AnoGuides
Anodizing Guides for Engineers and Buyers
Eight guides on specifying, sourcing and troubleshooting Anodizing and chemical conversion coating, written by the shop that runs the tanks.
Why these exist
Written From the Shop Floor
These guides are written from thirteen years of running machined aluminum through our own line in Paoli, Indiana. They answer the questions we actually get asked on the phone: how much will this grow my bore, what does that callout mean, why did my last vendor's black come back different, and what makes one quote higher than another.
Nothing here is a sales page. Where a process is not one we run, the guide says so and explains it anyway, because a buyer choosing correctly is worth more to us than a buyer choosing us for the wrong job.
The guides
Start Wherever Your Question Is
Shorter answers to narrower questions live in the articles section. If you would rather just talk to somebody, the shop number is 812-620-4646 and Matt will answer it.
Questions
About These Guides
Who Are These Guides Written For?
Engineers, buyers and machine shop owners who have to specify or source an aluminum finish and want a straight answer. They are written by the people who run the tanks in Paoli, Indiana, so they describe what actually happens to a part on the line.
Do I Need to Read These Before Requesting a Quote?
No. If you have a print with a callout on it, send it and we will read it with you. The guides exist for the case where the drawing is not written yet, or where somebody has to decide between two finishes before it can be.
Do These Cover Processes AnoPRO Does Not Run?
They explain them where a buyer needs the comparison, and they say plainly when something is not ours. We do not run Type I Chromic Acid Anodizing, painting, powder coating, black oxide, electroless nickel or hard chrome, and we anodize machined aluminum only, never steel or titanium.
How Current Is This Information?
The specification content follows the published documents, which are free to read on the government's ASSIST library. Where a guide describes how we run a process, it describes our shop as it operates now.
Ready when you are
Have a Print in Front of You?
Send it over. We will read the callout with you and quote from it, and if the drawing is not written yet we will tell you what it needs to say.