The higher the voltage the thicker the layer. Color progression was exactly what I was expecting following the wavelength spectrum and then looping back.
Your videos are seriously awesome, I’ve been a metal worker/welder for 9 years now and work with titanium frequently but had no idea you could anodize it to such vibrant colors! Definitely going to try it out on some of my titanium rings. Thanks for the tutorial!
You got it brotha, glad to see you over here! I can't wait to see how some of your creations look anodized! SThis is just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned, I've got a lot more content on the way!
I am just getting into titanium anodizing and currently waiting for my adjustable benchtop power supply to arrive so I am watching videos on youtube to see all the methods before hand. I have watched dozens at this point and yours is probably the best visual/explaining of the full spectrum of colors at voltages I have seen yet. Great video!
If you use a bench power supply, you'd have more control instead of 9v increments. I wonder if you'd get it fading between colours. If you changed the voltage as you lifted it slowly from the solution, would you get a rainbow effect?
i would say you wouldnt get to much options in color as most adjustable power supplies ive seen only go up to 15 volts, some as far as 35-40 volts. i havent seen any that go higher than that.
@@ApollosRings do you know if this distorts the structural integrity? I was thinking of doing it to parts on my motorcycle but dont want to compromise saftey for looks.
It absolutely does not distort structural integrity. The anodizing is actually a layer of oxide that coats the outside of the titanium. The light reflecting from the different thicknesses of the oxide are what we perceive as the different colors. You're good to go there. 👍🏼
Thank you very much you basically taught me how to anodize titanium. I've already had one successful attempt and a bunch of not so successful. But I'm enjoying the process.
I am a welder by trade so I feel kind of dumb that it took me forever to figure out it wasn't working because I had the polarity reversed. Once I fixed that I couldn't stop practicing techniques on my sng clip. Thanks so much. Can't wait for my titanium bug out scales now.
Hahaha, I've reversed the polarity before as well. Makes you feel like a doofus once you figure it out, lol. Glad you got it working! Thanks for watching!
Dude, this is awesome. I love finding out about home brew solutions and results I can create myself in a single day. I just bought a Boos Blades Smoke CM1 and I’m not super crazy about the green anodizing on the titanium scale, backspacer and pocket clip so I started looking into diy anodizing just to see if it was cost effective enough to do myself. I will definitely be giving this a try. There’s really not much I can do wrong because I would actually prefer the color of bare etched titanium over this green, it was just the last available option so I grabbed it. Now I can do my own ano and even if I don’t end up liking the other colors any better, I can always just etch the ano off and have bare titanium left. Thanks again, man. I’m excited to get started.
This video was fun. I’m currently building from scratch my first complete folder with titanium handles .270 thick. It is a very large and overbuilt piece of kit. The blade is almost done. .25 thick O1 steel 6 1/4 long X 2 wide. The whole project is all my own design. I can hardly wait to do the finish on those ti handles. Thanks for the video and I just subbed!
That sounds awesome! You'll definitely have to post some pics when you get around to the finish. I've got all my social media tagged in the video descriptions, and also on the channel homepage. I'd love to see everything when its complete. If you run into any issues when you get around to the anodizing, feel free to hit me up any time! I appreciate the sub, think I already said this, but stay tuned for an even more wicked way of anodizing. I've got the materials on order for that vid now.
Thanks, such pretty colors. Who could have thought that the rust remover would be so important. Try going a few more beyond "toxic green," and you should get a strange, irridescent pink. Really. I think it's 2nd order refractive colors.
Man this is great. I’ve been Flame Anodizing parts for awhile but this looks more consistent. It’s $160 to get all Anodized hardware for my Hinderer without the color choices. I have a Spyderco Tighe that the whole thing can be done. Aluminum parts could be cool too
I've found that using the Whink rust and stain first definitely makes the colors more vivid. It certainly is much more consistent than flame anodizing though. I've still got a few tricks for you guys too. I have 2 videos filmed now, I just gotta get to editing. Aluminium is a different process than titanium to anodize unfortunately. This process is strictly titanium. Keep me posted if you end up anodizing some stuff, I'd love to see it! You can post pics of anything you do to my social media sites I have linked on the channel homepage. Good luck, and thanks for watching!
Using the Whink rust remover and polishing to a mirror polish can be used in conjunction with each other, but neither is a substitute for the other. You can put whatever finish you like on your work piece, but I still highly recommend that you etch with the Whink after you get your finish the way you like. The colors are much more pronounced. I actually have a video I just filmed showing what a difference the Whink makes, just gotta get it edited and up on the channel. You don't necessarily need to etch with the Whink rust and stain, but the color outcome will definitely not be as vivid without that step. I hope I explained that in a way that makes sense, lol.
SharpKnifeNuts I’m excited to start doing some of my Ti Knives. Are you on any of the FB knife groups? I have a RUclips channel but I don’t upload much.
I'd love to see them once you get a few done! Yeah, I'm actually in quite a few knife groups under my personal account. I'd like to get this Facebook page a little more activity, I just have to spend some time with it. I'm thinking about doing a series on anodizing aluminum as well if there's any interest in it. I'll have to head over and check out your channel when I get a few minutes. Yeah, keeping a steady upload schedule can be pretty time consuming. I'm going to try and start doing batches of videos all at one time so I have stuff to upload on the regular in the next week or so.
Thanks for this. I know it's old....but here's a thought. I'm about to mod an espresso machine, by adding a single pole dimmer switch. It's basically just a turny-knob with one wire going in, and one going out. So, I was thinking if you added one of those into your circuit, you could actually hit anywhere in the 9V range of each battery. What we just watched were the colors *at* 9V, 18V, 27V etc. But if this button was demarked into 9 units, you would be able to get a (stepless) 1V increment adjustment on each battery addition. So you could, easily, produce a near seamless spectrum.
Once I started anodizing more for the business I finally just bought a bench top power supply, which does exactly what you explained with the dimmer switch. Thanks for taking the time to check out the video! 👊🏼
@@ApollosRings of course that's the best option. But as "just" a knife collector and enthusiast, I can't really justify the expense. I don't have much Ti. But while watching this, it dawned on me that a 1-pole dimmer would totally work (I think).
I know I’m late to the party, but that was SHEAR AWESOMENESS! Thank you SO MUCH, just what I needed to see to get these thumb studs where I want them. You got a new sub too.
Thanks! Unfortunately this method isn't for stainless. This will only work on titanium, niobium, and other reactive metals. Thanks for watching though. If I can help with anything else just let me know.👍🏼
Thanks for the sharing! This is inspiring. I've never anodized anything, but have been a hobbyist electroplator for a while. This cool video had me wondering if maybe we can apply pen/brush plating techniques for annodizing. Also wondering if one could draw graphics or paint with resist or vinyl stencils? I've been a glassblower for decades, now I'm getting into TIG welding. I think I wanna make some colorful titanium bongs 😂.
alright i got a tough question for you@@ApollosRings , how in the world could i achieve the anodization pattern that is called "flowmascus" that this person makes.(IG: @bladeswelove ; Reddit: u/knifesteve) Anytime someone asks him that I have seen he doesnt really say, just says that it is anodizing xD here is a link to an example of one on his IG instagram.com/p/BvNtuC1nEoL/?
I haven't seen his exact process, but it looks to be a stencil/mask, probably vinyl. Then I'm sure he's using a pro power supply and doing what looks like 2 separate anodizing jobs. 1 with the stencil on, then the final with the stencil off. It does look really cool, but it's not as hard as it looks. The stencil does all the work really.
The colors somewhat repeat at higher voltages, so he will do the higher voltages on the first pass, then do the lower voltages on the next with the vinyl off. You can't mess up the higher voltage colors by anodizing at a lower voltage. That make sense?
What your doing is creating TiO2 on the surface of the Ti and depending on the thickness determines the color. If you deposit TiO2 on microscopic thin mica platelets you're making interference effect pigments. Look that up.
This is really awesome! Great video :) If you were to use a controlled voltage output, instead of 9V battery increments, you could probably achieve any color in the spectrum and all the in-between shades of the 9V increments. Does this alter quality or integrity of the Aluminum, Titanium in any way? How did you get it back to original color? Thanks so much for sharing. ❤
Correct, with a DC power supply it is possible to fine tune the colors. It doesn't degrade the titanium at all, in fact the anodizing is actually used as a protection against certain types of chemicals. It can affect finished dimensions though. As far as returning it to it's bare titanium state, you can either do it mechanically by sanding or using a Scotch-Brite pad, or chemically using Whink (the active ingredient is hydrofluoric acid), or Multi-Etch.
Awesome, great video sir. I just watched another one of yours, where you bring it back to original state with the chemicals. This looks so effortless hahah :) You made your knife look so nice and new :) Thanks again.
Dude !!! That’s nuthin but bad !! Thank you for your time and effort!! My son gave me a Brous Blade with standard titanium scales,, now I can make em nice !!! Thanks again!!!
Yes, it can be done with titanium, and I think your question is about what kind of liquid I use in the plastic tub. The liquid is simply distilled water and dissolved baking soda. The liquid used to remove the anodizing is Whink rust and stain remover. I have a video on the channel showing step by step how to anodize the titanium if you're interested.
How did you get it back to bare titanium? And how often do the batteries need to be changed out, do you periodically check their strength? Thanks! And that gold was amazing. I think the color of your gloves may be influencing the colors we see through your video capture.
My new camera picks it up correctly, but I couldn't get that old one to show up correctly for the life of me. Sorry you had an issue as well, but it's good to know it wasn't just me, lol. Thanks for watching!
Best video on RUclips it's awesome 👌 ❤!! Do I need a fork in the water while doing this? What's it for? Can you link us to the rust remover and cables ?
Thank you for the video. Your videos have given me courage to try anodizing. All the materials are purchased, but I still need a rust remover. Wink is not possible to buy in my country, but would any rust remover work?
Hello! I have a question because i’m think of experimenting with anodizing for a science project, how long does the titanium need to be immersed in the solution for it to change colors? Also, is it possible do anodize just by using batteries and not any other power source? Thank you so much😁
It only takes a few seconds to change colors, and yes it is absolutely possible to anodize with just batteries. I have a video on my channel explaining step by step how to do it with 9v batteries.
This was so cool to watch. Idk anything about this subject, but man that's some cool stuff science stuff. Can you do the same thing to stainless steel?
Considering the not fully anodised pink color: why did you have to get rod of the color before anodising it fully pink? Just putting it back to water wouldn’t be enough? I’m just interested how it works, thank you! :)
Very cool dude! I've been doing the same myself the past couple weeks, trying to figure out colors. Also did some really cool stuff with the sponge the other day. Thanks to your video.
+Trevor Heck I just got a Facebook page up and running as well. It would be awesome to see some of the stuff you have done after checking out some of these videos. Head on over and post some pics! Here's the link: facebook.com/sharpknifenuts/
Outstanding video!!!! Quick question in reference to anoing Ti screws. Is there a small wire Ti basket available that you know of that the positive alligator clip can be connected to that will supply the voltage to the entire basket so that it would not be necessary to connect the single Ti wire/alligator to each individual screw? I hope that makes sense.
Good question, makes total sense. I'm not aware of one, but that's a good idea. Someone may make something like that. I'll see what I can come up with and keep you posted.
@@ApollosRings I have been thinking about this for a decade and never gotten around to it 😂 but for copper electroplating. So my sacrificial annode is still part of the circuit even as it falls to bits, using it up more efficiently and dropping fewer large bits down into the slimes at the bottom. The ones industry uses are huge welded perforated plate baskets- too big for my work in a 5 gallon aquarium
I'd like to reach a teal-blue color. Past blue, but not quite green. I'm thinking about starting with a solid blue at 9 batteries, then add one battery, and dip for a few seconds at a time until I reach it. The color you had at 10 batteries looked perfect on video, but since you say it looked more green, I'm thinking it's somewhere in the middle.
Well, I did this, and it worked pretty well. I had to re-do a couple screws and the bead because I went too far and got green, but with a little practice, I got it spot on. Unexpectedly, the 2nd wave of colors at higher voltage is kinda iridescent, so I didn't just get a nice teal-blue. It's teal-blue with a flip-flop effect with pink coming through at certain angles. Really nice. Thanks for this tutorial. It was super helpful.
This was so interesting . You are the man bro . I will be trying this sometime soon . I have 10 titaniums all plain and some manix 2 scales coming . Any suggestions ?
No, but you'll want to try to make the cathode (the stainless steel fork in the video, or a piece of scrap titanium) roughly the same size as the piece you are anodizing.
SharpKnifeNuts is that just water your using as a medium or is it a etching solution? I'm only use to heat annodizing but I want uniformity which you sir have just shown me is possible with batteries 😊
The bath contains distilled water and baking soda. Check out the step by step "how to" video on the channel for the walkthrough. If you still have questions, let me know. I'll help any way I can. Yeah, it can definitely give you a much more uniform color. One of the main reasons I started doing it with batteries instead of heat was to avoid any lock bar damage as well. I didn't want to take the spring out with the heat. Good luck, and keep me posted how it works out for you!
Nice video. Did you use titanium wire? And what kind of metal folk? I have seen other videos use titanium straws. I am just curious because I am going to try and reach that toxic green.
Thanks brotha! Yes, titanium wire, then either a piece of stainless steel, or another piece of titanium. I just roll some of the titanium wire in a ball roughly equal to the size of the part I'm looking to anodize, then reuse that each time. If you go with steel, make sure its stainless. If not it isn't going to work correctly. It'll draw power away from your piece and you won't get the right colors, plus it can come out vastly uneven and explode your batteries. Be careful, always wear your PPE!
The anodizing bath is just distilled water and baking soda. The chemical to remove the anodizing is Whink Rust & Stain Remover, and I've got links to the supplies in the description. If you want more of a step-by-step check out my anodizing with 9v batteries video. I'll have a new complete guide to all things anodizing that will be coming out in a week or so as well, so stay tuned! Hope that helps!
Woah, I have a titanium camping cook set that would look really cool with some color. Any idea if the anodizing is food-safe? Not a big deal either way, I could just only submerge the outside. I never knew it was this easy
I'm interested in anodizing 72 titanium bicycle spoke nipples. A company in Germany offered to do it for 354 EURO. You just saved me almost 350 EURO depending on which color (number of batteries) I decide upon. Crystal clear tutorial. Many thanks and best wishes!
Love these vids . That paper over the scale one looked good ! Is it one of your favorites . I was thinking just sporadic “ Eddie Van Halen Guitar lines” but in whatever color comes would look cool
Different color when in the electrolyte is because the index of refraction of the electrolyte is different from the index of refraction of air. Turn off auto white balance on your camera, and the color on camera will be more consistent with what you see.
I've got a few ideas lined up for some future videos. The fade is definitely on the list. If it's not the next, it'll be shortly after. Thanks for watching, glad I could help out!
Whink is a hydrofluoric acid based rust remover. The hydrofluoric acid is what removes the anodizing. Multi-Etch also works well, but is quite a bit more expensive.
Fantastic video! I am curious, do the batteries drain enough during each color testing to make a difference. For example, you got a beautiful gold with 6 batteries that you were already using. Would 6 new batteries be different? Or would the fact that you are adding to previous ano make up for that small amount of drainage?
Ultimately it comes down to exact voltage. Before I had a power supply I would use a volt meter to monitor voltage. The batteries will drain, but as long as you don't do anything stupid you can get a year or 2 from a set. Then you can fine tune the voltage with AA's, or an extra 9 volt if yours are depleting.
Question: what solution did you immerse the titanium in? You did not say whether its distilled water or sulfuric acid or chromic acid etc. Can you share that info please? Thank you
What would it take to do a much larger piece. Like charge piping for an intercooler? Would the voltage stay the same and I just need a bigger container? Also is that just water?
Water and baking soda. You can totally do this on a larger scale, but you need a larger container, a larger cathode, and you'll probably want to use a power supply as well. There are links for power supplies in the video description that will work well.
Thank you! But where can I get the wires for the circuit - I don't know what exactly to look for 🤔 Also, would bar keepers friend work well if I don't have whink? 💛👊🏼
Hey man I want to try this on my Titanium mid pipe on my motorcycle! How much metal do I need in the water? Will a fork work? Or a large piece of Tin foil? Thanks for the help!
You want your cathode (the stainless steel fork in my case) to be roughly the same size as the piece of metal you're anodizing. I've seen guys use basket strainers because they offer a lot of surface area. You could even use a piece of flat stock against one of the walls of the bath, but stainless steel is what you want to use for best results.
@@ApollosRings Awesome! I have a stainless steel exhaust off of my other bike that I'll use as a cathode. I'll make a bath out of a plastic tote! I hope 9 9v batteries will give me the blue I am looking for! I have titanium rings to test on! Thanks for the help!
The anodizing solution is baking soda and distilled water, and the cathode (the fork in the video) should be stainless steel. Carbon steel does not work correctly. Hope that helps!
@@ApollosRings that helps a lot. Thank you. I could probably google but is there a particular ratio of water to baking soda that you believe works best?
You want to supersaturate the water with the baking soda, but it doesn't have to be very exact. I generally just use a solid spoonful of baking soda into roughly 10 ounces of distilled water and get amazing results.
If your wondering the last color you can get is Brown because when heat anodizing your can either get purple or blue or if you miss it, it turns brown there are no other colors in heat anodizing that I know if I think it skips a lot of the colors
I think the color you're looking for is in the 10 to 20 volt range, but it's possible it's in the 65 to 70 volt range. Might take a little fine tuning, but if you start in the low range and decide you're unhappy with the result you can then jump to the higher voltage range. If you're using batteries it's going to be a bit harder to fine tune, but I have a video I'll have out in the next week or so showing how to do the fine tuning.
Glad you found the video helpful! If you give it a try and have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I try to make myself available to help with any issues you might run into. I have a few more videos on anodizing that I have filmed, just have to get them edited and thrown on the channel. Stay tuned!
Is this dangerous? I am aiming to anodize my titanium around the + 65 voltage range but 50 + voltage is enough for a fatal shock. Should I just stay below the 30 voltage line? My dad is just really cautious about this stuff.
The higher the voltage the thicker the layer. Color progression was exactly what I was expecting following the wavelength spectrum and then looping back.
Yeah, if I'm going for resilience I'll go for the higher voltage of roughly the same color, if that makes sense
@@ApollosRings I actually find heat anodizing to be more durable than electric methods.
How well would this work on a martinez titanium hammer handle?
best visual chart for the battery method on youtube, by far
Thanks brotha! I appreciate it 👍🏼
This relates to something called thin-film interference. This is exactly the same colour pattern you'll find on soap bubbles.
Never thought about the soap bubbles, but you're absolutely right! Interesting! Thanks for watching 👍🏻
How does thin film interference work?
I bet this is the same tech that makes varying colors in dichroic glass coatings (vapor deposited)
Don't forget about oil on top of water.
Your videos are seriously awesome, I’ve been a metal worker/welder for 9 years now and work with titanium frequently but had no idea you could anodize it to such vibrant colors! Definitely going to try it out on some of my titanium rings. Thanks for the tutorial!
You got it brotha, glad to see you over here! I can't wait to see how some of your creations look anodized! SThis is just the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned, I've got a lot more content on the way!
🤔 The compilation of sounds and the visual changes on Ti, in a teaching format... Was spot on! Thanks for posting
I am just getting into titanium anodizing and currently waiting for my adjustable benchtop power supply to arrive so I am watching videos on youtube to see all the methods before hand. I have watched dozens at this point and yours is probably the best visual/explaining of the full spectrum of colors at voltages I have seen yet. Great video!
Have fun!
If you use a bench power supply, you'd have more control instead of 9v increments. I wonder if you'd get it fading between colours. If you changed the voltage as you lifted it slowly from the solution, would you get a rainbow effect?
Look up "anodized muffler" and that would be what you expect, but those are caused by heat and not voltage
i would say you wouldnt get to much options in color as most adjustable power supplies ive seen only go up to 15 volts, some as far as 35-40 volts. i havent seen any that go higher than that.
@@Hotecce1 generally yeah but they are available. I have a bench power supply that goes up to 400 volts and it wasn't all that expensive.
This is exactly what I was looking for and you delivered it well. Thank you.
You're very welcome! If you run into any issues, feel free to message me any time!
@@ApollosRings do you know if this distorts the structural integrity? I was thinking of doing it to parts on my motorcycle but dont want to compromise saftey for looks.
It absolutely does not distort structural integrity. The anodizing is actually a layer of oxide that coats the outside of the titanium. The light reflecting from the different thicknesses of the oxide are what we perceive as the different colors. You're good to go there. 👍🏼
@@ApollosRings Solid. I will post a vid of doing it and a link to your vid when I finish it. Thank you
You're very welcome! Can't wait to see your results!
Thank you very much you basically taught me how to anodize titanium. I've already had one successful attempt and a bunch of not so successful. But I'm enjoying the process.
No problem, glad I could help! If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask!
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What acid you use?
@@arjayworks See the Description for links to buy, also channel's How To Anodize Titanium video for the process.
I am a welder by trade so I feel kind of dumb that it took me forever to figure out it wasn't working because I had the polarity reversed. Once I fixed that I couldn't stop practicing techniques on my sng clip. Thanks so much. Can't wait for my titanium bug out scales now.
Hahaha, I've reversed the polarity before as well. Makes you feel like a doofus once you figure it out, lol. Glad you got it working! Thanks for watching!
Dude, this is awesome. I love finding out about home brew solutions and results I can create myself in a single day. I just bought a Boos Blades Smoke CM1 and I’m not super crazy about the green anodizing on the titanium scale, backspacer and pocket clip so I started looking into diy anodizing just to see if it was cost effective enough to do myself. I will definitely be giving this a try. There’s really not much I can do wrong because I would actually prefer the color of bare etched titanium over this green, it was just the last available option so I grabbed it. Now I can do my own ano and even if I don’t end up liking the other colors any better, I can always just etch the ano off and have bare titanium left.
Thanks again, man. I’m excited to get started.
Glad you can get some use out of the vids! If you run into any issues, feel free to hit me up with any questions.
I have so many titanium parts (bolts fasteners etc) on my bike, this could see me entertained all over Christmas and new year!!
It seems like when it went back to purple at 8 it started to have some very light color-shifting depending on the angle.
Agreed, it definitely does. Thanks for watching! 👊🏼
I’ve always been a fan of the bluish purple hue, but man that teal green pops
This video was fun. I’m currently building from scratch my first complete folder with titanium handles .270 thick. It is a very large and overbuilt piece of kit. The blade is almost done. .25 thick O1 steel 6 1/4 long X 2 wide. The whole project is all my own design. I can hardly wait to do the finish on those ti handles. Thanks for the video and I just subbed!
That sounds awesome! You'll definitely have to post some pics when you get around to the finish. I've got all my social media tagged in the video descriptions, and also on the channel homepage. I'd love to see everything when its complete. If you run into any issues when you get around to the anodizing, feel free to hit me up any time! I appreciate the sub, think I already said this, but stay tuned for an even more wicked way of anodizing. I've got the materials on order for that vid now.
Wow I’d like to see the project! Definitely interested in purchasing!
OH MAN! #10 LOOKS SO GOOD! On camera, that is almost the exact color of my Celestial Blue MazdaSpeed3!
Well done! This is exactly what I was looking for.
Glad I could help 👍🏼
Thanks, such pretty colors. Who could have thought that the rust remover would be so important. Try going a few more beyond "toxic green," and you should get a strange, irridescent pink. Really. I think it's 2nd order refractive colors.
Very helpful. Great step by step showing the color change as you increase the voltage.👍🏽
Thank you!👍🏼
Woah! I never knew anodizing was literally just a difference of current i thought there was a more special process
The process for aluminum is a bit trickier, but titanium is super simple.
You are f**king awesome dude. Thanks for this...I was going to buy a rectifier lol
Happy to help! Thanks for the support 👊🏼
This video is sick! And it looks like this guy replies to most of the comments. Definitely gonna sub
Thanks! I try to reply to all of them 👊🏼
Man this is great. I’ve been Flame Anodizing parts for awhile but this looks more consistent. It’s $160 to get all Anodized hardware for my Hinderer without the color choices. I have a Spyderco Tighe that the whole thing can be done. Aluminum parts could be cool too
I've found that using the Whink rust and stain first definitely makes the colors more vivid. It certainly is much more consistent than flame anodizing though.
I've still got a few tricks for you guys too. I have 2 videos filmed now, I just gotta get to editing.
Aluminium is a different process than titanium to anodize unfortunately. This process is strictly titanium.
Keep me posted if you end up anodizing some stuff, I'd love to see it! You can post pics of anything you do to my social media sites I have linked on the channel homepage. Good luck, and thanks for watching!
SharpKnifeNuts does the rust remover work better than polishing all the way to mirror first?
Using the Whink rust remover and polishing to a mirror polish can be used in conjunction with each other, but neither is a substitute for the other. You can put whatever finish you like on your work piece, but I still highly recommend that you etch with the Whink after you get your finish the way you like. The colors are much more pronounced. I actually have a video I just filmed showing what a difference the Whink makes, just gotta get it edited and up on the channel. You don't necessarily need to etch with the Whink rust and stain, but the color outcome will definitely not be as vivid without that step. I hope I explained that in a way that makes sense, lol.
SharpKnifeNuts I’m excited to start doing some of my Ti Knives. Are you on any of the FB knife groups? I have a RUclips channel but I don’t upload much.
I'd love to see them once you get a few done! Yeah, I'm actually in quite a few knife groups under my personal account. I'd like to get this Facebook page a little more activity, I just have to spend some time with it. I'm thinking about doing a series on anodizing aluminum as well if there's any interest in it. I'll have to head over and check out your channel when I get a few minutes. Yeah, keeping a steady upload schedule can be pretty time consuming. I'm going to try and start doing batches of videos all at one time so I have stuff to upload on the regular in the next week or so.
Thanks for this. I know it's old....but here's a thought.
I'm about to mod an espresso machine, by adding a single pole dimmer switch. It's basically just a turny-knob with one wire going in, and one going out.
So, I was thinking if you added one of those into your circuit, you could actually hit anywhere in the 9V range of each battery.
What we just watched were the colors *at* 9V, 18V, 27V etc. But if this button was demarked into 9 units, you would be able to get a (stepless) 1V increment adjustment on each battery addition. So you could, easily, produce a near seamless spectrum.
Once I started anodizing more for the business I finally just bought a bench top power supply, which does exactly what you explained with the dimmer switch.
Thanks for taking the time to check out the video! 👊🏼
@@ApollosRings of course that's the best option. But as "just" a knife collector and enthusiast, I can't really justify the expense. I don't have much Ti.
But while watching this, it dawned on me that a 1-pole dimmer would totally work (I think).
@sstockemer yeah, I agree, I don't see why it shouldn't work. Certainly worth a shot
Thanks for taking the time and making this video man!
No problem, thanks for watching!
I know I’m late to the party, but that was SHEAR AWESOMENESS! Thank you SO MUCH, just what I needed to see to get these thumb studs where I want them. You got a new sub too.
Glad you dig it! Thanks for watching and stay tuned, new shop videos coming soon!
Would this process work the same with stainless steel? Great video by the way!
Thanks! Unfortunately this method isn't for stainless. This will only work on titanium, niobium, and other reactive metals. Thanks for watching though. If I can help with anything else just let me know.👍🏼
Superb video,, thank you very much 👌
Man this is Insanely helpful
Glad I could be of assistance, lol. If you have any questions through the process, let me know. I try to make myself pretty accessible.
@@ApollosRings sounds good man will do!
Thanks for the sharing! This is inspiring. I've never anodized anything, but have been a hobbyist electroplator for a while. This cool video had me wondering if maybe we can apply pen/brush plating techniques for annodizing. Also wondering if one could draw graphics or paint with resist or vinyl stencils? I've been a glassblower for decades, now I'm getting into TIG welding. I think I wanna make some colorful titanium bongs 😂.
I'm subbing, goodness your videos are so damn helpful! I can't wait to start my ano project on my barebones that will have ti handles
Glad you're digging the vids! If you ever run into any issues, feel free to hit me up. I'll help out any way I can 👍🏼
alright i got a tough question for you@@ApollosRings , how in the world could i achieve the anodization pattern that is called "flowmascus" that this person makes.(IG: @bladeswelove ; Reddit: u/knifesteve) Anytime someone asks him that I have seen he doesnt really say, just says that it is anodizing xD here is a link to an example of one on his IG instagram.com/p/BvNtuC1nEoL/?
I haven't seen his exact process, but it looks to be a stencil/mask, probably vinyl. Then I'm sure he's using a pro power supply and doing what looks like 2 separate anodizing jobs. 1 with the stencil on, then the final with the stencil off. It does look really cool, but it's not as hard as it looks. The stencil does all the work really.
@@ApollosRings yep right before you replied I finally stumbled upon something suggesting vinyl stencils!!! Taking anodizing to the next level
The colors somewhat repeat at higher voltages, so he will do the higher voltages on the first pass, then do the lower voltages on the next with the vinyl off. You can't mess up the higher voltage colors by anodizing at a lower voltage. That make sense?
Thank you! You made this so much easier than the other videos.
Thank you for the video I did two of my knifes using your video as a template.
What your doing is creating TiO2 on the surface of the Ti and depending on the thickness determines the color. If you deposit TiO2 on microscopic thin mica platelets you're making interference effect pigments. Look that up.
nice video ill try making on my own ,thank you
This is one of the coolest videos I have found in a while! Thank you! :-D
Thanks for watching! Stay tuned, I've got some new stuff coming soon 👊🏼
Got a Twosun Ti tac pen cheap I am going to experiment on using this method
This is really awesome! Great video :) If you were to use a controlled voltage output, instead of 9V battery increments, you could probably achieve any color in the spectrum and all the in-between shades of the 9V increments. Does this alter quality or integrity of the Aluminum, Titanium in any way? How did you get it back to original color? Thanks so much for sharing. ❤
Correct, with a DC power supply it is possible to fine tune the colors.
It doesn't degrade the titanium at all, in fact the anodizing is actually used as a protection against certain types of chemicals. It can affect finished dimensions though.
As far as returning it to it's bare titanium state, you can either do it mechanically by sanding or using a Scotch-Brite pad, or chemically using Whink (the active ingredient is hydrofluoric acid), or Multi-Etch.
Awesome, great video sir. I just watched another one of yours, where you bring it back to original state with the chemicals. This looks so effortless hahah :) You made your knife look so nice and new :) Thanks again.
Love that green color looks amazing
I think so too!
Dude !!! That’s nuthin but bad !! Thank you for your time and effort!! My son gave me a Brous Blade with standard titanium scales,, now I can make em nice !!! Thanks again!!!
Thanks for watching!
In redible. What a great video. I am gonna try it. Thanks for doing this.
Hello I have two questions. can it be done only with titanium metal and what kind of liquid container?
Yes, it can be done with titanium, and I think your question is about what kind of liquid I use in the plastic tub. The liquid is simply distilled water and dissolved baking soda. The liquid used to remove the anodizing is Whink rust and stain remover. I have a video on the channel showing step by step how to anodize the titanium if you're interested.
@@ApollosRings Maybe you can give a link to your channel. very interested. thank you.
How did you get it back to bare titanium? And how often do the batteries need to be changed out, do you periodically check their strength? Thanks! And that gold was amazing. I think the color of your gloves may be influencing the colors we see through your video capture.
i had a similar issue with toxic green 3d printer filament not showing up on my camera properly. it was that same shade of blue-green that you got
My new camera picks it up correctly, but I couldn't get that old one to show up correctly for the life of me. Sorry you had an issue as well, but it's good to know it wasn't just me, lol. Thanks for watching!
Best video on RUclips it's awesome 👌 ❤!! Do I need a fork in the water while doing this? What's it for? Can you link us to the rust remover and cables ?
Thank you!
You bet!
Thank you for the video. Your videos have given me courage to try anodizing. All the materials are purchased, but I still need a rust remover. Wink is not possible to buy in my country, but would any rust remover work?
It has to have HF acid in it, which is probably why Whink is banned. Sorry
I’m going to anodizing some parts on my bmx bike soon! ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️
Hello! I have a question because i’m think of experimenting with anodizing for a science project, how long does the titanium need to be immersed in the solution for it to change colors? Also, is it possible do anodize just by using batteries and not any other power source? Thank you so much😁
It only takes a few seconds to change colors, and yes it is absolutely possible to anodize with just batteries. I have a video on my channel explaining step by step how to do it with 9v batteries.
Very cool. Wonder if mass of an object is increased will this affect colour pallet.
The main thing to consider is keeping the anode and cathode roughly the same size. Aside from that larger pieces shouldn't be much of an issue.
Oh goodie. My next titanium shovel gets a purple treatment.
Fantastic video. Thanks for sharing 👍
Thanks for watching!
How did you re-anodize to get the color back to a normal color? Can this anodizing be done to change the color of a black tungsten ring?
This was so cool to watch. Idk anything about this subject, but man that's some cool stuff science stuff. Can you do the same thing to stainless steel?
Considering the not fully anodised pink color: why did you have to get rod of the color before anodising it fully pink? Just putting it back to water wouldn’t be enough? I’m just interested how it works, thank you! :)
Adjustable DC power supplies are super cool
Hey really cool video! Do you know how many batteries it takes to anodize to BLACK? Thanks
Thank you very much for the awesome video, if I can ask does it matter what type of metal your fork is ? Is it steel aluminum? Thank you
Stainless steel, can't be carbon steel. I haven't tried with aluminum, but you'll be 💯 with stainless.
Very cool dude! I've been doing the same myself the past couple weeks, trying to figure out colors. Also did some really cool stuff with the sponge the other day. Thanks to your video.
+Trevor Heck that's awesome! I'll have another ano vid coming out in a couple days with a few more tricks for you, stay tuned!
+Trevor Heck I just got a Facebook page up and running as well. It would be awesome to see some of the stuff you have done after checking out some of these videos. Head on over and post some pics! Here's the link:
facebook.com/sharpknifenuts/
great video! is that water in the pot?
Thanks! It's distilled water and baking soda.
That’s WILD, dude! Very nice!!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!
Outstanding video!!!! Quick question in reference to anoing Ti screws. Is there a small wire Ti basket available that you know of that the positive alligator clip can be connected to that will supply the voltage to the entire basket so that it would not be necessary to connect the single Ti wire/alligator to each individual screw? I hope that makes sense.
Good question, makes total sense. I'm not aware of one, but that's a good idea. Someone may make something like that. I'll see what I can come up with and keep you posted.
If you could locate titanium screen material and a little ti wire you could fashion a basket in whatever size you need
@@ApollosRings Damn good idea!! Thanks for your reply and idea. 😉👍
@@ApollosRings I have been thinking about this for a decade and never gotten around to it 😂 but for copper electroplating. So my sacrificial annode is still part of the circuit even as it falls to bits, using it up more efficiently and dropping fewer large bits down into the slimes at the bottom. The ones industry uses are huge welded perforated plate baskets- too big for my work in a 5 gallon aquarium
I'd like to reach a teal-blue color. Past blue, but not quite green. I'm thinking about starting with a solid blue at 9 batteries, then add one battery, and dip for a few seconds at a time until I reach it. The color you had at 10 batteries looked perfect on video, but since you say it looked more green, I'm thinking it's somewhere in the middle.
Well, I did this, and it worked pretty well. I had to re-do a couple screws and the bead because I went too far and got green, but with a little practice, I got it spot on. Unexpectedly, the 2nd wave of colors at higher voltage is kinda iridescent, so I didn't just get a nice teal-blue. It's
teal-blue with a flip-flop effect with pink coming through at certain angles. Really nice.
Thanks for this tutorial. It was super helpful.
Sorry, looks like I missed your previous comment. Happy to hear it turned out well! 👍🏼👊🏼
Hello, i want to know work on stainless steel?
And this color fixed or maybe be removed when use the knife?
This was so interesting . You are the man bro . I will be trying this sometime soon . I have 10 titaniums all plain and some manix 2 scales coming . Any suggestions ?
Does it make a difference if it’s done on a bigger piece? Like the handle scale vs pocket clip?
No, but you'll want to try to make the cathode (the stainless steel fork in the video, or a piece of scrap titanium) roughly the same size as the piece you are anodizing.
Fascinating.👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
This is so cool ❤
Easily the most useful video demonstrating color per voltage for us 9V battery / DIY'er titanium anodizers. Goin' for the green!
Hope it works out as planned for you. If I can help with anything, feel free to hit me up. Thanks for watching!
SharpKnifeNuts is that just water your using as a medium or is it a etching solution? I'm only use to heat annodizing but I want uniformity which you sir have just shown me is possible with batteries 😊
The bath contains distilled water and baking soda. Check out the step by step "how to" video on the channel for the walkthrough. If you still have questions, let me know. I'll help any way I can. Yeah, it can definitely give you a much more uniform color. One of the main reasons I started doing it with batteries instead of heat was to avoid any lock bar damage as well. I didn't want to take the spring out with the heat. Good luck, and keep me posted how it works out for you!
SharpKnifeNuts just finished watching all the anno videos 😂😂 cracking instructions man, really easy to understand.
Lol, thanks. Tried to make it fairly user friendly, hahaha
Nice video. Did you use titanium wire? And what kind of metal folk? I have seen other videos use titanium straws. I am just curious because I am going to try and reach that toxic green.
Thanks brotha! Yes, titanium wire, then either a piece of stainless steel, or another piece of titanium. I just roll some of the titanium wire in a ball roughly equal to the size of the part I'm looking to anodize, then reuse that each time. If you go with steel, make sure its stainless. If not it isn't going to work correctly. It'll draw power away from your piece and you won't get the right colors, plus it can come out vastly uneven and explode your batteries. Be careful, always wear your PPE!
cool experiment! Does the same setup counts for aluminium?
Great video, thanks! Where can I find information about the solution you dipped the parts into while anodizing?
The anodizing bath is just distilled water and baking soda. The chemical to remove the anodizing is Whink Rust & Stain Remover, and I've got links to the supplies in the description. If you want more of a step-by-step check out my anodizing with 9v batteries video. I'll have a new complete guide to all things anodizing that will be coming out in a week or so as well, so stay tuned! Hope that helps!
@@ApollosRings Fantastic, I'll keep watch. Thanks!
Woah, I have a titanium camping cook set that would look really cool with some color. Any idea if the anodizing is food-safe? Not a big deal either way, I could just only submerge the outside. I never knew it was this easy
It is 100% food safe, you'd be good to go 👍🏼
Great idea, i too have a cook set I'd love to customize... It would make a good practice piece as I'd be a noob.
I'm interested in anodizing 72 titanium bicycle spoke nipples. A company in Germany offered to do it for 354 EURO. You just saved me almost 350 EURO depending on which color (number of batteries) I decide upon. Crystal clear tutorial. Many thanks and best wishes!
That's awesome to hear! You'll have to let me know how it goes! If you have any issues, feel free to contact me any time. Cheers!👍🏼👊🏼
Bro, that is gnarly 🤩🤙good job
Thanks! 😁
If you hooked up a potentiometer, could you change it from color to color as you turned the knob?
Yeah, I have a DC power supply that I use for production. I have a new updated video coming out soon using that. Stay tuned 👍🏼
can I use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries?
Amazing video!!
Glad you liked it!
That looks so good, nice video.
So bad that titanium and titanium machining is pretty expansive.
Thanks!
Love these vids . That paper over the scale one looked good ! Is it one of your favorites . I was thinking just sporadic “ Eddie Van Halen Guitar lines” but in whatever color comes would look cool
Awesome video, subbed, thx Sir! 😎👍
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching 👍🏼
Different color when in the electrolyte is because the index of refraction of the electrolyte is different from the index of refraction of air. Turn off auto white balance on your camera, and the color on camera will be more consistent with what you see.
Excellent vid teaching me some stuff. Would love to see you do a vid showing how to fade from one color to another. Good stuff!
I've got a few ideas lined up for some future videos. The fade is definitely on the list. If it's not the next, it'll be shortly after. Thanks for watching, glad I could help out!
Awesome. Subbed so I don't miss it. Thanks!
Hi! I like the video! I'm trying on titanium fishing rod guides. What is the ratio of distilled water to baking soda mixture?
4:30 what is the "wink" you talk about that brings it back to full titanium and removes the color?
Whink is a hydrofluoric acid based rust remover. The hydrofluoric acid is what removes the anodizing. Multi-Etch also works well, but is quite a bit more expensive.
Fantastic video! I am curious, do the batteries drain enough during each color testing to make a difference. For example, you got a beautiful gold with 6 batteries that you were already using. Would 6 new batteries be different? Or would the fact that you are adding to previous ano make up for that small amount of drainage?
Ultimately it comes down to exact voltage. Before I had a power supply I would use a volt meter to monitor voltage. The batteries will drain, but as long as you don't do anything stupid you can get a year or 2 from a set. Then you can fine tune the voltage with AA's, or an extra 9 volt if yours are depleting.
Question: what solution did you immerse the titanium in? You did not say whether its distilled water or sulfuric acid or chromic acid etc. Can you share that info please? Thank you
It's distilled water and baking soda. I have an entire video devoted to the step by step process on the channel if you want to check it out.
Like that green and your post!
What would it take to do a much larger piece. Like charge piping for an intercooler? Would the voltage stay the same and I just need a bigger container? Also is that just water?
Water and baking soda. You can totally do this on a larger scale, but you need a larger container, a larger cathode, and you'll probably want to use a power supply as well. There are links for power supplies in the video description that will work well.
Thank you! But where can I get the wires for the circuit - I don't know what exactly to look for 🤔
Also, would bar keepers friend work well if I don't have whink? 💛👊🏼
Amazing color sir !
Hey man I want to try this on my Titanium mid pipe on my motorcycle! How much metal do I need in the water? Will a fork work? Or a large piece of Tin foil? Thanks for the help!
You want your cathode (the stainless steel fork in my case) to be roughly the same size as the piece of metal you're anodizing. I've seen guys use basket strainers because they offer a lot of surface area. You could even use a piece of flat stock against one of the walls of the bath, but stainless steel is what you want to use for best results.
@@ApollosRings Awesome! I have a stainless steel exhaust off of my other bike that I'll use as a cathode. I'll make a bath out of a plastic tote! I hope 9 9v batteries will give me the blue I am looking for! I have titanium rings to test on! Thanks for the help!
Anytime, happy to help!
Thank you for the very informative video, can I achieve the same results on stainless steel?
Good question. No, unfortunately not using the same method.
I have some questions. 1. what is the solution in the bowl? 2. does the material the fork is made of matter?
The anodizing solution is baking soda and distilled water, and the cathode (the fork in the video) should be stainless steel. Carbon steel does not work correctly. Hope that helps!
@@ApollosRings that helps a lot. Thank you. I could probably google but is there a particular ratio of water to baking soda that you believe works best?
You want to supersaturate the water with the baking soda, but it doesn't have to be very exact. I generally just use a solid spoonful of baking soda into roughly 10 ounces of distilled water and get amazing results.
Great video
Thanks!
If your wondering the last color you can get is Brown because when heat anodizing your can either get purple or blue or if you miss it, it turns brown there are no other colors in heat anodizing that I know if I think it skips a lot of the colors
Is there a way to achieve a dark bronze? Similar to hinderers battle bronze? If so would that me 1 or 2 9v batteries ?
I think the color you're looking for is in the 10 to 20 volt range, but it's possible it's in the 65 to 70 volt range. Might take a little fine tuning, but if you start in the low range and decide you're unhappy with the result you can then jump to the higher voltage range. If you're using batteries it's going to be a bit harder to fine tune, but I have a video I'll have out in the next week or so showing how to do the fine tuning.
Excellent
Thanks!
Man this is the best video ive seen on this subject, awesome job thank you
Glad you found the video helpful! If you give it a try and have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I try to make myself available to help with any issues you might run into. I have a few more videos on anodizing that I have filmed, just have to get them edited and thrown on the channel. Stay tuned!
@@ApollosRings i do have a question about the fluid mixture. I use distilled water and baking soda for the solution?
Correct
A spoonful or 2 of baking soda, then dissolve it in the distilled water and you're good to go
Can i use regular steel as a cathode?
What else i need than batteries? Its that just normal water or what? And is this working with aluminium too? Like bolts and stuff?
Is this dangerous? I am aiming to anodize my titanium around the + 65 voltage range but 50 + voltage is enough for a fatal shock. Should I just stay below the 30 voltage line? My dad is just really cautious about this stuff.