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Black coating stainless?

Can stainless steel be black anodized or otherwise black coated? I make botanical plant labels with .040 black anodized aluminum. While they hold up to mother nature, people like to bend them and otherwise vandalize them. I think stainless would hold up to the abuse, but I need a tough black coating on it. Any ideas or suggestions I can take to my plater?

Karl Miller
Lark Label - Greenwood, Arkansas
1999

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Stainless steel can't be anodized, but it can be chemically blackened either with a black oxide process that a number of shops can offer, or with more exotic technologies like electrolytic application of chrome oxide (Prismatic Stainless Steel [from B&M Finishers, a finishing.com supporting advertiser]) or titanium sputtering.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Black nickel and black chrome plating are alternatives. They cost more, less platers do it but it really looks great when it is done right.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
1999

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Another alternative might be to use titanium black colored stainless. Without knowing what your end application is, Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) technology will allow our plants to handle 4' by 12' stainless steel size sheets and titanium color it in a variety of finishes.

Michael Liu Taylor
specialty stainless steel distributor - Dallas, Texas
1999