I have been working on a product that has a touch panel made of aluminum. The complete panel is about 4" x 6" with 5 partitions, and is held together with epoxy with .05 divisions between the partitions. A circuit board mounts on the rear of the panel. The partitions are electrically isolated by the epoxy. Currently the process is that I send it to the anodizer and they sand it to give it a grain, then type 2 anodize in 3 different color choices, black, grey, and white(clear).

This is the best look I have found so far that hides fingerprints. In the real world, the product is touched many times a day and is also cleaned on a regular basis by who knows what all by the customer. Stainless looks great, but is a headache to mill, plus, even with some grain it sitll shows prints. Varying the color with stainless is not something I am aware of in any case, although I never asked if anodizing was an option.

I am noticing what appears to be wear or smudging on our protoypes that have only been in use for several months. Can anyone recommend some process that can be used to prolong the look of the finish? I considered a clear laquer, but that could possibly be scratched or wear as well, plus would show prints Any suggestions are welcome to get a good look that is durable after many years of touching and cleaning.

Could you powder-coat it? A long time ago a company called Niles made in-wall volume controls that had some type of baked finish (white). It was touched frequently and it was essentially un-scratchable and really easy to clean. They went the typical path of most companies and switched to molded plastic though. I've also known people to clear powder coat polished alluminum wheels (Welds) so they don't ever have to polish wheels again...the brake dust will rust into the finish, but the maintenance was much much easier.

I have been working on a product that has a touch panel made of aluminum. The complete panel is about 4" x 6" with 5 partitions, and is held together with epoxy with .05 divisions between the partitions. A circuit board mounts on the rear of the panel. The partitions are electrically isolated by the epoxy. Currently the process is that I send it to the anodizer and they sand it to give it a grain, then type 2 anodize in 3 different color choices, black, grey, and white(clear).

This is the best look I have found so far that hides fingerprints. In the real world, the product is touched many times a day and is also cleaned on a regular basis by who knows what all by the customer. Stainless looks great, but is a headache to mill, plus, even with some grain it sitll shows prints. Varying the color with stainless is not something I am aware of in any case, although I never asked if anodizing was an option.

I am noticing what appears to be wear or smudging on our protoypes that have only been in use for several months. Can anyone recommend some process that can be used to prolong the look of the finish? I considered a clear laquer, but that could possibly be scratched or wear as well, plus would show prints Any suggestions are welcome to get a good look that is durable after many years of touching and cleaning.

i would concider a better company to send the parts for anodizing , they should be able to handle a lot of use before wearing , unless they are being abused , a company i worked at sent every one of our cnc production mill fixtures out for anodizing and they stood up to the job ,
they only problem i had with them is i put two of them in the ultasonic cleaner tank , 20 minutes later most of the anodizing was gone (nuts) , who woulda thunk it ,live and learn i suppose

make sure that you are getting a type 2 hard coat anodize. this should last forever. its a very thick and very tough outer covering. type 2, hardcoat requires a special attention to detail to make sure that its done right. i don't remember the specifics but you could ask on the one of the anodizing sites.

I am noticing what appears to be wear or smudging on our protoypes that have only been in use for several months. Can anyone recommend some process that can be used to prolong the look of the finish? I considered a clear laquer, but that could possibly be scratched or wear as well, plus would show prints Any suggestions are welcome to get a good look that is durable after many years of touching and cleaning.

Stage 2 anodizing should not have that problem if properly sealed. I would check companies sealant spec's. I was shipped some assemblies a while ago that were anodized and not sealed, they stained very quickly.
Low sheen textured epoxy powder coating is easily cleaned and very durable. Does not show fingerprints.

Ken