These pens are lovely. How would I make them?

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Drewby108

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I found that pen without anodization. It's titanium.

Likely, they use sponge or brush anodizing to get the color. That's similar to regular anodizing, but instead of immersing the part in solution, you connect a lead to a sponge or soaked brush and it only anodizes when you make contact.

anodizing starts at 9 minutes in. I watched on mute and fast forward just to see if it showed the process well enough, so I have no idea the actual quality of the video overall.
 

rixstix

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Looks neat, doesn't it? Anodized titanium coating is very, very thin and very fragile so this would be a 'looker' not a daily user. To get the brilliant colors requires an etch of HF acid or Multi-Etch followed immediately by the anodizing process. If you look closely, notice there are no reds or blacks and orange requires a bit of imagination.
 
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Drewby108

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Looks neat, doesn't it? Anodized titanium coating is very, very thin and very fragile so this would be a 'looker' not a daily user. To get the brilliant colors requires an etch of HF acid or Multi-Etch followed immediately by the anodizing process. If you look closely, notice there are no reds or blacks and orange requires a bit of imagination.
When you say HF, do you mean hydrofluoric acid? I don't know why I thought that was at least a semi-controlled substance.
 

SteveJ

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If I remember correctly BradG has posted some anodized pens and perhaps a tutorial on how he did it.





I couldn't find his tutorial, but those links will give you some ideas!
 
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rixstix

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Yep. Hydrofluoric Acid which is one reason Multi-Etch was developed. It's still nasty, requires ventilation, works best heated, eats nearly everything except plastic.
 

Drewby108

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If I remember correctly BradG has posted some anodized pens and perhaps a tutorial on how he did it.





I couldn't find his tutorial, but those links will give you some ideas!
Those are awesome pens. I'm considering getting into kitless at some point. I keep seeing gorgeous reasons to try it
 

Drewby108

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Yep. Hydrofluoric Acid which is one reason Multi-Etch was developed. It's still nasty, requires ventilation, works best heated, eats nearly everything except plastic.
Including anything organic like your skin and bones lol. My high school chemistry teacher used to be a chemical engineer and would talk about what it would do to you at a cellular level.
 

Drewby108

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Look him up on YouTube, Brad Gothard. He had a three part tutorial on anodizing aluminum.
I mostly know how to do from when I was going to anodize some lightsabers I made in school for machining. Have some of the equipment, but my lathe can't thread for crap, so I haven't finished those sabers (7 years later lol)
 

boatemp

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Thanks ndep for sharing your efforts in anodizing. I found it interesting and informative. A lot of time and effort went into making the video and sharing. You deserve a lot of credit.
THANKS!!!!
 
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