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Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Want stainless water bottles to look like anodized aluminum

December 22, 2011

Q. Hello - I am making a high end water bottle out of stainless steel, 304. We are trying to achieve a bead blasted, anodized aluminum look, exactly like the mac book pro and iPod mini products.

We are trying various levels of bead blasting and the best we can do still looks much more gray than what we want.

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I have attached the two photos, one of a model of bead blasted anodized aluminum model we made. As you can see the metal is much more gray and flat in finish.

Do any of you have any ideas about how to mimic an anodized aluminum finish in stainless?

Thanks!
Dave

Dave Mayer
- portola valley, California USA

A. I don't know how those Apple products are made, but I am writing this on a Macbook Pro and it looks to me like it is alkaline etched (or maybe bifluoride etched) and dyed. The color looks whiter than natural aluminum to me, although certainly far from white.

Ted's Macbook Pro, and white Composition Book pages
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I am surprised that your stainless steel looks so dark though. I have seen bead blasted stainless steel pistol components that are much whiter, although not (to my eye) the color of a Macbook Pro.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
December 28, 2011

A. Stainless parts can be color anodized to gray matte color.

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Anna Berkovich
Russamer Lab

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

December 31, 2011

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