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Anodizing Instrument Panel

P

petesrv7

Member
:rolleyes: I'm working on my Panel fitting instrument's and the panel has been in the back of my mine as far as the finish I would like to put on it. I'm just wondering has anybody anodozed their's ?

I know there are diff. types of anodizing I, II, and III with type II being a hard anodizing and best for being in the sun, thats what I was told by one of the anodizing companys, I personally do not know anything about anodizing.

I'm trying get a feel from anybody on this. thanks

Pete N849PC RV7 working on Panel
 
My current panel is black anodized. It seems that the alloy presents some problems however... 3-tries on mine so just make sure your shop knows what they're working with. I have a new panel on the bench ready to cut and, yes it will be anodized and, no I don't have a clue which type they used.

Ernie Butcher
N99SU -8 flying
 
anodizing instrument panel

I run an anodizing shop. Anodizing is a wonderful coating for many applications, but I would not recommend it for an instrument panel.

It would be beautiful if done well, and you might know someone who is better at it than I am, but in my expeience, flat rolled sheet aluminum, especially alclad, does not anodize very evenly. It is fine for corrosion resistance and hardness, but the color variation is objectionable.

Type II is also referred to as "standard sulfuric anodizing" and is the best type if you want it colored.
 
Also remember that anodizing makes the surface non-conductive, so if you're relying on the panel to complete the ground circuit to light up certain engine gauges, for instance, make sure you abrade the backside of the panel where the gauge goes as well as where the panel connects to the airframe. I anodized my panel as well as my engine baffling, and all of the pieces together fit under the minimum charge. One problem I did have, however, was that the color ended up much darker than the sample chip color the anodizer provided me with, so I ended up sandblasting the panel and painting it. :(

Heinrich Gerhardt
 
If you want an exact colour match when anodising, make sure that the aluminium alloy of your parts and the anodisers samples are the same (or very similar). Different Al alloys give different responses to the anodising process. Also find out if the anodiser will be using the sulphuric acid or the chromic acid processes, again, each gives different visual results.

Final films can be darker than expected if the aluminium alloy contains silicon, for example. Copper in the alloy can cause uneven films with the chromic acid process.

Sulphuric acid process tends to give brighter, clear colours which retain the metallic lustre.

Chromic acid process tends to give more pastel like colours.

However, the above are generalisations and the final outcome can depend on the anodiser and his supplier of chemicals and dyes.

As 'hgerhardt' mentioned, the coating produced has quite a high electrical resistance.

Best regards,

Jim
 
My build partner/helper for my RV-8 makes aluminium control boxes for a product he makes. He has them anodized after giving the surfaces a good going over in a random fashion with coarse sandpaper.

Apparently it looks as rough as before it is anodized, but when it is done the result is a beautiful smooth velvety finish with no patchy colouring.

I think I will try this on my panel, but it is a few months and years away! :)

A
 
Anondized Panel

Just investigated this at a local Anondizing shop. This is what I was told.

Most Van's dash panels are 2024-T3. You can do Type II anondizing on this only. Type II is not hard anondized, it is the colored types. According to the shop it will not do the same color or consistancy of color as say 6061 series of aluminum.

His suggestion to me was to paint it if I wanted the best color consistancy. Since I could not do Hard Anondizing(Type III), and the main reason I considered it was for the scratch resistance of hard anondized, I went ahead and painted mine.

A previous post brought up a point that I had not considered but is quite valid. Hard anondized will not conduct so grounding could be a problem. I could be wrong here, but as I recall it was originally developed for the radar domes of the Military Aircraft. Conductivity was one of the things they were trying to elliminate.
 
6061-T6

Ted RV8 said:
.....
Most Van's dash panels are 2024-T3. You can do Type II anondizing on this only. Type II is not hard anondized, it is the colored types. According to the shop it will not do the same color or consistancy of color as say 6061 series of aluminum.
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The RV-6 plans call for 0.063 6061-T6 -- did this change for the later models?

gil A
 
6061

Gil,

I stand corrected! Just pulled out my old 6 plans and the dash is indeed called out as 6061-T6.

In answer to the original question about anondizing your dash. If it is 6061-T6it could be easily anondized (most colors or hard anondized). If it's 2024, not so good for anondizing. Best to be sure of the material before making the decision.

Now I'm begining to wonder if I was misinformed about my dash material! To late now, It's painted and I go backwards enough without electing to do so on this item.

I've always told myself one of the nice things about the Van's dash panel is it's easy to replace and I bet not all that expensive. Always kept this in mind as I was laying out locations of items or if I did a big mistake.

Like my layout and no mistakes cutting it out. So I'll just keep it the way it is for now. All I need to do is wait six months to a year and all the avionics, EFIS and EMS systems will be so much better I'll probably feel the need to replace them anyway!!!

RJ
 
Some years ago I ..........

Some years ago I remember reading that an interesting finish could be made on aluninum by coating it with olive oil and burning it. Is there any truth to this?
 
If you are wanting a good durable finish get your panel powder coated. Cost around here is only $20.00 - $30.00. and well worth it.
 
A bit more here...

Norman CYYJ said:
If you are wanting a good durable finish get your panel powder coated. Cost around here is only $20.00 - $30.00. and well worth it.
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I agree, but the Tucson cost (Prince Road) has a $75 set-up fee for a custom color and/or texture, and then the $20 charge.

More $$, but probably still worth it.

The set-up is waived only if you take whatever color is scheduled that week... usually, white, chassis black, possibly gray.

gil A
 
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anodizing

I did forget, to mention one thing, I have the Affordable pannel from Fabian, not sure as to what kind of Aluminum it is. I will be looking into the powder coating thing even with the set up fee it cheaper than anodizing. Thanks to every one for there input what a great websight!!!!

Pete N849PC RV7:)
 
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