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annodized instrument panel?

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erichweaver(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 11:52 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

Greeting



I was considering anodizing my instrument panel to a color of my choice rather than painting or powder coating.  Any drawbacks to this, asthetic or otherwise?



regards



Erich Weaver

rv8a2001(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 12:54 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

It will fade in the sun.



erichweaver(at)cox.net wrote:  



Greeting



I was considering anodizing my instrument panel to a color of my choice rather than painting or powder coating. Any drawbacks to this, asthetic or otherwise?



regards



Erich Weaver



		

---------------------------------

 Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.

ronlee(at)pcisys.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:06 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

 	  Quote: 	
		  I was considering anodizing my instrument panel to a color of my choice 

rather than painting or powder coating.  Any drawbacks to this, asthetic 

or otherwise?


	


Depends on the color.  Purple sucks.  Lavendar sucks   Pink is wimpy.

Orange is gaudy.  Red is iffy.



This vanilla ice cream eater would be turned off to anything flashy but

it is YOUR airplane.



Ron Lee



Do not archive

Vanremog(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:21 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

In a message dated 2/27/2006 7:45:49 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,  

erichweaver(at)cox.net writes:



I was  considering anodizing my instrument panel to a color of my choice 

rather than  painting or powder coating.  Any drawbacks to this, aesthetic or  

otherwise?

===============================================

 

I would encourage you to powder coat unless you are going with clear  

anodize.  I think that Class 2 (colored) anodizing would look cheap and  fade 

unpredictably after only a short time in the sun.  



GV (RV-6A  N1GV O-360-A1A, C/S, Flying 776hrs, Silicon Valley, CA)

sarg314(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:16 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

Scott:

    (Sorry to respond so late to this, but I've been out of town).  You 

say it fades in the sun.  Are you speaking from experience?  Do some 

dies/colors fade more than others? 



    I'm thinking of doing a very dark blue. There's a trophy maker here 

in Tucson that makes electronics panels for the U of A Astronomy dept. 

(my employer).  You dark anodize the panel and then give him an autocad 

or corel draw file of the labeling.  He has a CO2 laser that then writes 

the labeling into the panel by burning off the anodize, exposing the 

bare aluminum underneath.  Looks very good. The CO2 laser produces lines 

wiht very sharp edges, you can use different fonts, etc.  It doesn't 

cost much either.  So.... I'm interested in your experience with this. 



scott bilinski wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



It will fade in the sun.



erichweaver(at)cox.net wrote:  



Greeting



I was considering anodizing my instrument panel to a color of my choice rather than painting or powder coating. Any drawbacks to this, asthetic or otherwise?



regards



Erich Weaver

rv8a2001(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

I have seen several differnet colors fade that have been exposed to the sun. I would contact a company that does annodizing and see what they say. My brother just finished building a race car from scratch and did not annodize any of the alum because of the fading, again  I think your best bet would be to contact the company that you would pick to do the work.



sarg314 <sarg314(at)comcast.net> wrote:  



Scott:

(Sorry to respond so late to this, but I've been out of town). You 

say it fades in the sun. Are you speaking from experience? Do some 

dies/colors fade more than others? 



I'm thinking of doing a very dark blue. There's a trophy maker here 

in Tucson that makes electronics panels for the U of A Astronomy dept. 

(my employer). You dark anodize the panel and then give him an autocad 

or corel draw file of the labeling. He has a CO2 laser that then writes 

the labeling into the panel by burning off the anodize, exposing the 

bare aluminum underneath. Looks very good. The CO2 laser produces lines 

wiht very sharp edges, you can use different fonts, etc. It doesn't 

cost much either. So.... I'm interested in your experience with this. 



scott bilinski wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



It will fade in the sun.



erichweaver(at)cox.net wrote: 



Greeting



I was considering anodizing my instrument panel to a color of my choice rather than painting or powder coating. Any drawbacks to this, asthetic or otherwise?



regards



Erich Weaver



 




	






		

---------------------------------

Brings words and photos together (easily) with

rv7(at)b4.ca
Guest

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:15 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

On 19:45:47 2006-03-07 scott bilinski <rv8a2001(at)yahoo.com> wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   I have seen several differnet colors fade that have been exposed to

 the sun. I would contact a company that does annodizing and see what

 they say.


	


One of the companies I worked for would make jigs for testing critical fits

of assemblies out of aluminum, and then have them anodized a dark red.  It

was great for finding the jigs, and you knew that if it was anodized red

that it should be treated carefully as it was a precision measuring device.



A number of them were stored on a windowsill in our lab, and they did fade

over time on the side that faced the sun.  Eventually we started rotating

them so they would fade more evenly, but they did fade.



Another consideration (sorry to drop this in so late in the discussion): 

Anodizing changes the surface properties of the material, and may change

the mechanical properties as well.  Not necessarily a problem in RV's where

the panel isn't a structural component, but in the RV-4 at least, the panel

is riveted in and forms a structural part of the fuselage.  In that

instance you might not want to modify it's properties.  You don't say what

kind of RV you're building.



-Rob

evmeg(at)snowcrest.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:28 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

I've been involved with building a couple of showplanes and the panels were

done in a similar manner...only the laser cut through paint. In one case

through one color exposing a second color underneath...not just down to the

metal. You might ask about the paint approach. No worries about fading.

Evan Johnson

www.evansaviationproducts.com

(530)247-0375

(530)351-1776 cell

---

KBelue(at)drs-tem.com
Guest

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:38 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

Do any of you guys have recommendations for companies that can do this laser

cutting on a painted panel?



Kevin D. Belue

RV-6A Flying 700hrs

RV-10 Fuselage/Finish kit

--

Bruce(at)glasair.org
Guest

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:51 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

Wayne at www.engravers.net. 



Bruce

www.glasair.org

 



--

sarg314(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 7:20 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

I talked with an anodizing company today.  They were well aware of 

the tendency of sunlight to fade the dies.  They said that if I request 

it they could use an "architectural dye" which is much more stable.  

Apparently anodized colored aluminum is being used in architecture 

nowadays for decorative purposes.  I think the architectural dye is much 

more resistant to fading, but probably not completely resistant.  The 

sun is relentless.



    They suggested that a further protection would be to have the thing 

clear powder coated after it was anodized and laser engraved.  I didn't 

even know there was such a thing as clear powder coat.  Another 

suggestion was spray-on Krylon urethane clear coat.  Since the plane 

will be hangared (assuming I can ever find a hangar in this town), the 

exposure to sunlight will be only during flying or parking at a distant 

airport.  So, I'm leaning towards going ahead with this.

--

Tom Sargent

RV-6A, engine.

Mark Phillips in TN

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 431
Location: Columbia, TN

Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:07 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

Consider that most of our "babies" are usually hangared- how many hours would 

your panel be exposed to direct sunlight after X number of years?  Is this 

really an issue?



Mark do not archive

_________________
From The PossumWorks...

Randy Richter

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 5
Location: Reston, VA

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 5:23 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

I wonder what component of sunlight fades the anodizing? If it's the UV

range, is there a "clear powder coat" that's UV-opaque? Something like that

might provide at least partial protection from fading.



Anyone have any ideas on this?



Randy

RV-7QB emp



--

_________________
Randy Richter
-7AQB Emp started

william.p.dube(at)noaa.go
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:14 am Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

The dye is what fades.



You anodize first, then you dye the coating (just like dyeing cloth) 

then you optionally seal the surface. There are more fade resistant dyes 

you can select if you pay a bit extra.



Here is a link: <http://www.focuser.com/anodize.html> I've used this 

exact kit and it works great. It is fun and easy to do.



I don't see much point in clear powder coating or clear lacquer. If you 

are going to paint it, then skip the anodizing, just Alodine it and 

paint it.



Bill Dube'



Randall Richter wrote:



[quote]



I wonder what component of sunlight fades the anodizing? If it's the UV

range, is there a "clear powder coat" that's UV-opaque? Something like that

might provide at least partial protection from fading.



Anyone have any ideas on this?



Randy

RV-7QB emp



--

sarg314(at)comcast.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:37 pm Post subject: annodized instrument panel?

Bill:

    The clear poweder coat or Krylon is to further protect it from 

sunlight.  Apparently this is done on after market aluminum car parts.



Bill Dube wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



The dye is what fades.



You anodize first, then you dye the coating (just like dyeing cloth) 

then you optionally seal the surface. There are more fade resistant dyes 

you can select if you pay a bit extra.



Here is a link: <http://www.focuser.com/anodize.html> I've used this 

exact kit and it works great. It is fun and easy to do.



I don't see much point in clear powder coating or clear lacquer. If you 

are going to paint it, then skip the anodizing, just Alodine it and 

paint it.



Bill Dube'

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