What exactly is anodising? I’ve heard it can be done to chrome. And it gives a much more metallic and shiny look than powdercoating and would mean I could leave the chrome on my frame.
If I was to get my chromed frame anodised how much might it cost?
Thanks
Yer i have heard of that too but no i do what it means.
Chrome cannot be anodisied. Anodising is when the natural oxide layer that forms on aluminium is thickend and coloured by an electro-chemical process. Aluminium is the only commonly found metal reactive enough to form the oxide layer necessary for anodising.
Someone with more knowledge than i will pipe up soon but i looked into doing it a while ago. quite a complicated process to undertake in the backyard especially for something as large as a unicycle frame. i believe it doesnt work on chrome either, just aluminium. If you dont know any local business that are doing it maybe i suggest just powder coating.
anodising involves submerging the thing you want to anodise into a tub of certain chemicals and passing an electric current through it, depending on the chemicals you will recieve a different colour. Damn you chemistry techear(and spelling teacher) that didn’t believe in me!! 
Edit: i was thinking of Dave when i wrote “someone with more knowledge then I” 
ah forgot to mention, yes you can do it at home with the appropriate kit, but it will costs many times that of getting it done professionally, and some of the chemicals aren’t nice to handle. My school used to get stuff thrown in with big batches or parts for free, which is great if you’re not too picky about colour. If you can wait until they’re doing a batch of the colour you want, or are happy to take whatrever colour they’re doing at that point will reduce cost.
But of course this is all largely irrelevanty as you can’t do it on your frame.
Is this a different type of anodising that can be done on chrome? I know the standard type can only be done to aluminium but I’m wondering about chrome.
No you cannot anodise chrome. As Dave has already said, anodising is speeding up the oxidisation on the surface of aluminium to form a protective layer. Have you ever seen a piece of aluminium that has been left outside in the weather? There is a white powdery coating on the surface, if you left a piece of steel outside, it would start to rust.
The chrome is a layer to protect the steel that your frame will be made out of.
You can anodise at home, it is a relatively simple process, but getting hold of the chemicals in the quantities that you would need to do a frame might be expensive.
Hmmmm, I have an aluminium frame that I want to re-paint. 
Edd
OK thanks. If I rubbed the chrome on my frame with fine sand paper would it take some of the shine off and make it look more rough?
Yes, but then it would rust. You could lacquer it, but you would be just as well to get the chrome shotblasted off completely and getting the frame powdercoated, which is much tougher than anodising anyway.