I just wanted to put out an update for the Duif Workholding Project.
Unfortunately, I've been getting swamped in my other work, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to allocate the time needed to make substantial progress.
I finished up the remainder of the 10 baseplates and decided to do a tumbled surface finish. I found that the 'beaten' matt look to it is really appealing, and I think it makes it look more solid, which adds to the overall feel of the product. The next step is to anodize these and get the last two parts finished up before I can start marketing and selling them!
I am considering trying to do the anodizing myself and looked into the process a bit. From what I understand, it's a fairly complex process that doesn't require too much effort once setup.
Reviewing a few videos on the matter, I've found that there are only a few steps to do it. You start with washing all oils off your part using a degreaser and lye. You then bathe it in a tub of battery acid and distilled water with a power source that actively sends electricity to the piece, the positive connection to the part hanging down off a rod, and the negative to a plate of lead (or cleaned aluminum) and let it soak for a few hours to get it 'anodized,' basically the process right before coloring.
Once it's been anodized and thoroughly cleaned of battery acid, you then put the parts in a boiling bath of water and dye for a few minutes before it's finished. This is just the general outline of how it's done, and there is a lot more to the process than what I outlined above.
One of the great resources I found on this topic is a video made by ShopBuitl on YouTube entitled 'How to Anodize Aluminum', where he outlines the method he used and some of the tricks he picked up.