Anodized Hammond (or similar) cast aluminum alloy enclosures?

[earthtonesaudio]

Any pictures?

All I've read says anodizing won't work well due to the high Si content of the alloy used in Hammond boxes (I'm assuming knock-offs are similar)... but I have yet to see any results that show just how bad it looks.  Has no one tried it?

[dcreeves88]

You're right about the high SI content. Ano doesnt come out too well with these enclosures. It comes out pretty splotchy and unsightly. What you could do however is one of two thing. As I just posted in the painting thread, chromate the case then paint it with your regular spray bomb for really good adhesion. The other option is to do a hardcoat anodize. Typically, you can only hardcoat in black and it's also more expensive. The finish however, is VERY durable and resistant to just about any condition it could be subject too. My father has owned and operated a metal finishing shop for over 25 years so if anyone has questions about passivates, chromates, anodizes, or harcoat anodizes let me know. If I can't answer them I'll run them by dad.

[earthtonesaudio]

That's kinda what I figured, but since I've never seen an example, I'd still like to know how it looks, and whether it is useful from an artistic perspective (might not look "right" but still "interesting"). 

Thanks for the reply and the other info too!

[snap]

hey dcreeves: is it possible to do some letter-masking on the box before hardcoat anodizing,
so that afterwards the masking can be removed easily by some solvent
and the letters then will shine up silver amidst the black surrounding?
Thank you in advance.

[dcreeves88]

To some degree yes. You would need to polish the enclosure first to get a silver-ish look. After that you could mask out a design and hardcoat. Harcoats are a longer process though which does mean there is a risk of the mask peeling/falling off. No harm in trying anyway. I'll give it a shot for my next build (once I raise the money anyway) and try to post some pictures.

[rocket]

That's kinda what I figured, but since I've never seen an example, I'd still like to know how it looks, and whether it is useful from an artistic perspective (might not look "right" but still "interesting"). 

Thanks for the reply and the other info too!

I had a box anodized a few years back: it turned out smooth matt (absolutly UNGLOSSY) dark grey, useable in my opinion if matt grey is ok for you.