Fiber glassing question

To answer your questions directly, alodine or anodize can be used as a primer for Al. But you don't have to turn this into a science project. Very simply there are 2 types of bonds chemical bonds and mechanical bonds. Primers are need for chemical bonds, abrading the surface is what you need for mechanical bonds. Something like 80 grit sand paper is all you need to abrade the surface of the Al and the epoxy with bond to it. If you glass the Al base in as I described in a previous post the load applied to the handle will be reacted through the glass that has encapsulated the Al base and the bond line becomes secondary. Any marine store like West Marine will carry a good epoxy for what you want to do. When you glass in the base extend the plies over the base 4 ins or so and if you use 4-5 plies taper the edge by 1/2 in for each ply. This will minimize the peel loads at the edge of the glass overlay. Even if something does not go as planned you can always add 4 through bolts one in each corner and seal with the 5200, and you will have a nice solid base. Hope this helps. Good luck with your project.