Anodising aluminium is the process of forming an absorptive layer of hard transparent oxide on the surface of the metal which can then accept dye. This is achieved by passing an electric current through the metal in a solution of sulphuric acid.

For practical reasons I do not anodise the metal myself and I buy pre-anodised sheet from a company that produce the material for industry.

The process begins at home in my basement where sheets of pre-anodised aluminium are cut into smaller pieces (approximately A5 size) and then submerged in baths of special aluminium dye, which is heated to between 40 and 60 degrees celsius. Using only four colours of dye I am able to achieve infinite colour ways by dipping into one dye after another any number of times, thoroughly rinsing the metal in between. Effectively I am building up layers of transparent colour but without contaminating each dye. I am currently using a 'dip dye' technique to achieve a subtle fade evenly across the metal, which is difficult and often unsuccessful resulting in a lot of waste material. Afterwards the metal is steamed for half an hour to seal the the pours in the oxide and fix the colour permanently.

The dyed sheets of metal are then brought to the workshop where the repeated shapes are cut out by hand or using blanking tools. The edge of each piece is then carefully filed and sanded until smooth, always taking care not to damage the anodised surface. Holes are then marked out and drilled before being finished using a burr tool. Each piece is curved with an acrylic former that pushes the metal into a block of contained urethane rubber using a fly press or hydraulic press.

The pieces are then arranged into colour order according to the gradient before being assembled using silver links.