3990 Robot Reveal T4K/Tech for kids Flappy Bot

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by nxtmonkeys

That bot looks awesome!


How do you paint the metal like that? I want to do it!

This robot appears to be black anodized. powder coated. (EDIT: 3990 chimed in above)

Options for colouring your robot's parts include:

Anodizing

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodizing

An electrochemical process of creating a layer of aluminum oxide on the surface of the metal, that is applied with electric current in a bath. Anodizing is usually expensive to set up, but the more parts you do the less it costs. This is usually because its charged for putting a basket of parts in the bath, and the cost is the same whether you put 1 part or 50 parts into the basket. In the context of FRC applications, anodized aluminum is fairly robust at keeping its colour through rough play, but it can be scratched or abraded off.
Anodizing will show imperfections in the substrate material though, so if your aluminum is scratched, there will be an imperfection in the anodizing there.

Powdercoating

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_coating

Powdercoating is typically cheaper than anodizing, but tends to chip and flake off with continued rough usage. A powder coat finish once breached tends to continue flaking off in big chunks. Its pretty robust until it is breached. Powdercoating is like paint without the solvent that makes paint a liquid. Powdercoating is better than anodizing at hiding flaws in the substrate material.

Painting

Painting your robot parts works too, but you must take care to prepare properly and use the correct type of paints. Using latex house paint, for example, would be a poor choice. Its meant for the relatively tame environment of sticking to drywall and not moving. Using an oil-based paint meant for metals such as Tremclad is a much better option, though paint will still chip and flake off when subjected to the sort of mechanical abrasion that is common in an FRC environment.