Anodised Tungsten Beads

[Wiets]

My supplier have just introduce tungsten beads in a range of anodised colours - similar to the fancy
colours available in anodised aluminium. According to them, it is a world first and they developed this
technology during the past 2 years. What are your thoughts about this. Regret, no pictures as yet.

[Korrie]

My supplier have just introduce tungsten beads in a range of anodised colours - similar to the fancy
colours available in anodised aluminium. According to them, it is a world first and they developed this
technology during the past 2 years. What are your thoughts about this. Regret, no pictures as yet.

Up to know I have not had any problems with Tungsten Beads oxiding/rusting/discoloring.
The colors that are popular are gold, black, red, orange, green are freely available.
What will the costs be of the anodised beads? What benefits are there, using these beads?

[smallstreams.co.za]

Coloured tungsten beads I have used thus far have all chipped of pretty quickly.

[Rendier]

Anodizing is much tougher in the scratch department. Natural anodizing show marks quicker, but last longer. Not sure about colour fastness of anodizing. Should be good, but would really depend on the aplication.

[gkieser]

If the colour sticks to the beads longer with anodized beads then this would be a real advantage when nymphing waters like the vaal.

[Jason]

Anodizing will keep it's colour almost indefinately. Unlike most coating which can chip, anodizing is an electro/chemical process that actually changes the surface properties of the aluminium. The ally goes in a chemical bath and electricity passes through it. During the process the aluminium oxidizes, like rust and then the appropriate dye is added for colour. In most cases anodizing actually makes the surface of the aluminium harder. Most common place to see it is on aluminium window frames used in most homes and offices. Should last a lifetime really.

[Gerrit Viljoen]

I would be very interested as u know in 4mm Hot orange and Salmon pink.

G

[Wiets]

Like Jason says, anodising is a far superior and hardy surface than paint coated or powder coated tungsten beads. Another advantage would be the sheer number of colours available in anodised beads compared to curent conventional colours. There are 22 different colours available in conventional coloured tungsten beads, anodising offers another potential 36 colours - although some colours are very similar and one would certainly not obtain all the available colours. In addition, these colours are not available in current and conventionally coloured tungsten beads. The cost of the anodised beads are exactly the same as the normal tungsten beads - starting at 93 cents each. Here is a picture of all the anodised colours - as can be seen from this picture, bead chains are also available.

[cptfly]

Hi Wiets,

Will this be available locally at some time shortly ?

Cheers
John

[Wiets]

Hi Wiets, Will this be available locally at some time shortly ? Cheers John

Hi John

I myself just learned about these new colours. I'm trying to get a feel for what others think about them before making a decision to bring them in. The problem is that one has to carry reasonable stock of selected colours in just about all the available sizes. This can easily be worth a couple of hundred grand tied up in materials - then you have stock of one kind of material!