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Anodizer wanted, central Connecticut

kineticmx

Aluminum
Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Location
United States, CT
Hi folks, looking for anodizer recommendations in the Connecticut / southern mass area. Im in hartford county CT. I have been using philson inc for several years with good luck, however they just told me their parent company is shutting them down. Currently getting a quote from light metals in Southington, but open to other vendors. Would prefer someone within driving distance or who will pick up and deliver, not economic for me to pay shipping on these parts unless the anodizing was damn near free.

Type 2 decorative, I typically do red and black with a bright dip, I would like to expand into other colors. about 2000 parts per year over 3-4 orders.

Thanks


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I dont have any Springfield vendors for anodizing. The one with a good rep up here is Metal Plating, Anodizing and Surface Finishing - AOTCO

I have guys south of you sending stuff up to them. Highly recommended. Some other companies only do Black or are limited on colors.

I can ask my sales rep who lives in Waterbury if you want. He knows everyone down there.
 
Someone recommended Poly-metals in Springfield MA to me the other day. Havent done any work with them, just have heard the name in passing.
 
Someone recommended Poly-metals in Springfield MA to me the other day. Havent done any work with them, just have heard the name in passing.

The company I am with sends a lot of parts to Poly Metals and I haven't seen any problems with them. We send a lot of type 1 and 2 anodizing to them.
 
Figured I would update. I tried Poly-Metal Finishing on my last order, good customer service, good turnaround time, but I wasn’t very happy with the depth of the color. They didn’t offer a bright dip pre treatment (electropolish) and it definitely showed in the final look of the part. Just didn’t have that same luster/shine I’m used to. Not slandering them, great experience and if I have other work in the future I will definitely be using them. But my product line needs the deep shine that seems to only be achieved with bright dip.

I have another batch at Light Metals Coloring in Southington CT, they are WAY more expensive but they do offer the bright dip so fingers crossed it comes back looking good. So expensive that I may never go back unless the quality and turnaround time blows me away.

The search continues. Going to explore 3rd party electropolish. I would consider using two separate vendors for electropolish and anodizing.


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Never had it done myself but I’ve read that the bright dip process is particularly nasty so not many do it.

I can relate though that getting a consistent look is a challenge.
 
Figured I would update. I tried Poly-Metal Finishing on my last order, good customer service, good turnaround time, but I wasn’t very happy with the depth of the color. They didn’t offer a bright dip pre treatment (electropolish) and it definitely showed in the final look of the part. Just didn’t have that same luster/shine I’m used to. Not slandering them, great experience and if I have other work in the future I will definitely be using them. But my product line needs the deep shine that seems to only be achieved with bright dip.

I have another batch at Light Metals Coloring in Southington CT, they are WAY more expensive but they do offer the bright dip so fingers crossed it comes back looking good. So expensive that I may never go back unless the quality and turnaround time blows me away.

The search continues. Going to explore 3rd party electropolish. I would consider using two separate vendors for electropolish and anodizing.


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not a good idea to split the polish and anodize, parts will slightly oxidize after polished, its pure Al on the surface, it is inevitable once they are polished dried and shipped to you (unless some sort of oil is used or something else to protect pure Al from oxygen in air)

then these parts go to anodizer, who will rack them and then degrease, maybe short etch, deox and anodize, this degrease+etch will make the part very slightly matte, you might try skipping the short etch, but results might not be very consistent then

so best practice is: to do everything in a single process, because after the parts are polished (be it bright dip or electropolish - 2 different things btw), they never are exposed to air and get chance to oxidize, there is a water film protecting it at all times till they are finally sealed, rinsed and dried

also every racking/deracking is a part damage risk and will leave more score marks (also called rack marks) than a single process would

edit: also there is a risk of nasty pit corrosion when polished to pure Al and exposed to air/moisture and stored in an inappropriate way, some paper has chlorine in it, enough to cause deep pits on Al if left in contact with the part, especially evident if parts were packaged wet

the way I know is when tumbled parts (it also leaves pretty clean and degreased Al surface) got shipped to me, they had blind holes that were never blown out with air and dried, they just got wiped down and packaged with paper towels, those soaked up all the remaining water (not clean water, but whatever was in the tumbler) and corroded the parts, and buffing with scotchbrite won't solve the problem, you need to remove 0.1~0.2mm from the part, the pits are that deep, they look like tiny pin holes, but they are very deep, and will look like black dots after regular clear anodizing
 
Haven’t tried them, but heard good things about CT Anodizing and Finishing in Bridgeport.
It like everything , hard to filter the feedback, often love/hate, not much in the middle

Connecticut Anodizing & Finishing -HOME

They claim there colors are consistent and they the minimum size order quote was $85 a year or so ago( I wanted to send a couple dozen small parts for a prototype)


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Figured I would update. I tried Poly-Metal Finishing on my last order, good customer service, good turnaround time, but I wasn’t very happy with the depth of the color. They didn’t offer a bright dip pre treatment (electropolish) and it definitely showed in the final look of the part. Just didn’t have that same luster/shine I’m used to. Not slandering them, great experience and if I have other work in the future I will definitely be using them. But my product line needs the deep shine that seems to only be achieved with bright dip.

I have another batch at Light Metals Coloring in Southington CT, they are WAY more expensive but they do offer the bright dip so fingers crossed it comes back looking good. So expensive that I may never go back unless the quality and turnaround time blows me away.

The search continues. Going to explore 3rd party electropolish.
I would consider using two separate vendors for electropolish and anodizing.


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Spectacurly bad idea, what do you thinks going to happen when you recieve bad parts?

"wasn't us, it was the other guys!"
 








 
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