Black titanium anodizing how to

In this video Ill be demonstrating how to electrically anodize titanium black.
As an electrolyte you will use Manganese sulfate instead of your typical TSP solution. 90-120V and high amperage.
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[@SalvoEDC]

The video we didn’t know we needed. God bless you Jake! 🙏

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

thanks brotha!

[@bradleyhoward74]

Awesome!!! Total game changer. I have everything but no way to bead blast the Ti. Is there anything else that can be done for the base finish? Tumbling, sanding, whink, etc etc?. Thanks!!

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

just about any finish works, but blasting helps it work better.

[@bradleyhoward74]

@JakeHobobackKnives Awesome. Thx for the reply. About to mess with it now lol. One more thing if you can, does it work better/worse/same when anodizing for colors over TSP?

[@WheresWaldosEDC]

Hi, thanks for the trade secret!! How much magnesium sulfate do you add to distilled water?! Thank you!

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

depends on the amount of water. Fill to saturation and it will work fine.

[@t0asta]

Nice! I mentioned this technique on reddit and everyone quickly pointed out to me that the finish is too "fragile" to be practical. Haven't tried it myself to confirm one way or another - have you noticed it wearing more than other annos since y'all have been doing this?

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

I make hard use tools, been doing it for 22 years now. I do anodizing and DLC finishes. I find pros and cons to everything. It is no more fragile than any other anodizing I have done. 99% of the durability is based on the base finish. a sandblasted part will scratch and snail trail really easy. a tumbled part will already have scratches so you can never tell, a bead blast finish is the most durable and holds up well. Most people who poo poo on the idea will never actually use the dang thing enough to warrant their preconceived notion anyhow so who cares:) If you have to have black and it NEEDS to be super durable then you have no other choice than to use DLC. I will note that not all DLC is created equal though. I went through 6 different coaters with different processes for DLC when we did our tactical kitchen knife line. mostly because the coating was leaving black marks on cheese of all things.

[@t0asta]

@ killer info, much appreciated sir

[@editeurlediteur9789]

anodised titanium cartridges case !

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

not sure what you mean? cartridge cases are brass typically. sometimes cheap ammo is steel cased.

[@editeurlediteur9789]

@JakeHobobackKnives brass why is it choosen as a standard question ❓ .

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

@@editeurlediteur9789 brass is chosen due to its somewhat elastic properties. Which allow it to rapidly expand to the the chamber dimensions once ignition occurs within the cartridge. Titanium will not do that in the same was and would be exorbitantly too expensive in the material and the manufacturing. The most expensive brass cartridge case like from a brand called Lupua would be about $1 per case. A similar titanium case would be closer to $50 each case.

[@editeurlediteur9789]

@JakeHobobackKnives Yes but for the scenario of reloading the same all over again because pre made cartridges are too expensive for what they offer and get's weak , deformed and dangerous at some point the fact that they expend is called ductility and is just a placebo effect for the weakness of the overall material that is cheap enough to make a standard and buy again Now talking about the price is currently stated on the garbage material or the cnc ?.. machine cause like- Any regular joe can have next his pc like a 3D printer for 400 bucks , titanium which is nun that expensive compared to carbon in blocks genuinely , water + salt + some low voltage batteries from the kid toys and do the lil anodizing to prevent corrosion and the aesthetic ? Am i dumb or a genius ?-

[@Ebb_and_Flow]

Do you think this will work on solid zirconium?

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

zirk turns black with just heat. no reason to anodize it like this.

[@maximdmytrenko1795]

Привіт! 1) Яку пропорцію сульфат магнію потрібно розмішувати у воді? Чи потрібен електроліт? 2) Яку густину току ставити в амперах? Тобто 90-110в...3 амперв вистачить?

[@richard.alekseev]

Врядли он тебя зрозумиет.

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

1/ mix until saturation point with water 2/ max amps, max volts gives darkest, but if you play with it it will do lighter grey

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

@ not sure what this is supposed to mean?

[@maximdmytrenko1795]

@@JakeHobobackKnives tnx bro, will try

[@PaulK390S90V]

Titanium plate ok as the anode or cathode (whichever one is the plate that stays in lol)?? Or is copper important for blackening?

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

titanium works fine. I just use copper because I had a sheet. been working well for 15 years now. titanium will require less cleaning so thats always a plus.

[@BikiniDuckCreations]

Can you explain the chemistry at all? I have been anodizing Ti for jewelry since 2003, and black was always a heat/quench process. The anodizing layer is Titanium Oxide, with the color depending on the thickness of the layer, and that is dialed in by the DC voltage. How is using MgSO4 get black? Have you tried it at lower voltages to see what happens? Side note, what about red? I was told there is a similar process to get a fire-truck red on Ti, but nodoby has a chemical name to share.

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

Way above my pay grade for the scientific breakdown. it works and its easy:) the heat quench process is very evolved and never really gets true black. I'm guess this is a lot like blackening copper. its just a reaction of the Manganese with the titanium at certain voltages. Lower voltages get you somewhat expected anodizing colors, its a little different though. I havent been able to figure out red yet. maybe in another 15 years! haha

[@AgnisJewelry]

Seems to be like it is Manganese oxide forming on surface of titanium, I just tried this method now it is very fragile literally scratches away with nails if to push hard. I am not much of a chemistry guy but anyway here is what I found through some calculations online and a bit of a logic: we dissolve MnSO4 in H2O which creates a reaction that is MnSO4 + 2H2O → Mn(OH)2 + H2SO4 So there is Sulfuric acid and Manganese Hydrooxide formed. Later when you anodize parts Manganese hydrooxide is been decomposed to Manganese oxide and Hydrogen. I am not 100% sure that it is really like that, but according to the fragileness of layer and other observations it is most likely so. Also what i found myself after some experiments is that this solution is not blackening titanium if it was preanodized in any colors, and if you scratch away this black oxide there wil be anodized colored titanium underneeth for example if you blackened it on 45V than you scratch it there will be lemon gold color just like you anodized it. I think that at least it makes it clear of that this black oxide is not Ti oxide, which is very sad sure, I make titanium jewellery too, and always searching for different new techniques and ways to blacken it. Anyway this method is very intresting, super easy and 100% working. Not suitable for some hard use tools or jewelry, but still useful for some other decorative parts I think, So thanks to Author for sharing anyway. UPD: Forgot to mention, this method is making absolutely identical black color on any kind of titanium alloys, which also says that it is not titanium oxide, because as you know when titanium is heat blackened the darkness of color depends straight on the exact alloy contents.

[@PaulK390S90V]

I have a 0-3 Amp dc power supply .... do you think that is strong enough to do the black??

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

amperage needs depend on the size of the part being anodized. if your doing small parts and you have the needed voltage you should be fine

[@t0asta]

I can never remember annode/cathode - i just remember you put the Part you’re anoodizing on the Positive/Plus. P for Positive and for Part 😂 1:44

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

good way to think about it:)

[@jessesibley4001]

Can I pay you to black and a knife for me? It’s a Microtech annex.

[@JakeHobobackKnives]

Sorry man we dont do pimp jobs on other company's knives. only thing outside of our stuff we do is a spydrco backspacer and a bunch of OEM work