I am looking for someone to reanodize my Colt SP-1 and ran across US Anodizing in Virginia. Has anyone had any dealings with them and how did it go? Thanks for your input!

No personal experience, but NoDakSpud is using them to anodize all their A1 lowers they're producing. I've only heard good things about them.

they are good to go !

Thanks for your input! I am anxious to get my work done!

Try asking over in the “Retro Forum”. All the guys over there seem to love Victor‘s work.

ETA: Joined :: September 2003 Post Number :: 1.......Talk about a lurker!  

'least he didn't ask about barrel twist

Quoted: Try asking over in the “Retro Forum”. All the guys over there seem to love Victor‘s work.

Not all of us.

I had a run-in with them a couple months ago, which left me very unimpressed, to say the least.

Victor told me beforehand, that they were capable of doing what was required, and assured me that it would turn out fine.  I had also instructed them to keep me posted, in the event there was a problem of any sort.

Well, there was a problem, but they simply did a quickie job on it, and sent the receiver back to me .... which was not 'fine', and certainly was not what I was promised .... it looked like shit.
It was just as bad as when it went in, and even had a couple 'new' dings, that it didn't have when I sent it.

If you just have something basic and straightforward for them to do, you'll probably be ok, but if it requires anything that becomes 'involved', don't expect too much extra effort on their part .... even if you're paying for it .... which I did.

Now if you had a major project .... and were paying them thousands of dollars, things might be a bit different.
I think what US Anodizing needs, is a little competition.

Quoted: Quoted: Try asking over in the “Retro Forum”. All the guys over there seem to love Victor‘s work. Not all of us. I had a run-in with them a couple months ago, which left me very unimpressed, to say the least. Victor told me beforehand, that they were capable of doing what was required, and assured me that it would turn out fine.  I had also instructed them to keep me posted, in the event there was a problem of any sort. Well, there was a problem, but they simply did a quickie job on it, and sent the receiver back to me .... which was not 'fine', and certainly was not what I was promised .... it looked like shit. It was just as bad as when it went in, and even had a couple 'new' dings, that it didn't have when I sent it. If you just have something basic and straightforward for them to do, you'll probably be ok, but if it requires anything that becomes 'involved', don't expect too much extra effort on their part .... even if you're paying for it .... which I did. Now if you had a major project .... and were paying them thousands of dollars, things might be a bit different. I think what US Anodizing needs, is a little competition.

Sorry to hear that. I have personally never used their service, I’m simply passing on what feed back I’ve read over in the Retro Forum. Your case happens to be the first thing negative I’ve read on them.

Hey Shotgun, Sounds like you have some issues!  Did you let Victor know about the problem you mentioned?  Did you know that work done by US Anodizing is warranty for 30days, did you bother to ask them about that.  Of course not, because Victor would have fix it if you really had a problem.     I had a couple of NFA lowers done by Victor, and they turnout excellent no complaints.

What you see above, is a PERFECT example of why you don't hear very many 'negative' comments about many of the companies that do business here.

Doesn't it seem a bit strange, that all you seem to see are 'good' comments about all these different companies?

NOBODY is this perfect.

Whenever anyone tries to give an accurate (verifiable) evaluation that just happens to be Negative concerning one of these companies, some 'troll' will pull this kind of crap .... attempting to insult the person's intelligence .... and calling them liars.

This pretty much seems to be standard procedure, and anyone that's spent as much time here as I have, has no-doubt seen it before.

It's sad, but as long as trolls like this are allowed to exist here, many folks (not all) are just going to be too intimidated, and will find it easier to just keep their 'non-positive' opinions to themselves.
They either won't want to make waves .... or find themselves bitten on the ass by some attack dog.

Shotgun12,

I would be interested in seeing some before and after pics if you have them.

I had just the opposite experience.

This is the before upper, arsenal re-finished:



And the lower had been refinished in Lauer Duracoat and then hand finished to XM16 specs so some parts were anodized and Duracoated and some parts were bare aluminum:



And then after both were re-anodized:





I am certainly interested in hearing a little more detail, perhaps seeing some pictures, and also hearing how your complaint was handled by Victor at U.S. Anodizing...

Edited to add: You did file a complaint with Victor, didn't you?  Since their work is warrantied???

uxb

I have had many projects done by US Anodizing, very happy with everything they've done so far. I'm very curious about what they did wrong, + would like to know if you contacted them and what they said about correcting the problem.

I appreciate all the comments and especially the before and after photos. I plan to give Victor the job of making my SP-1 look like it should again and will post some photos when I get it back. He seems to be rather busy (a good sign) so it may be a while.
Since I haven't posted before this question as noted by Quib, I might explain: I registered a while back and then lost track of the site as I was busy collecting other rifles. After having fun chasing squirrels off the birdfeeder with my Tokyo Marui airsoft M-16, I decided I needed to tend to the AR-15 again. I looked around online for someone to do anodizing and found Victor. When I asked for a reference he sent me here and when I tried to register I found that my member id was taken. Since I figured who else would go by ratchetcollector, it had to be me!
Anyway, thanks for all the good information and I will drop in more often.

uxb,

That refinish job looks great.  Those pics alone make me want to us US Anodizing.

Does having the upper and lower re-anodized affect the fit of small parts (like the sights) and pins at all?  I was under the impression that the process makes very slight changes in the dimensions of the alumiunum.

Cheers,
Eric

I just got my SP-1 back from Victor and here are my before and after photos. It started out with a strange finish that looked purple red in sunlight and now it is as it should be. Victor took care of a couple extras for me without me asking and didn't charge for it. I would not hesitate to send another job to him!
http://mysite.verizon.net/kings2kids/before.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/kings2kids/after1.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/kings2kids/after2.jpg
http://mysite.verizon.net/kings2kids/after3.jpg

Thanks for all your feedback on U.S.Anodizing.

looks great !

I had Victor reanodize one of my SBR'd lowers and it turned out great! I would not hesitate to send him more work. To the above individual that was not happy. I have talked with Victor several times before and I am sure he would have corrected the problem if you had made him aware of it. He seems to be the type of person that is not happy unless you are happy.

And my latest:

An NDS-16A1 receiver purchased "in-the-white" and sent to Victor with an NOS "CH"-marked A1 receiver.

I asked him to match the lower to that of the upper, since the anodizing was already good.

This is what I got back...



Waiting on some more parts to arrive before sending him my next batch...