Anodizing - any recent experiences?

[oguinn]

I got my Crack in the mail today and am wanting to do something a little different with it. I've been getting my other kits powder coated, but I saw someone had anodized a Mainline in a really nice powder blue and thought it might be an interesting thing to try.

I did some research here on the forums and have seen mixed reactions to anodizing the top plate. Paul Joppa had said at some point there were very few places in the US who he'd trust to do anodizing work. Others seemed to say that there were some concerns about insulation, but that shouldn't be too much different from powder coating (i.e. - make sure to get through the coating to bare aluminum for proper grounding).

In general, though - has anodizing gotten any better in the five to six years? Are there any new, preferred anodizing places out there? Or should I just stick with powder coating?

[Paul Birkeland]

It was me who said there were few places that really do good quality anodizing work, but you can certainly give it a shot with your plate.  Powder coating is vastly more fool proof. 

[oguinn]

Sorry, got my Pauls confused. There's a place locally that does anodizing, but they only have twelve colors they'll do it in. I'll probably just stick with powder coating if nobody has a place they recommend strongly. It's one of those expensive mistakes to rectify if the plate gets totally botched.

[Paul Birkeland]

Well, if you use the local place and you aren't happy with the job, then you can go back and have them do it again.  This is very difficult to do if you ship your plate across the country.

Twelve colors is a lot!

-PB

[oguinn]

I'm a millennial. I expect places to have at least... thirteen... color choices.