Vader
New Member
Re: HAL 9000 Panel (2001:A Space Odyssey)
Bearing in mind that black is not a natural colour of Al, so if it's black and brushed, it is anodised. Painting or powder coating will cover up the brushed surface structure.
[credentials]I work in the contemporary electronics industry, particularly and especially that part of it which is primarily concerned with keeping components cool. That means I work with aluminium a lot. Extruded, tumbled, bead blasted, brushed, or merely machined; bare, anodised, coated, chromated, or even polished ... I look at and design with all the variations of the material almost on a daily basis.[/credentials]
Judging from the images of the panel, I feel I can say with 90-95% confidence that the material in the panel is in fact black anodised brushed aluminium.
The 5-10% uncertainty is due to the fact that there are wood grains (I most often see them in some qualities of plywood) that would pretty much match that structure, but I'd second the suggestion that if it isn't brushed Al, it would certainly seem to be intended to look like it...
Brushed Aluminum was all the rage for electronics in the 70s; likely the 60s as well. Not sure whether it was anodized.
Bearing in mind that black is not a natural colour of Al, so if it's black and brushed, it is anodised. Painting or powder coating will cover up the brushed surface structure.
[credentials]I work in the contemporary electronics industry, particularly and especially that part of it which is primarily concerned with keeping components cool. That means I work with aluminium a lot. Extruded, tumbled, bead blasted, brushed, or merely machined; bare, anodised, coated, chromated, or even polished ... I look at and design with all the variations of the material almost on a daily basis.[/credentials]
Judging from the images of the panel, I feel I can say with 90-95% confidence that the material in the panel is in fact black anodised brushed aluminium.
The 5-10% uncertainty is due to the fact that there are wood grains (I most often see them in some qualities of plywood) that would pretty much match that structure, but I'd second the suggestion that if it isn't brushed Al, it would certainly seem to be intended to look like it...
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