Shop for Black Anodized Wire | 1-0.075mm Dia.

[BillTre]

TL;DR Summary

Looking a black anodized wire

I have a project for which I am looking for a black anodized wire.
I feel I can find this in aluminum wire pretty easily, but if possible, I would like to use something that might be stiffer.
Wikipedia says a variety of metals ca be anodized, but I don't recall ever seeing such products and have not found any (easily) via google.

My question is: Are there black (the color is important) anodized wires (1 to .075 mm dia.) that are easy to purchase?

The alternative is painting, which I can do, but I am interested in giving this method a try.

 

[anorlunda]

A quick search on Amazon.com showed vendors of anodized wires in many colors. They are used in arts and crafts.

 

[BillTre]

Yes.
Those are all aluminum. I'm looking for wires made of other metals.
Ideally, I would like a stiffer wire for what I want to do.
Just wondering if such a product is available.
I guess a thin rod would work too. I need less than 3 ft. of the stuff.

 

[anorlunda]

If you need only one piece, how about DIY? There are a number of anodizing kits for sale. One mentions titanium.

 

[BillTre]

Thanks.
Sounds interesting.
I'll look into this.

 

[Borek]

Not anodizing, but there are ways of making steel black by coating it with a black iron oxide (something like old guns). Unfortunately the recipe I saw was in an old book that I no longer have and quick googling didn't yield anything promising enough to post a link.

 

[Klystron]

Modern gunsmiths apply a variety of coatings to metal parts for a modest price. Cut, fit and finish your pieces then apply the black coat of your choice. You could ship your pieces to a gun store, factory or qualified shop for the coating process; of course, without the cumbersome paperwork and procedures required to ship firearms.

This company applied the protective coating on my carry piece.

 

[jrmichler]

Brownells is a gunsmith supply company that sells supplies for blackening, browning, and bluing metal parts: https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/blackening-browning/index.htm.

I have not used their bluing, but can highly recommend their Magna-Tip screwdriver set.

 

[BillTre]

If you need only one piece, how about DIY? There are a number of anodizing kits for sale. One mentions titanium.

Found some kits. They include a DC power source which I probably don't need. The cheapest was between $300-400. Too much for me.

There are also refill kits ($20-30).
Not sure if I need a particular kind of electrode.
Container should not be a problem.

 

[BillTre]

Modern gunsmiths apply a variety of coatings to metal parts for a modest price. Cut, fit and finish your pieces then apply the black coat of your choice. You could ship your pieces to a gun store, factory or qualified shop for the coating process; of course, without the cumbersome paperwork and procedures required to ship firearms.

This company applied the protective coating on my carry piece.

This stuff looks nice. Its a thin ceramic coating and looks like the coating on a lot of tripods.
Found air dry versions for $30-40.
Not going to try oven dry.
Have not yet looked into getting it done for me.

I checked out some blackening, browning, and bluing products.
I guess its kind of like anodizing but with different chemicals and application process.

 

[256bits]

Try this

Rust bluingEdit

Rust bluing was developed between hot and cold bluing processes. It was originally used by gunsmiths in the 19th century to blue firearms prior to the development of hot bluing processes. The process was to coat the gun parts in an acid solution, let the parts rust uniformly, then immerse the parts in boiling water to convert the red oxide Fe2O3 to black oxide Fe3O4, which forms a more protective, stable coating than the red oxide. The boiling water also removes any remaining residue from the applied acid solution (often nitric acid and hydrochloric acid diluted in water). Then loose oxide was carded (scrubbed) off, using a carding brush or wheel. A carding brush is a wire brush with soft, thin (usually about 0.002 thick) wires. This process is repeated until the desired depth of color is achieved or the metal simply doesn't color further. This is one of the reasons rust and fume bluing are generally more rust resistant than other methods. The parts are then oiled and allowed to stand overnight. This process leaves a deep blue-black finish.
Modern home hobbyist versions of this process typically use a hydrogen peroxide and salt solution, sometimes with vinegar, for the rusting step to avoid the need for more dangerous acids.[3]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(steel)#cite_note-3
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_oxide

I had some tools that were rusted.
Soaked them in a vinegar, which removed the red rust by the way,
A black coating developed on the parts, which I could rub off, so it was not stead fast.
Was it magnetite ?
I did not apply an oil or lacquer finish.
Maybe the boiling in water helps that.
And the solution turned blackish.
Any ways, vinegar is cheap if you want to experiment.

 

[Tom.G]

I think I've seen coils of soft Iron wire with a black surface in the large hardware store chains. A few dollars for a 50ft. roll. Perhaps in the construction materials department as wire for tying re-bar or concrete forms, or maybe for hanging dropped ceilings.

As @anorlunda suggested, arts and crafts, or home decorating stores are a good bet... flower wire comes to mind, used for making artificial flowers and/or bundling them together.

If you can find an old wire coat hanger/clothes hanger, they were often painted black... not very durable paint though.

If it doesn't need to be bare, electrical wire with black insulation; but maybe not small enough.

 

[BillTre]

My day of looking has shown many of these stores (craft stores, bead stores, art stores, hobby stores) home didn't seem to be open. Although home dec./hardware stores were open, I did not find any anodized wire.

I like to handle stuff before I get it, if I'm not already familiar with it. However, but I might have to order things on-line anyway.

 

[anorlunda]

Hot bluing you might be able to do at home with just a propane torch and some oil, thay you may already have. No need to visit stores and expose yourself to COVID.

Youtube has instructive videos on hot bluing. The one I watched stressed that the temperature was the critical variable. Not too hot or too cold. That video also said that you could do it repeatedly to darken the shade.

 

[Tom.G]

Investigate how to season a cast Iron or wrought Iron frying pan.

The process is to apply a thin coat of oil then heat to above the oils smoke temperature. 'Thin' being the operative here. Preheat to 200F, rub in some oil, then rub it off as if you made a mistake. Bake for 2.5 - 3 hours with temperature above the oils smoke temperature

My wife uses a mixture of Bees Wax, Canola oil, Rapeseed oil. The respective smoke temperatures are roughly 250F, 350F, and 425F. This is done in the kitchen oven set at 450F. Sure stinks up the place!

It comes out Brown. Repeat until desired color reached (or until you get bored with the whole process).

Cheers,
Tom

p.s. It does make a nice frying surface though.

 

[Baluncore]

Black piano wire is available from hobby shops, usually in 1 metre lengths.

 

[Matcon]

Not anodizing, but there are ways of making steel black by coating it with a black iron oxide (something like old guns). Unfortunately the recipe I saw was in an old book that I no longer have and quick googling didn't yield anything promising enough to post a link.

One of these, perhaps?
picked up in a Google search

6 gms selenic acid
10 gms copper sulphate
4-6 ml nitric acid(1,34 gm/cm3)
1 lit water
20-25 °C temp.
tannic acid ...20 gm
tartaric acid...20 gm
water.....1 lit

The first method displaces copper from solution and converts it to black copper selenate. Adhesion is only as good as the adhesion of copper to the substrate

The second produces a conversion coating of ferric tannate, which is brown-black

 

[Matcon]

Here's a wrinkle on creating magnetite coatings from marine archeologists:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1506066?seq=1

They give you solution compositions and methods