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This comment is concerning.

> acidic sweat. once you got through the anodization the raw aluminum wears faster....

If one files off the sharp edges, won’t the sweat eat through everything faster, as that protective layer was filed off.

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Probably. But, the time when the laptop is taped off would be uniquely a good time to hit it with some polyurethane or something clear to protect it from that sort of damage? Just make sure you hit it with compressed air first so you aren't gluing the aluminum dust to the chassis?

Aluminum should oxidize essentially instantly.

Anodizing and oxidation are 2 totally different things.

anodizing is literally oxidizing

Yes but anodization implies thickness around ~5–25 micrometers (µm) for aluminum. The natural oxide coating is ~2-5 nanometers (1,000–5,000× less thick).

True; however, this is an aluminium alloy. These typically have lower corrosion resistance and are most commonly anodized because of it. The applied layer is typically 3 to 5x thicker than that formed by pure aluminium oxidization.

You're off by at least 3 orders of magnitude, anodization is like 1,000x~5,000x thicker (5~25µm) than the natural oxide coating (~5nm).

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