The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----

Paintball gun stripping and re-anodize

I'm a anodizer and I re-anodize a paintball gun and dye orange and sealed and my client want to change the paintball gun to other color. How many times can I re-anodize a paintball gun without affecting the inside diameter?

Juan carrero
anodizing - Aguada, PR, Puerto Rico

---

First of two simultaneous responses -- 2004

You will remove material and change the diameter every time you strip and re-anodize. How much change is allowable?

Jeffrey Holmes, CEF
Spartanburg, South Carolina
2004

---

Second of two simultaneous responses --

Zero times actually, Juan. But how many times you can do it without effecting the ID by enough to cause a problem depends on how critical the ID is (which is a subject I'm not familiar with) and how thick the anodizing is. Figure that a .0004" anodize thickness consumes .0002" of aluminum every time you do it.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2004

---

This mostly depends on the stripping method used, and how thick the anodic coating is. Stripping will remove at least %50 of the original coating thickness, ie, if the coating is .001" to begin with, you can expect at least .0005" of subtrate removal. NAOH stripping will probably remove quite a bit more, as opposed to a Chromic/Nitric acid method.

Marc Green
anodizer - Boise, Idaho
2004