Anodized aluminum sheet

[dadunc205x]

Does anyone know where i may be able to find sheets of anodized aluminum for a reasonable price? I'm looking for some black anodized alum(grade doesn't matter) for a dash. I only need a small sheet 24" x 24" and anywhere from 1/16" - 1/8" thick. Mcmaster has some that size, but it is .040" which i think is a little thin, it is about $25 though. the next size up is 1/16" and its MIL-spec and about $160. thanks, derek

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[sickrick]

I would make it out of aluminum and then have it anodized. Anodizing is very inexpensive.

[josh909]

for small pieces of "aircraft grade" aluimnum try aircraftspruce.com

[ZTFab]

If you're not stuck on getting the piece anodized, TW metals offers all grades of aluminum sheet in just about every thickness you could need and you can get them pre-painted in almost every primary color.

http://twmetals.com

[Racbaja]

I found this link and thought it would be intresting to be able to anodize our parts. www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html I am sure there are other kits out there but this looked like it was pretty painless.
Ron Plunkett

[voylesprep]

I build all our dash panels as well as cage panels from .040 5052 aluminum. I don't think you will have a problem with this size. If you are going to shape the dash though, anodizing will show stress marks, and it is always best to anodize AFTER all the fab work is done. Also remember, anodizing fades fast-your black dash will be brown in 3 months unless kept away from sunlight.

[dadunc205x]

i was going to make a layout of the dash(2 dimensional) on the computer and use the laser at work to remove the anodized finish. basically, i can lay out where all the switches and guages will be, and then have the name of what it is right next to it. It should be really clean looking. and i can make sure everything is even and nice. I'll see if i can find a picture of some similar stuff i've done.

[NicksTrix]

if the anodizing is sealed right from the plater it shouldn't fade that bad as mentioned.

[absolutefinish]

I found this link and thought it would be intresting to be able to anodize our parts. www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html I am sure there are other kits out there but this looked like it was pretty painless.
Ron Plunkett

Ron Newmans kit is a ok starter point for doing some home anodizing. The only down side is to do a panel this size requires a commercial power supply. These range in the price from 2500.00 + so they are typicallyout of the range of most hobby guys. But for doing small parts its a good start, but takes alot of practice to get the parts to turn out right. So plan on going through a lot of scrap pieces of aluminum before you try it on some good parts. The best bet is to find a anodizer that will do small runs of custom parts. Some wont do a small run of parts, others will do it.

Randy
Absolute Finish, Inc.