces while we were at it. Took a couple test pieces to a trophy shop and tried the laser etching. When they got the settings dialed in, they laser etched the whole panel for about $80.

I'd like to know more about this. I have a panel structure fabricated and trying to decide on powder coat vs. paint, but haven't come up with a solution for text yet. What does yours look like and what kind of business would I be looking for?

 

[lucas2696]

I'd like to know more about this. I have a panel structure fabricated and trying to decide on powder coat vs. paint, but haven't come up with a solution for text yet. What does yours look like and what kind of business would I be looking for?

Another option to consider would be Cerakote. When I re-did my panel I had a friend cerakote it and laser engrave all the markings. It's very durable and adds virtually no thickness or weight. It's typically a firearm coating, so if if you find a business that does cerakote and custom laser engraving on guns they should be able to do it.

Can you anodise rivets and the manufactured head keep some colour after setting?

Thinking of anodising my panel black and would like the rivets to be the same colour.

I also had the screws for my flap tower access panels cerakoted to match the panels and so far it has held up great so you may think about that.

 

[planenutz]

The answer to your question is yes, you can anodise rivets.

The colour will not be as deep or as rich as you would want for the panel aesthetics as it would likely turn out a dull, transparent kind of matt, not a gloss. I suspect it would definitely get bruised during riveting too, so you would almost certainly be better wrapping, painting or cerakoting as mentioned already.

The anodising process is not difficult though... you could give it a go and see how you get on.

 

[fl-mike]

Frankly, it’s a bad idea. You are as likely to end up with a purple/ plum color panel and/or rivets as you are black, and the panel and rivets are different alloys so they will dye differently.
My first project as a young pup engineer was a rack system for the military. All the equipment and panels were black anodized, and every one was a slightly different shade. The Colonel didn’t know anything about the technology in the rack, but he sure could see the color variations and he was not happy. Mil-std-595 27038 black paint is easy to match.

 

[climberrn]

I'd like to know more about this. I have a panel structure fabricated and trying to decide on powder coat vs. paint, but haven't come up with a solution for text yet. What does yours look like and what kind of business would I be looking for?

Powder coating is not difficult, and very durable. We did it with an old Harbor Freight powder gun and a home made oven. There are shops that do it also.

As for the lettering, any local trophy shop that does laser lettering should be able to do it. We powder coated a couple extra pieces for the trophy shop to get the lettering dialed in. They just burn the powder coating off and the bare aluminum shows where the lettering is. Very clean and durable.

Later on, I even colored the text in with a red sharpie for the circuit breakers powered by the E Bus. Been like that for 6+ years and still looks great. Here is a very early version of the panel before it was flying:

 

[Jonnyb]

Thanks everyone.

Thought it would be the easier option, but maybe not. Will have a look at the suggestions here and come up with a plan.