This stuff could kill you. Not kidding. it’s not something for a (sorry for assuming, but…) 13 year old to start up with. “Hey mommy, can I buy some life threatening chemicals?” usually won’t go over well.
Blown up can mean several things, for example, there could be a structural failure that had nothing to do with me and i’d still die. or, spacesuit puncturing if spacewalking, or depressurization of the spacecraft. all dead.
I’ve seen a lot of damage done with chemicals. Mostly due to drug and alcohol abuse, but that’s a whole other non-yoyo related set of stories. Ah, the road, many tours. The things I’ve seen, the things I haven’t done! Yes, I don’t drink, smoke, or use drugs or even use those energy drinks. Never have, never will. I’m not even a fan of using medications prescribed to me. In fact, I had a really bad back issue back in 2010 after being screwed on a gig. Anyhow, serious pain in the back, had to take an anti-inflamatory AND a muscle relaxer and I think I got this round of steroids and a shot. Not fun. Anyhow, the muscle relaxant was making me feel disconnected so I told the doctor “I am not going to take this one” and she said that would be fine, it just might take a bit longer to resolve itself. Also, I do not like vicodin. I had another incident and they gave me vicodin. I’m at the window at the pharmacist counter and I said “oh no, I’m not taking vicodin” and they asked me what I would want. I was shocked. I said “I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. I’ll just stick with the other medication”. Sometimes having a high pain tolerance is a bad thing.
Anyhow, let me just say a few things on topic:
1: I decided that playing with dangerous chemicals is a bad thing. I figured this out a LONG time ago.
2: Maybe I’m too plain, but I can typically find the yoyo I want in a color I can live with.
3: Anodizing and dying yoyos isn’t something that I want to engage in.
Now, having said that, do whatever you want. Make sure your insurance is current, you take proper safety precautions, use adult supervision(in some cases, use adults, don’t do this yourself) and above all, doubt it up. Better yet, take the time to properly learn this stuff by studying under someone who DOES know this stuff.
I think it’s great that people want to learn mods of any sort. Everyone has to start somewhere. I just want people to be safe. I do feel that stuff like anodizing is too dangerous for starters. I feel this needs not only adult supervision, but education and training. This is for safety and success.
Again, you really need to heed everyone’s advice in here. Anodizing aluminum is nothing to play around with. As previously mentioned, it’s a very sensitive process that deals with extremely dangerous chemicals, high current electricity, noxious fumes, and a very steady technique. Make sure you really, really, REALLY know what you’re doing before you even start ordering supplies.
just curious, wouldn’t a measured power source make it easier to get better results? If I have paid attention the Ti anodizing process involves different colors for different colors
And to the OP, maybe meet someone who knows how to anodize near and see if they will take you on as an apprentice or something like that. That way you can have someone teach you the safe process to anodize and what you need. It will help you a lot more than anybody on the Internet