Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Rust blue aluminum?

Is there any type of anodizing that will match rust blue??

Having dealt with black anodizing when I supervised a small machining operation I can tell you there are options in black anodizing that can produce a low gloss or matte finish. How close it will match rust bluing I can't say, I would take a sample rust blued part to the plating shop to show them what you want to match.

I do not have access to a place that does anodizing locally. Do you think it is something that could be matched by including a photo? Im want my aluminium floor plate to match a rust blued rifle.

Thanks
BT

It would be worth a try sending a good clear photo.

You can anodize aluminum any color you like. It's only a matter of blending dyes the same as paint is mixed. The only issue you'll find is cost. The shop I've used charges by the lot which is determined by weight.

When I last sent parts out to be anodized the shop I used had a $75.00 minimum charge which was pretty much standard for the shops in my area.

A good Cerakote guy can get a pretty close match.

$75. is a normal lot charge here, but I usually send 225-250 items at a time and the minimum lot charges cover it. Find a buddy that needs something done and cut your cost.

Unlikely to get an exact match but you might get close. It would depend on how sophisticated and/or careful your small batch shop is. To get to a desired finish, an anodizer has to develop a repeatable recipe and to do this they will require information such as alloy type which is well beyond what a photo will provide. It is a complicated process.

There are a couple of different approaches to this. Typically you apply a die after the anodic tank - this takes a dedicated tank. You can also two-step which gives you a tougher, more UV resistant finish but you are unlikely to find this process available in a small batch shop. An extruder won't touch the job - kind of like trying to hire an 18 wheeler to deliver a single onion ... does not really pencil out.

Thanks for all the input guys

If the finish is that important, get a steel ejector housing and have it blued to match.

The nature of anodized aluminum is a somewhat porous surface, and cerakote will never have the same shine/depth of polished metal.

It's very unlikely you'd get a good match based on a picture, IMO. Colors in pictures vary a huge amount with different camera settings, lighting, etc. You may certainly get a good anodized match to the picture, which may not match the actual part well at all.