Adventures in Anodizing

[rschoi_75]

Ok, so I figured I'd take some time and share my anodizing experiences with you guys here. I've had markers anodized by four different companies now: lasermygun.com, F/X, atmf, and tonsixers. While I know all these companies have been reviewed before, I wanted to share my personal experiences with each.

Lasermygun.com
- Project: CCM Mini Works
- Theme: Solid Gloss Black
- Total Time: 3 weeks
- Cost: $120 - 8 pieces
- Score: (B-) Overall good ano, some parts were not polished enough leaving a mixed gloss/matte finish. Cheap price, but I'd rather pay more for a better gloss finish.
- Conclusion: They specialize in lasering guns, not anodizing. I'd only use them if I was going for a solid color. For more unique patterns, go with another shop.

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[rschoi_75]

F/X Anodizing
- Project: AKA Revenge V2LE
- Theme: Cosmos
- Total Time: 1 month
- Cost: $350 - 16 pieces
- Score: (A-) Beautiful anodizing job. Fantastic polishing/prep work. A bit expensive. Overall theme did not quite match what I had in mind. We had discussed something a little more space like with more black. Anodizing was sealed before final OK, so we couldn't re-ano or add to make a darker theme. But as you can see, it came out amazingly anyways. High marks for quality and skill.
- Conclusion - Would work with again. Cosmos and splatters are his strong point.

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[rschoi_75]

Ano Tech Metal Finishing (ATMF)
- Project: BPS clamshell mini twister
- Theme: 5 color rainbow fade w/ black acid wash
- Total Time: 3 months
- Cost: $260 - 13 pieces
- Score: (A-) Overall an amazing job. Excellent prep work on delicate parts. Excellent polish work. Quality of ano is top notch. Reasonable price. Points deduced for mis-communication in ano process. I had asked for a black marker with a rainbow splash fade and received the opposite. This project kind of took on a life of its own, and even with the mistake, I think the results are great.
- Conclusion: I'm a fan of ATMF. They have produced some of the nicest designs around, but have also had some issues as well. I believe the problem is now solved, but unsure if they are accepting paintball work anymore.

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[rschoi_75]

Tonsixers
- Project: Karta Mag
- Theme: gloss pewter w/ three color splash fade
- Time: 1 month
- Cost: $280 - 11 pieces
- Score: (A+) excellent prep work. High gloss polish. Refined splashes and an amazing fade. Superb return packaging...very well protected. First anodizer to give me exactly what I asked for down to the letter. Good communication, fast work, and reasonable price.
- Conclusion: Best for splashes. I may have found my "go to" guy for future projects. Just keep in mind they are based in Canada. So make sure you factor in additional shipping costs and time.


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Caustic Customs:
Project - Infection Chord Mag
Theme - Infection splatter - match anodize w/ gloss red accents
Cost - $235, 8 pieces
Time - 2 weeks
Score - (A+) Fastest turn around (he didn't have any jobs at the time). Great communication. Very responsive. High marks for prep work, polishing, and ano matching. Absolutely no issues. A complete pleasure to work with.
Conclusion - Caustic Customs is obviously skilled at polishing & anodizing. Strong points are acid washes & fades, but he can pretty much do anything.


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[redrod]

Well written and super helpful! Keep the reviews coming

Cheers,
Shawn

[baconquilt]

moar pics of the karta mag plz. that thing looks sweet

[rschoi_75]

^ soon. Hope to get it by thursday.

Edit - Someone asked me a question about who to go with. Honestly, I would not have any problem working with any of the last three. ATMF, F/X, or Tonsixers. They are all great for particular styles. This is only my personal opinion of their work, but here is was why I chose each.

- Tonsixers does amazing splash work. Thin, refined, classy splashes. Not thick, messy, or too much. Too much hurts the eyes. It takes experience to get the right touch.
- ATMF does good splashes and fades. You should check out Skinnyfatguy's Banzai evo in the picture gallery here. They stopped taking work for now, so they may be out of the question.
- F/X is the only one that can pull off nice cosmos or multi-color splatters imo. I don't really like his early splash work, but his recent work is really good.

One more that I haven't tried is Caustic Customs. He has some amazing acid wash examples on his facebook page.

[Triemferent]

WAIT..... you anodized a yellow works to black? Thats just rude!!
I stopped reading after the first set of pics

[Deadmeat99]

I was looking at caustic as well. Just need to make a for sale thread to afford the cost.

[itwas1981]

I was looking at caustic as well. Just need to make a for sale thread to afford the cost.

I've got a pump on its way there right now. I'm a first time customer but I almost can't wait. From what I've seen I'm very confident I've sent it to the right place. I'll post pics the day I open the box