Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----
How to do Black Finish on Titanium
adv.
June 9, 2022
RFQ: Want a tough black finish on some titanium parts bolts washers
Hello! I have a small quantity of like 15 titanium 4-6 mm bolts, 28 washers. I need them colored black to match some carbon fiber engine covers on a Ferrari F430.
Would like fade-free tough black finish for this project. I am developing aftermarket engine cover bolts kits.
Thanks ever so much !
Kind regards, Ned Dale
- tucson Arizona
privately respond to this RFQ
Ed. note: As always, gentle readers: technical replies in public and commercial replies in private please (huh? why?)
⇩ Related postings, oldest first ⇩
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Q. What if any black hard durable finish that looks good can we get for our Titanium air tube assemblies?
Van Jacobian air-gun mfgr - Dallas, Texas
2003
|
A. I think the closest you are going to get on titanium is a very dark color, no true black like a dyed anodized aluminum. We offer a hard, wear resistant, very dark color on titanium. (AMS 2488D) Jon Quirt- Fridley, Minnesota 2003 A. No problem. Please see the picture of durable black Ti anodizing coating. 
 Anna Berkovich Russamer Lab  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2003 |
Anna, I feel like a jerk. I have seen your coating and will attest that it is black and very nice looking. I was replying to the nature of a durable coating. Again I may I have my foot in mouth. I think of the colors as not being durable, but failed ^to test what I could have -- the sample you provided me with. Van, I suggest you look at Anna's coating; no one else that I know of has an appealing looking black coating like this.
- Fridley, Minnesota
2003
Jon, we want to look at any test you've ran. Please provide more information.
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2003
Anna, That was a typo in my response (will I ever get my foot out of my mouth!) It should have said "I failed TO test what was in front of me." That is I did not test it for durability. I have cut up the samples you shared with me and provided them to a few key customers ... no feedback yet. As far as I know you folks are the only ones on the planet with this black anodize on titanium. Are you going to the MD&M show in Anaheim?
Jon Quirt- Fridley, Minnesota
2003
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Jon, tell me more about this show: where and when. As to Ti black: it can be matte if the initial surface is not polished, or bright if Ti is pre-polished before anodizing procedure. Anna Berkovich Russamer Lab Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2003 |
A. You can give as undercoat acid nickel, later to burn the piece in a bath of black nickel (this offers great hardness) and to complete, if you wish, use furnace varnish.
ivanoguera [surname deleted for privacy by Editor]UNIVERSIDAD - MEDELLIN-ANTIOQUIA-COLOMBIA
2003
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors :-)
Matte black, abrasion resistant finish for titanium
Q. I am designing positioning clamp out of titanium for an optical sighting device and am having trouble finding a mil spec finish that will be matte black and provide abrasion resistance. We chose titanium for to the weight constraints required by our customer. The clamp is rectangular and about 1/4 the size of a credit card. We are looking at an initial build of 100 pieces with 1000's to follow upon production release. To date I have looked at powder coating, anodizing and electrocoating and have ruled out anodizing due to the low abrasion resistance. Any suggestions or other finishing options I have missed?
Thanks,
Designer - Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA
2004
A. Black matte finish can be obtained on titanium by proprietary titanium blackening technology. This is very new development, and so far the best dark black color (matter or bright) can be obtained on titanium grade 1-4. Other titanium alloy give dark-dark grey or light-black color. We are still working on improvements. Titanium blackening is formation of black oxide layer of 1-2 micron thickness, which is very durable and corrosion resistant.
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2004
A. PVD coating the part will be more than adequate for any of the constraints required by your customer.
Jeff Swayze- Kelowna, B.C., Canada
2004
Multiple threads merged: please forgive chronology errors :-)
Q. Need assistance in achieving Dark Grey to Black Color for 6AL4V titanium using what ever "informal" process. I have heard of some companies being able to achieve this through anodizing the piece, but is there a thermal or less cost effective way to get a durable finish?
Any help would be appreciated.
Hobbyist - NY, New York, US
2005
A. You probably meant to say "more" rather than "less cost effective", David. The most "informal" process is paint of some type, but you haven't told us enough about the application to know if that has any merit. "Durable finish" probably means both wear resistant and corrosion resistant, right? But cost effectiveness almost always depends on size and shape and volume to be processed. Is this one single piece? How big is it? In short, what is the application? -- then we may be able to offer alternatives. Thanks.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005
by Zhentao Yu
on eBay or
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or Amazon
(affil links)
A. Just paint it with 20% shellac solution(instead lacquer You can use any edible oil or fat, use it very sparingly),then heat it up to 400 °C (slowly). Cheap, simple and durable finish.
Good luck!
- Cerovski vrh Croatia
2005
A. Like Ted said...not enough info given.
As for anodizing...I don't think it is possible to get a black on titanium. You can have titanium nitride coatings done but not actual hobby shop setup black anodizing. sometimes people will thermally treat niobium (heat to about 1500 and dip in water) to get beautiful hematite/black colors, or use aluminum and anodize with black dye(which will fade from UV exposure over years)and use these 2 materials in place of titanium, in the jewelry industry for example.
List more info and get more accurate help.
- Flint, Michigan
2005
A. You can do black on titanium, but it is not common or easy. I believe letter 30989 addresses it.
Jim GorsichCompton, California, USA
2005
Q. Dear Sirs, I'd like to anodize a titanium bolt in Black. I made a sample with 180 V and PO4H3 and I just got dark grey. Please could you tell me how can I get black?
Thank you for your help.
Regards.
Claudio
Teacher - Argentine
July 30, 2008
Q. I'm wondering if there are any updates to this thread. An eBay search for "black titanium bolts" yields hundreds of matches, many costing less than $2. They are mainly grade 5 titanium. So there must be a simple (read cheap) process for black coating titanium. As far as I can tell, this rules out PVD and electroplating. I've seen videos where parts are heated red hot and dipped in WD-40 ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or something similar. But that seems unlikely for bolts. Can anyone tell me how these parts are being finished? I'm thinking in terms of an anodizing type process using an unusual electrolyte or maybe the cold black oxide (actually copper selenium) process for steel but this is just wild speculation.
William VynHazards Testing Company - Santa Barbara, California
May 25, 2017
A. Grade 1-4 titanium is anodized into matte or bright, depending on initial surface preparation. The surface is pretty durable. See photos 1,2, and 3 attached.
Grade 5 titanium is anodized always matte by the same method.
There is another possibility which is to AMS 2488 anodize grade 5. Our method produces dark black and VERY durable surface without fur coat. Slightly beaten by glass beads -- will create the image of bright black (the very right valve on photo 4).
Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
May 26, 2017
Q. I have made our wedding rings in Titanium grade 5, and want them coated to matte black finish, I have grooves that are only 0.35 mm (0.0137 inch) wide, and want the coating to not build more than some microns. Do you have any suggestions for me ?
Bye-Tech - Bryne, Norway
April 30, 2019
A. Oil your rings with linseed oil, but very very sparingly. Then heat them slowly to 300-400 °C (with hot air gun). Repeat it if needs. Age-old process, and very simple and cheap too. Hope it helps and good luck!
Goran Budija- Zagreb,Croatia
May 4, 2019
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