Gunsmithing Damage during anodizing.

[RWSGunsmithing]

So I sent two surplus upper in to have reanodized and one comes back looking like this. They claim that it must have been something in/on the aluminum that caused it to do this.

Has anyone ever seen or run into damage like this during anodizing?

I also sent in a few new lowers and they came out just fine.

 

[Steel head]

3. Process Defects - Anodizing Defects Catalogue

The Anodizing Defects Catalogue is provided by QUALANOD to inform its customers and interested persons about main anodizing defects. The catalogue provides descriptions and pictures of typical defects

www.defects.qualanod.net

It looks like the part was attacked by the solution or too much current

 

[BullGear]

WOW, I've never seen anything like that. What did the company say who did the job?

 

[b6graham]

wtf

 

[Halfnutz]

So I sent two surplus upper in to have reanodized and one comes back looking like this. They claim that it must have been something in/on the aluminum that caused it to do this.

Has anyone ever seen or run into damage like this during anodizing?

I also sent in a few new lowers and they came out just fine.

It's full on custom, charge extra.

 

[Jrb572]

Am I seeing it right? Know it’s discolored. But did it eat the receiver threads ?

 

[Steel head]

I just reached out to someone I know who does anodized fly fishing reels and he said it’s possible the part was made with poorly homogenized alloy.

 

[b6graham]

I just reached out to someone I know who does anodized fly fishing reels and he said it’s possible the part was made with poorly homogenized alloy.

Good enough for the military though

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

Am I seeing it right? Know it’s discolored. But did it eat the receiver threads ?

Yes it completely ate the bottom part of the threads off.

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

Good enough for the military though

Canadian military. It was a Diemaco upper.

 

[LRI]

So I sent two surplus upper in to have reanodized and one comes back looking like this. They claim that it must have been something in/on the aluminum that caused it to do this.

Has anyone ever seen or run into damage like this during anodizing?

I also sent in a few new lowers and they came out just fine.

If you were to poll a thousand high schools about career paths the likelihood of running into a bright young mind aspiring to become a "plater" is likely as common as being devoured by a great white shark as you plummet to your death in a commercial aviation accident.

-all while winning the Powerball. Lol.

Unfortunately, you get what you get. The old saying in having parts made/plated is: "There are those who've been fucked by an ano shop and those who will be."


One notable exception to this is a company I've used out of Minneapolis: Eco Finishing. I doubt they have an FFL, but for other stuff, they've proven to be extremely reliable for almost ten years now.

Good luck and sorry for your misfortune.

 

[J-Ham]

But... But... But mil-spec so good...!

 

[S197]

So I sent two surplus upper in to have reanodized and one comes back looking like this. They claim that it must have been something in/on the aluminum that caused it to do this.

Has anyone ever seen or run into damage like this during anodizing?

I also sent in a few new lowers and they came out just fine.

I’ve never seen anything to that extant. I would ask them what their process is for prep and tub maintenance. Where all of parts processed at the same time?

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

As far as I know they were processed at the same time.

 

[Steel head]

As far as I know they were processed at the same time.

I’ve seen anodizing burn and it kinda looks like what you have but your receiver is 1000% worse.
Was it soda blasted?
Alkaline impurities do bad things in a anodizing tank.

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

I know they didn't blast them.

 

[Yondering]

Yes it completely ate the bottom part of the threads off.

I did that once by accident in my home anodizing setup (although not on a receiver). The cause was too much current and letting the solution get too hot. Basically just poor process control.

My results were not as bad as yours but somewhat similar.

The crazy part is that damage would have been caused before the dye step; no reason to dye it at all if they’d just looked at the part before dye.

 

[rhsc]

So you acquired the upper already anodized by the original manufacturer without any defects showing? If that's the case, then why couldn't the re-anodizer do the same job without damaging it? I have to believe the cause of this was due to a fault in their process. Unless they have a clause in their terms of service that absolves them of responsibility for damage to the material you provide, you should be offered some form of compensation.

 

[BullGear]

I'm no expert, but to chew that much material, there had to be gross negligence on the plater's part.

 

[davethedog]

I own and manage an aerospace coatings shop. We don't do anodizing anymore but we used to do a fair amount of tiodizing as well as the odd aluminum job. This is a burn and is common with parts that are poorly racked or at the end of a tank. It looks like this was already anodized which didn't help. Anodizing is a dielectric so it provided some resistance on top of what may have been a poor racking job, that makes heat from current traveling through a small area, that's what likely ate your threads. The discoloration is from the heat as well. This is 100% on the anodizer and anyone racking this stuff should have known to scratch the hard anodize off and to rack better than that.

 

[BuildingConceptsllc]

I own and manage an aerospace coatings shop. We don't do anodizing anymore but we used to do a fair amount of tiodizing as well as the odd aluminum job. This is a burn and is common with parts that are poorly racked or at the end of a tank. It looks like this was already anodized which didn't help. Anodizing is a dielectric so it provided some resistance on top of what may have been a poor racking job, that makes heat from current traveling through a small area, that's what likely ate your threads. The discoloration is from the heat as well. This is 100% on the anodizer and anyone racking this stuff should have known to scratch the hard anodize off and to rack better than that.

Welp... there you have it... so many resources here on the Hide. Always impressed with the knowledge in this place.

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

So you acquired the upper already anodized by the original manufacturer without any defects showing? If that's the case, then why couldn't the re-anodizer do the same job without damaging it? I have to believe the cause of this was due to a fault in their process. Unless they have a clause in their terms of service that absolves them of responsibility for damage to the material you provide, you should be offered some form of compensation.

It was a surplus diemaco upper I was trying to get refinished for a build. I sent two of them in , well you can see what one of them turned out like. The other one turned out great.

The new lowers turned out great as well with no issues. But with a catastrophic issue like this one it makes me think twice about having more done.

Well they were smart and had me sign a contract that had this as part of the terms.
"We assume no responsibility for defective plating, anodizing, or other finishes on materials previously plated or finished by
others."

 

[RWSGunsmithing]

I own and manage an aerospace coatings shop. We don't do anodizing anymore but we used to do a fair amount of tiodizing as well as the odd aluminum job. This is a burn and is common with parts that are poorly racked or at the end of a tank. It looks like this was already anodized which didn't help. Anodizing is a dielectric so it provided some resistance on top of what may have been a poor racking job, that makes heat from current traveling through a small area, that's what likely ate your threads. The discoloration is from the heat as well. This is 100% on the anodizer and anyone racking this stuff should have known to scratch the hard anodize off and to rack better than that.

So you don't think they stripped the old anodizing off?

 

[davethedog]

So you don't think they stripped the old anodizing off?

It’s hard to tell 100%, just inferring from what you wrote. You could do a calot abrasion test to examine but I’m not sure what good that would do at this point.

The fact that they wouldn’t at least reimburse you for this huge of a fuckup is beyond me. If I were them I’d just pay up at least some and not let a whole forum shit all over me. That said, they’ll probably blame the substrate so if you can you could get the certs from the shops billet who you got the lower from, it might shut them up but sounds like they’re not a stand up operation.

 

[rhsc]

It was a surplus diemaco upper I was trying to get refinished for a build. I sent two of them in , well you can see what one of them turned out like. The other one turned out great.

The new lowers turned out great as well with no issues. But with a catastrophic issue like this one it makes me think twice about having more done.

Well they were smart and had me sign a contract that had this as part of the terms.
"We assume no responsibility for defective plating, anodizing, or other finishes on materials previously plated or finished by
others."

Sorry to hear that. Really hoping for your sake that would not be the case.