Titanium Ring - Blue or Black?

davidshe · Jan 18, 2015

I just finished engraving this deep relief Titanium ring and decided to try anodizing it blue rather than blackening. I also used a sharpie to temporarily see what it looked liked with a black background. As I view the ring in various lighting conditions I notice pros and cons to the blue. In some cases it really looks nice and in more outside light conditions the background shows up more than the scrollwork. Curious what others think and if perhaps some of you have had some experience with this. The blue anodizing is 29.2 Volts. Thanks for looking! ~David

Roger Bleile · Jan 18, 2015

Blue for me.

monk · Jan 18, 2015

gotta be blue. a very cool looking job. where did you get the blank ring ? cost ? how difficult to cut ? etc

diandwill · Jan 18, 2015

My wife prefers the Blue, as is. I like the blue too, but thought, if you are worried about the blue overpowering the engraving, next time add an extra leaf in each pattern leaving a little less background!

Will

KCSteve · Jan 18, 2015

I agree - because you can get that lovely blue I think you should take advantage of it.

Eugene Carkoski · Jan 18, 2015

The macho in me says that if it's a man's Ring go black, until I saw the blue now I like them both good engraving as well.
I must still be in touch with my female side.

davidshe · Jan 18, 2015

Thank you all for your helpful input!

Monk, this blank titanium ring cost about $60 and I think I bought it online through a place called titaniumrings.com. I used a Steve Lyndsay carbalt graver for this and it cut pretty well but I did have to keep it lubricated. Had to resharpen a bit more than when I cut stainless bolsters but it was not too bad.

Will, that is a good idea about cutting down on the open background area. I may try that next time.

Eugene, I have the same macho feelings but I am trying to come around to a more modern point of view!

LVVP · Jan 18, 2015

Blue more attractive - my choice.

Sandro Boeck · Jan 19, 2015

sure with blue

Tira · Jan 19, 2015

Blue, blue, blue! Nice job.

Gemsetterchris · Jan 19, 2015

I like both.

Did wonder recently if anyone had tried a different colour paint other than black (yes I know this is anodized).. but for other metals?

monk · Jan 20, 2015

thanks , david. i'm in the process of creating a variable power supply that puts out 110vdc, along with good ampacity. i hope to finish it by march. am anxious to give this stuff a try. i managed to get a nice variac , as well as a rectifier, and a steel box. cost me a coffee and a "thank you". the coffee was a buck !

monk · Jan 20, 2015

gemsetter: you might try ceramit. i bought a bunch of frit,many colors, and all the goodies that go with it. real enamel can add a nice touch to some projects. never tried to enamel anything but copper and brass.
silver prices tell me i aint gonna experiment on that metal.

Sam · Jan 20, 2015

That blue is just awesome!

Dani Girl · Oct 24, 2016

Blue background, brown on the top. You could even re anodize the top with a lower colour than is in the grooves... sand a bit of that off... re anodize that at something lower than that... custom knife makers are coming up with lots of cool textures and colour combinations

davidshe · Oct 24, 2016

Dani Girl said:
Blue background, brown on the top. You could even re anodize the top with a lower colour than is in the grooves... sand a bit of that off... re anodize that at something lower than that... custom knife makers are coming up with lots of cool textures and colour combinations

Dani- when I was doing this project it seemed to me that the anodizing would not hold up well on the outside surface of the ring so I kept it only in the recessed areas. I have worked on some anodized knives but I believe they use the type 2 hard anodizing that doesn't scratch off but requires some heavy duty anodizing tanks. Have you had any success with your anodizing holding up on outside surfaces such as rings or bracelets? Your idea would work well and offer nice contrast but only if it did not scratch up easily over time. Always open to learning new techniques! Thanks.

AliAtiyabi · Oct 24, 2016

The blue one is beautiful maybe other colours can be used.

Omar Haltam · Oct 24, 2016

I like the blue, and for some reason a lot of customers in the mall are looking for blue accent rings....
definitely the blue looks great

ulrigg · Oct 25, 2016

David,

Is there a good spot to learn about this anodize process? I assume you are using some sort of resist on the outer portion, so the blue only goes where you want?

Looks pretty dang spiffy!

davidshe · Oct 25, 2016

Thanks Omar.

Ulrigg - this forum has some good info about anodizing. Just have to search it some. I did not use any resist on this project. I simply anodized the entire ring blue and then lightly sanded the top layer off with 2000 grit wet paper.

Titanium Ring - Blue or Black?

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