If I put niobium or titanium in the kiln to 1500 degrees AFTER it has
already be anodized to a specific color, will it lose it’s color or
just get better color?
I want to use it in some glass pieces that I am working on but I was
hoping to keep the pretty color.
Regards,
Andrea Streicher
Striker Studios
Original Sterling Silver and Fused Glass Jewelry
510-528-3755
Hi, most likely it will loose all its color and oxidize to a grey
black. this is a reactive metal and reacts with the atmosphere around
it. When heated iheat in a vacuum. Bill
Niobium turns black under torch heating, so I would bet that it would
do the same thing in a oven at a high temperature.
Andrea - The color produced by anodizing titanium and niobium comes
from a layer of oxide on the surface of the metal. Depending on how
thick the layer of oxide is, it reflects different colors. If you put
the metals in a kiln at 1500 degrees they will build up a heavy layer
of oxide and turn a uniform dark gray color. You could sand blast the
thick layer of oxide off the metal and re anodize them after removing
them from the kiln. You may also have trouble getting glass to
attach to the titanium. Steve.
Steven Brixner - Jewelry Designer - San Diego CA USA
mailto:brixner@att.net
http://www.brixnerdesign.com
If I put niobium or titanium in the kiln to 1500 degrees AFTER it has already be anodized to a specific color, will it lose it's color or just get better color?
At those temps, if fired in the presence of oxygen, the color will be
utterly destroyed, and you’ll have a deep black color, nothing else.
Reanodizing such metal requires grinding off the black, which is very
thick. Now, if you combined it with glass in an oven capable of high
vacuum, you might preserve the color. Not sure. But maybe. It would
depend on how the glass interacted with that titanium or niobium oxide
layer. If the glass actually wets the surface, you would probably get
at least a color shift. Remember that the color is just an
interference effect with light reflecting from both the top surface
of the oxide (which is actually colorless and transparent) and the
bottom. The thickness of the oxide layer lets these two reflected
beams interact, causing the color. If the oxide is wetted by glass,
not air. the light may be affected as well. Not sure. Also, some
glasses might act as fluxes, dissolving some of the oxide. I’m not
sure, but it seems possible.
Peter Rowe
For those who are not familiar with him, Bill Seeley’s business
persona is Reactive Metals Studio, Inc. It would be hard to find a
person with more knowledge of niobium or titanium.