i’m going to do some anodization as a part of science project thingie, so i was wondering, could i use some kind of glowing dye to ano my aluminium yoyo with, that would just look awesome.
also, is there something else i should know about dyes in general, what kind will work, what won’t etc.
all input will be appreciated, thank you!
Anodization is not dying a yoyo. its when you put a piece of metal into a vat of acid and shoot electicity through the acid. Just the materials to anno are a couple thousand dollars at the least.
Having a yoyo that has been anodized using a glowing material would be pretty cool though.
Don’t try, just don’t.
i do understand that it’s a not so easy electro-chemical process, and that it’s not like dyeing plastic, but “cooking” or bonding the pigment to the outer layer of aluminium, but i fail to see how it could cost me thousands (i have my schools chemistry and physics labs in my disposal 
)
awww, don’t be such a buzzkill, i have time, couple beat yoyos and (afaik) all the equipment i need, besides, it will all be done under supervision of my chemistry teacher, what could possibly go wrong?
exactly
To my knowledge, the anodizing process just electrochemically builds up a thicker than normal layer of aluminum oxide on the outside of the yoyo. Then, that layer can be colored because it’s clear and more porous than plain aluminum, thus being able to hold various dyes. I don’t know if there’s such a thing as a GITD dye, though… AFAIK, you’d have to use powdercoating or paint to get a glow effect.
OK, so i guess i’ll have to give up un the glowing idea, i have no way to powdercoat. maybe later i’ll buy some GITD paint and hand-paint in just for fun.
back to dyes, are there some kind of specific kind of dye that works better? what would you recommend?
You probably can’t do GITD, but you probably can do a florescent dye.
isn’t that the same?
No. The florescent dye will “glow” with black light. Glow in the dark will glow without the need for an external light source although it will need a good charging from an external light source(preferably bright light I think), but black light does help.
sounds like glowing in dark to me…
But this is an “active” process: Put energy in while getting light out. Glow in the dark is “put energy in, then it glows, releasing the energy”, it’s active(charging), then passive(releasing in the form of glowing).
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/23484660.jpg
i didn’t fully understand that, but i do understand enough to admit that you probably are right.
enough of that, what regular dye could you recommend me?
GITD
http://f5torefresh.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/nooka-mercury-gitd-sunglasses-f5.jpg
Florescent dye
From what I’ve heard, GITD stuff is very hard to work with and is not a good choice for anodizing. You could probably use florescent dye, as it is similar in the way that its a liquid.
Most people just use regular Rit Fabric Dyes for coloring anodized aluminum. You can probably find them at a fabric or craft store.
I believe Caswell sells fluorescent dyes that work for anodizing, but a quick Google/eBay search will probably turn up other stuff as well.
Fluorescence, in a nutshell, is where the atoms in something absorb UV light and immediately re-emit it as visible light. This normally occurs within about 10 nanoseconds, so it’s basically just changing the wavelength of the light bouncing off it; the effect ends as soon as the light source is gone.
With glow-in-the-dark, also known as phosphorescence, that absorbed energy is slowly released over several hours instead of being shot out all at once. This allows something to charge up with high-energy light for a short time and release low-energy light for a long time.
Does that make more sense?
indeed it does, thanks a lot kind sir!
