Colourful and Corrosion Resistant: Anodising

When you’re looking to add those finishing touches to perfect your products, colour anodising is one of the best options for adding a bit of finesse. You’d be forgiven for thinking this finish is purely a decorative process, after all, there is a whole rainbow of colours to choose from. But actually, anodising can give a more durable surface to your metal components.

How?

When preparing metal for anodising, the surface is first thoroughly cleaned and rinsed, before being placed into a bath of an electrolytic solution like sulphuric acid. A positive charge is applied to the metal product making it an ‘anode’ and a negative charge is applied to the solution. This allows the process of passivation to take place where ions are swapped.

This electrochemical reaction causes pores to form on the surface of the metal where the excess positive ions have escaped. These tiny holes form a geometrically regular pattern and because they are nice and stable, they are ideal for introducing tints or pigments. We fill these pours with colour solution, add a sealing solution and voila! You’re left with colour that has penetrated deep into the metal, so can’t simply be scratched off. It’s this clever process that gives colour anodised metal is superior abrasion resistance.

Benefits

Besides increasing the durability of your metal, colour anodising can extend its lifespan. While it won’t completely protect from weathering, the difference between maintenance required to reapply coatings compared to using this organic method is huge. With the lifespan of an anodised product being around 20 years, this far exceeds that of a painted component.

Harder than powder-coating, anodising is ideal for metal that is in high traffic areas or for heavy equipment, as the surface won’t actively take damage from physical contact, UV light or harsh chemicals. Although anodised metal sometimes takes on dirt and stains, using a mild detergent you can easily remove these without infringing on the overall finish of the metal.

At Metal Supplies, we stock a broad variety of metals that can be colour or hard anodised, including aluminium, titanium, magnesium and zinc. We can offer an extremely fast turn-around and the service is available to both our commercial and domestic customers across the UK and overseas. To find out more get in touch today on 0800 123 7010 or email us at sales@metalsupplies.com.