does anyone know what alloy hammond boxes are?

[Hal]

and...has anyone tried anodizing? I've been thinking about it for a while...those colors are so cool :-D

And it seems simple.  http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize99.html

their kit is expensive, but I could probably get the chemicels elsewhere cheaper.

I hear its only easy on 6000 series alloys, though.  No info at the hammond web site.

[DavidS]

I looked into this a bit, but from what I read, anodiztion is only consistent and effective on machined aluminum parts, not cast. Don't know if it's accurate, but from what I saw just fine-sanding a Hammond enclosure, I expect that there would be some noticeable surface inperfections.

Take this with a grain of salt, though, I haven't tried it.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

From a quick Google, I think it might be:
LM24: Cu 3-4 Mg 0.3max Si 7.5-9.5 Fe 1.3max Mn 0.5max Ni0.5 max
Zn3.0max Pb 0.3max Sn 0.2max Ti 0.2max Cr 0 and the rest is of course Al.

That high Si content might be a problem.

[Doug_H]

Hammond has datasheets on all their enclosures at their site. Don't know if they include alloy info or not. I've emailed them before though and they are very responsive. Got an answer back the next day.

Doug

[cd]

Hammond has datasheets on all their enclosures at their site. Don't know if they include alloy info or not. I've emailed them before though and they are very responsive. Got an answer back the next day.

Agreed - email them, they'll have the answer.  I contacted them once about a 60 year old power transformer and they had the specifications faxed to me within 48 hours!!  That's service.

[The Tone God]

I think they are BS1490 alloy. They have 9% silcon which makes them unsuitable for anadozing.

Do your research to make sure this is true as I am only going by memory.

Andrew

[Peter Davidoff]

As far as I know this is alloy made out of three main metals -  Zn, Al and Mg. They stand for Zinc, Aluminium and Magnezium. The name of this alloy comes from the names of these three metals - ZAMag!

Regards!

Peter

[Hal]

They told me, but said that I'm not allowed to tell anyone.  J/k....but the e-mail had a thing in it....

"THIS MESSAGE IS ONLY INTENDED FOR THE USE OF THE INTENDED RECIPIENT(S)
AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS PRIVILEGED, PROPRIETARY AND/OR
CONFIDENTIAL. "

Anyway, you're right, its high si...

Cu 1.0
Fe 2.0
SI 11.0 – 13.0
Mn 0.35
Mg 0.10
Zn 0.50
Ni 0.50
Sn 0.15
Total Others 0.25
Al Remainder

I don't think the si would be a problem, but even 1% copper might not be so good if i would be throwing it in sulfuric acid....o-well

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

I have no experience, but everything I have read says that high silicon (which this is) is unsuitable for bright anodising (the kind we want).
But hats off to hammond for actually knowing wht is in it, I spoke once to a local die cast box maker who said "well, at least half of it is aluminium, but the rest just depends..". He was recycling

[acryl]

that's interesting hal, but i don't agree with you when you say the silicon (11.0-13.0 %) will have no influence on the anodising process.
actually i never tried to anodise hammond boxes, but i know silicon is added to aluminum so it can be cast better.
the only aluminum products i remember anodising at school where made of sheet strip or rod which don't contain silicon because they
are not cast. in fact i can't remember seeing anything cast that's anodised. if you want to be sure go to an anodising shop and ask them.

I think they are BS1490 alloy. They have 9% silcon which makes them unsuitable for anadozing.

Do your research to make sure this is true as I am only going by memory.

Andrew

at least eddystone (by hammond) enclosures are : www.hammondmfg.com/eddydwg.htm

[Hal]

idk about silicon content that high, but they recomend anodizing the 6000 series alloys, which are al-si-mg alloys.

[lovekraft0]

IIRC (and it's been a long time since college), the problem with anodizing diecast items was crystalline silicon on the alloy's surface - please don't hold me to any of this, it was a long time ago, but it seems that there was a solution that removed the offending crystals from the surface and allowed fairly consistent surface anodizing -  it was a pretty caustic/toxic brew (I seem to remember hydrofluoric acid being involved), and it didn't allow a very thick anodized layer to be built up, so it was considered pretty impractical. Keep in mind that this was related to hard-coating items for industry, so it might be less of an issue for finishing/dyeing boxes. HF is not anything I want to be anywhere near, but perhaps advances in chemistry have come up with a less dire method since the 70s. Anybody know a good metallurgist?

[Peter Snowberg]

I studied some rocket fuel chemistry when I was restoring old rockets. The main liquid fuel system of the 1960s involved something called "inhibited red fuming nitric acid". Nitric acid dissolves most things so for storage they "inhibit" it from dissolving the oxidizer tank by adding 0.6% hydrofluoric acid. There was a huge amount of caution against skin contact. The resulting acid mixture damaged the skin, but the real damage came from the hydrofluoric acid passing through the skin without much effort and dissolving your bones. 

Wasn't the Klon Centaur cast and anodized in the early days? (the gold ones)

I've seen surface etching agents that might get rid of rouge Si crystals called "desmutting" compounds. Toxic gunk with big time toxic byproducts. Yuck.