[Tristan Lall]

By the way, the hard anodizing process on some aluminum gears is applied before cutting the gear teeth, not after. Don't count on getting any extra surface durability on the teeth itself, when you order off-the-shelf anodized gears.

I haven't used it, but I think that Travis is referring to the Ematal process of titanium anodizing; I've heard good things about it. Look in an ASM Handbook for details on the process.