Transparency: How an American Company is Cleaning Up the Anodization Process

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This article was originally titled “Transparency” in the Feb-March 2024 edition of Fly Fisherman. Click here to subscribe.

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Aluminum is a dream metal for reel makers. It is light, rigid, and extremely strong, and best of all doesn’t rust like metals containing iron. It’s a less brittle, softer metal, so a programmed CNC machine can easily peel away micro layers and create a precision tool with beauty and exacting tolerances.

But there’s one little hiccup: The light, malleable nature of aluminum makes it more susceptible to dings, dents, and scratches than other metals such as hardened steel. And the strongest aluminum alloys like aluminum 6061-T6 become susceptible to limited corrosion through aqueous salts.

That’s because the surface of a machined aluminum part is quite porous. You can’t see it with your naked eye, but it has tiny holes and micro fissures—a quality that makes it slightly susceptible to corrosion and abrasion. However, those tiny little cracks can be sealed and the surface hardened through a process called anodization. Anodizing changes the microscopic texture of the metal near the surface, making it harder and much more resistant to scratching or other wear. Nearly every aluminum consumer product in the world is anodized to increase its lifespan.

As an added bonus, during the anodization process you can fill and seal these micro fissures and dye the surface, adding rich, vibrant colors to the naturally silver-colored aluminum. Because the color is absorbed deeply into the holes and fissures, the color is permanent and cannot be worn or rubbed off.

Anodizing is an electro-chemical process that actually changes the surface of the aluminum into aluminum oxide. This is called the anodic layer. To do this, you must immerse the aluminum part—reel frame, reel spool, pliers, or nippers—in a bath of acid electrolyte, and pass an electric current through the medium. A cathode is placed into the tank, and the aluminum part acts as an anode in an electrical circuit. 

The cathode is the negative or reducing electrode that releases electrons to the external circuit and oxidizes during an electrochemical reaction. The anode is the positive or oxidizing electrode that acquires electrons from the external circuit. Think of it like a giant car battery, which also has a cathode and an anode, and also contains an acidic chemical solution to pass the electric current.

In this process, oxygen ions are released from the electrolyte and combine with the aluminum to form aluminum oxide in a highly controlled oxidization process.

This type of oxidization also occurs naturally. When exposed to air at room temperature over time, pure aluminum passively forms a surface layer of amorphous (unstructured) aluminum oxide 2 to 3 nanometers thick. One nanometer is one billionth of a meter.

Type II oxidization—the type you get with an acid bath and electric current—creates an anodic coating that is 10 to 20 micrometers thick, which is a measurement in millionths instead of billionths. In inches, this anodic layer on a typical Abel or Ross reel is 0.0007" and consists of about 50% buildup and about 50% penetration of the object.

It seems like a magical process. It’s the final step in taking raw rods of aluminum and turning it into precision tools that can battle giant tunas, survive beatings on a highly textured boat surface, be unfazed after falling to riverside rocks, and still be the most beautiful, artistic component of your entire fly-fishing kit.

It may seem like magic, but it’s actually science, and when Abel creates their artistic reel artwork like the Colorado flag, Northern Lights, Rasta Fade, or Native Brown Trout it involves using this acidic, chemical-laden solution over and over again in a very precise, controlled process to layer on different colors one step at a time.

Going Green

The results are incredible, but what do you do with the chemical wastewater? Each acid bath has different colors, and the acid solution isn’t just acid, it has electrolytes (dissolved minerals) that conduct the electricity. Abel Reels started doing its own anodization in its Camarillo, California machine shop shortly after Steve Abel started making reels in 1988, but things have changed in the decades that followed. Abel was purchased and eventually ended up in the hands of Mayfly Outdoors, which also acquired Ross Reels. In 2019, Mayfly Outdoors set up in a beautiful new state-of-the-art 41,000-square-foot CNC factory for both brands on a 110-acre piece of riverside property in Montrose, Colorado.

But the anodization for both Ross and Abel continued in Camarillo for a number of reasons, one of them was that California over the decades has introduced a host of environmental regulations tightly controlling the use of caustic chemicals and the discharge of water. But the process at the Abel factory was grandfathered under the new rules, making it easy to continue the process at the existing facility. It made business sense to send reel parts from the machine shop in Colorado, over to California for artwork and anodization, and back to Montrose for assembly.

But something kept bothering Mayfly Outdoors President and CEO Jeff Wagner and the private ownership of the company. Mayfly Outdoors was the first certified B Corporation in Colorado. The factory is the second largest recycler of aluminum in the state and has received numbers of awards for its environmental-centered operation. Mayfly Outdoors worked with Trout Unlimited and Colorado Division of Wildlife to make $2.5 million in river restoration on the section of the Uncompahgre River within their property, donated 1.5 miles of riverfront and 41 acres of wildlife and fishing habitat along the river back to the City of Montrose, and worked with the city and state to build a trail system for public access. Mayfly Outdoors purchased the fly line company Airflo based on the merits of its stable, nontoxic polyurethane fly lines, and worked with Terracycle to create the only nationwide recycling program for all fly lines and fishing lines of any brand.

The company was created to be clean and green to protect the most important fly-fishing resource: clean water. But the decades-old anodization facility in California and the excessive shipping didn’t seem to fit with the core values of Mayfly Outdoors.

So the company decided to invest $1 million to create a new 2,000-square-foot anodization facility adjacent to the existing Ross and Abel factory. It took 18 months to get the cleanest anodization facility on the planet up and running, but the factory is already handling all Ross Reels and Dyna-King products, and all of Abel’s plain black products. Mayfly Outdoors also bought the vise company Renzetti in August of 2024 and plans to boost production in the new anodization facility in the coming months and years.

The new facility represents a huge investment in sustainability and a commitment to  American manufacturing. It’s the only one of its kind—the only reel anodization facility in the world that has zero emissions. No fumes, and no wastewater. There isn’t even a drain in the building. There are eye-washing stations but employees have to walk back over to the Mayfly Outdoors headquarters to find a sink or a toilet. 

“The new anodizing facility builds on what we believe is a core strength for Mayfly Outdoors and that is metal finishing in the U.S. and specifically anodizing,” said Mayfly Outdoors CEO and President Jeff Wagner. “With this second facility in Colorado we can now expand on that capability, increase production, and turn around new colors and styles in less time. It also doubles down on our commitment to the environment. This new facility is a no-discharge facility because it either recirculates or evaporates the water. Its also brings the bulk of our anodizing closer to the point of manufacturing in Montrose, Colorado. This cuts down on emissions and transport time. We are proud that our products are made in the U.S.A. We are the only reel brands with all the design, sourcing, machining, metal finishing, assembly, warranty, repair, and sales done in America by American employees. We look forward to building on the history and legend that is part of these historic brands and continuing to honor their legacy.”

According to Director of Operations Tony Lugard, the new facility required some novel engineering to create an anodizing plant with zero wastewater and no emissions. 

The anodizing and dyeing tanks in the facility require water, but the plant only draws about 2,500 gallons monthly from the City of Montrose drinking water supply. In comparison, the average American family uses about 300 gallons of water a day.

This feat is accomplished because nothing ever goes down the drain. The water is used and reused. Water with dye in it is removed from anodization tanks and stored for the next batch of reels with the same color. Water that cannot be reused goes to a batch treatment processor to be filtered and neutralized. The pH-neutral water then goes to an evaporator where the water is boiled away and then recaptured by a condenser. All that is left is a few pounds of solid waste annually that will be picked up by a certified waste disposal company. This has not yet happened. Since the facility began operation in February 2024, the solid waste to this point wouldn’t yet fill a shoe box.

According to Wagner, the artistic team in California will continue creating individual Abel custom designs while the new facility in Montrose handles the bulk of the anodization including all Ross Reels, all black Abel products, and all the other single-color products.

“Our anodizing and painting team in California is one of the best in the country, regardless of the industry,” said Wagner. “The number and complexity of finishes that they are able to produce is second to none. We are extremely proud of our ability to reproduce artwork from some of the greatest known artists in the fly-fishing world including Derek Deyoung, Andrea Larko, Casey Underwood, and now Eric Estrada. This will also allow our artists to focus on what they do best, increase our production quality, and vastly reduce our environmental footprint,” said Wagner. “We’re one of Colorado’s top B Corporations, and that means transparency. Transparency with our employees, transparency about our environmental efforts, and transparency with our consumers . . .  we want them to know how much thought and effort goes into making these American-made products the best in the world.”

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Ross Purnell is the editor and publisher of Fly Fisherman.

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