Will it Black an Entire Aluminum Part?

I have used aluminum black a lot. The key is to build it up slowly. Brush or dip it and let it work for about one minute. Rinse, dry, and repeat as many times as it takes to get the color you want. It works great but proper application is a must.

Tony, thank god your alive

The effort you went through to not need a $50 brass tumbler is honestly commendable.

The world needs a caliper like this. Usb-c if possible.

Tony, I'm absolutely not a machinist, and I have very little interest in ever doing this kind of thing... But I always watch your videos as soon as I see them because they're always very funny and well produced. I absolutely love your content!

Love the patina on the finished parts. Much cooler than bare or coated. Your humor is dimensional. It builds up measurably and consistently time and time again.

I’ve had pretty good luck with this stuff and cold bluing on steel parts. When restoring my Hardinge HLVH, I cold blued the various handles and such and the results were fantastic. The key for all of this stuff is the surface preparation. I know it goes against the grain for most guys, but following the instructions can be beneficial!

63 year old old guy here… I haven’t been this entertained by a video in a long while. The nasal pellet drop made me fall out laughing!!!! Great video. Subbed

The USB caliper insertion scene is confusing….You only rotated the usb once. Usually you try one direction, realize it’s wrong, rotate it… then realize that’s wrong too. Finally rotating it back makes it fit since that was the correct orientation to begin with 🤷‍♂️

I tried anodizing aluminum for the first time recently, and really liked the results. The process was a bit scary, using both sulfuric acid and lye, bit it was not too difficult, and made the parts look better, as well as making them more scratch resistant, and move more smoothly against each other. Since it was for a project -- a large format camera -- where some of the parts will slide against each other, all of these changes were improvements. The acid, as well as the dye I used, can be used again and again, too.

Tony your content is unlike anything else on YouTube. This channel is a real gem. I hope you know how many people are in love with what you’ve created!

The finished product looks very similar to what we create in a steel pipe mill I work at that also runs standard sizes of aluminum pipe, we use a process called ‘bright finish washing’ where it’s dipped in sulphuric acid tanks, washed in sequences of phosphate and rinse tanks, then dried and left to cure leaving it with a black and almost rusty look at certain angles, pretty much exactly what you have here. It’s meant or designed to look tinged but prevents rust, and is also perfect for oil dipping as the oil tends to hold better on the slightly pitted surface to hold up in outdoor uses.

Great video, thanks Tony. Applying the solution you really need to get it to a high shine. By running the parts through a tumbler you’ve created massive amounts of tiny pits which has increased the surface area. This gives the acid more areas to attack rather than a smooth shiny surface. 😊

Let me recommend to avoid "other metals" in the reaction. I noticed that you use a metal cup and a metal stick (welding wire?) to dunk the part, which can easily ruin the intended chemical reaction. Unless explicity required in the instructions, I suggest glas or plastic for this purpose.

Loved the cmm beeps as you took measurements, and of course getting the usb backwards on the first try 😂. As a career machinist who now spends way too much time in a recliner, I find your videos strangely comforting as I watch all the familiar machines, tools and chips being made. Thanks Tony. Keep ‘‘em coming.

8:30 that caliper that goes to cad is the most amazing thing that wasn’t mentioned at all I have ever seen! That was actually incredibly. Saves so much time.

You're in luck, I'm a chemical engineer with 27 years in the field. It looks like this is a solution of cupric sulfate and maybe nickel sulfate dissolved in an acid solution, probably fluoboric and phosphoric acids. As for that orange colored patch you were wondering about, I think that's probably boogers.

My absolute favorite part of This Old Tony is that he doesn't explain his jokes at all. They are like an inside joke between him and himself and we happen to 3rd wheel our way into them lol. I guess at this point we are more like the 1.09millionth wheel.

The thing is that Kind of product usually creates a thin layer of oxide at the top preventing from rusting by insulating the part from the air. If you apply with a brush, it set a thin layer of product and it will consume a little of the metal part(on the upper layers). BUT if you dip it, you allow the reaction to go deeper in the metal and it won't really stop to consume metal unless you remove it. It breaks binding of metal grains which produces heat. You could try to airbrush it or just apply with a brush as you mentioned. Great video thanks!

I'm glad to see you back. I hope things are well with you and your family. Your videos are some of my favorites.