Not Armatures - But THIS

As I may have mentioned in the past, my small metal working & machining set-up is in semi-storage in garage buried under piles of stuff. Not easily accessible and also, not having time! However, last year I had an idea brewing. I drew up a schematic of my own design ... a version of a 'stop motion winder rig'. It is not the usual 'geared tooth rack & circular gear pinion' winders that many stop motion enthusiasts LUST for 😛. What I came up with, is a Screw Driven X-Y Mover Puppet Support Rig. It would be fabricated, NOT using any precision machining metal techniques. You can literally get all the parts at a hardware store.  Click on image to open separately, then click image again to enlarge.

The primary tools I would use is,  a small Metal Cutting Band Saw and especially, the Drill Press. Again ... NOT using milling machine and no lathe turning operations. I will not be doing any intricate cutting & shaping of metal parts. Click on image to open separately, then click image again to enlarge.

Theoretically, design should work but we shall see. I will update later as to the status of this mini-project.

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Blackening Steel - NO Dangerous Chemicals

They call this Rust Bluing but the actual color is a very Dark Gray to Black. My interest in this, was for the stop motion armature fabrication process in which some of the components are usually made of steel and can be subject to oxidizing or light rusting when immersed in rubber foam latex, or silicone might have some affect on the steel surface. Of course, this blackening does not 'completely' protect the steel parts from moisture, but can help in reducing rust. I would still wrap the armature with teflon tape before placing it in mold. The best protection for steel is chrome plating which can be expensive for small quantities of armature parts. An alternative is the lower cost, using nickel plating.

In the past, I have done a different type of steel blackening. Using a torch flame, you heat the metal  until it turns a straw color, then quickly plunge the highly heated metal parts into motor oil. This creates a dark micro protection layer on the steel parts.  I might later, do another post about this oil plunging metal darkening method.

The oil plunge technique is similar to seasoning cast iron cookware. I tested this method on the above dinosaur armature.  Everything that is of black color,  ... is Steel that has been Oil Blackened. All the other light colored metal parts in photo, is aluminum metal. Also, there is the Groovy - Coolness 😎 of  the 'Black' color 👍 If you go to my Stop Motion Works Facebook Album  you can see this clearer photo and this other photo.


BELOW, are a few videos that explains the basic steps of the Rust Bluing (blackening) technique of steel parts. I have not done this with armature parts ... but I did some tests on some small automotive parts. To my surprise, the rust blackening worked reasonably well.  NO harmful chemicals used!  Just Vinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Salt.

Below is link to original article that inspired the above videos, to try Rust Blackening method

Quick Rust Bluing (blackening) of Steel

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ANODIZING Aluminum - A more safer approach

Anodizing is a plating method of protecting Aluminum metal. The side benefit is, one can anodize plate coat in different colors ... red, blue, green, yellow, black and also clear. This video is by 'Ken'.  He demonstrates a do it yourself method of anodizing aluminum metal pieces. The more traditional anodizing techniques requires harsher chemicals such as liquid caustic acids. This demonstrated method appears to be safer, but any techniques there can be risk. This is not for beginners, but for the experienced handyman, do-it-yourselfer who have some degree of mechanical & dexterous ability and understanding of 'How-to'. Presented for informational purposes only.

I have had aluminum stop motion armature parts anodized in different colors by a specialist vendor. Only, if I were doing work for a customer, they would pay for this option. For myself, I likely would not anodize, however, if the home made anodizing appears to be a process that is not complicated ... perhaps, I would experiment with it. It does offer some protection to armatures exposed to foam latex rubber or moisture. Bare aluminum does oxidize when constantly exposed outdoors. Anodizing also has that Groovy - Coolness 😎 of the Multi Color look ... like an Art piece! 👍

For more details, go to the above video at the Youtube Channel and look at the additional information underneath the video. Ken's method relies on a dry powder called Sodium Bisulfate. It is a safer than the liquid caustic acids used for plate anodizing, however, that chemical might be difficult for the general consumer to purchase in International countries. In the USA this can be purchased as a swimming pool product, look HERE.

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