Gold inlay and anodizing, problems?

dlilazteca

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I'm wanting to do some gold inlay on titanium and then anodizing to a nice blue how will the anodizing affect the gold inlay or silver any troubles?

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jerrywh

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Put a small piece of gold and silver in the solution and try them. My guess is it might oxidize the silver some but probably won''t effect the gold if it is 24K. I do quite a bit of gold plating but never got into the anodizing. I only studied it.
 

dlilazteca

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Thanks, what if i mask of the gold? Some resist, what would be a good option.

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peteb

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You can try some kind of insulating resist. Getting the color close to the gold so that it appears to butt up to the gold will be tricky.
 

Jan Hendrik

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I have tried this before with fine silver inlay. You need a strong resist to cover the precious metal to prevent deep pitting in the precious metal due to the electrolytic exchange of ions that take place if the gold or silver come into contact with the electrolyte during the anodising process. I suggest oil base enamel paint as the current is so strong in my experience that a relatively weak resist like nail varnish is not well suited to the task.
You can easily remove the enamel paint after anodising in paint thinners or acetone in a plastic container placed in an ultrasonic bath.
 

jerrywh

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When doing selective plating I use a lacquer resist sold by Rio Grande. One problem is I have to apply the resist after electro cleaning because the heat of the electro cleaner 150° F plus the electrical charge will lift the resist some. I don't think I would have much faith in any acrylic type resist or anything that won't take heat. Nitro cellulose lacquer will take about 300° but don't know how it would hold up in the solution. The caustic will probably lift it. From what I understand most anodizing solutions contain sodium hydroxide. That's about the same thing as paint remover.
 

peteb

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The common electrolyte used in anodizing titanium etc. is very mild, a solution of water and organic acid such as phosphoric or citric or oxalic (think rhubarb). All that is really needed is "dirty water" opposed to "pure water" which will not carry much of a charge. This will certainly not cause any damage to the gold.
 
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