Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Removing anodizing from Deep V's

First of all, I searched. I searched a lot. The search engine was really fighting me today.

Is removing the anodized color from deep v's a good idea? I remember reading that the product used to do this would potential harm the rim.

Follow up question, does Velocity anodize all their colors now? How can I tell?

Thanks and if someone can successfully use the search to find the answer I will mail them a cookie.
A healthy, cranberry oatmeal cookie

Get new deep V's..?

Easy Off oven cleaner!

Sell yours and buy new ones. What color are they?

Sell yours and buy new ones. What color are they?

To my knowledge, only black, silver ano, green ano, and gold are anodized.

the rest are powdercoated.

the information is on their website i believe

http://www.velocityusa.com/img/colors/Colors.jpg

If they're one of the listed anodized colors, oven cleaner will work. Otherwise they'll need to be sandblasted, at which point swapping them on CL will be cheaper and easier.

sandblasting????? uh, how about reversing the electro-plating process?

sandblasting????? uh, how about reversing the electro-plating process?

If it's not anodized, it's powdercoated. Good luck "reversing the electroplating process" with that one.

Sounds like swapping them would be easier.

Do not sandblast.

Oven cleaner will remove the anodization.

If it's not anodized, it's powdercoated. Good luck "reversing the electroplating process" with that one.

Every time I've sandblasted something (old car/truck frames, motorcycle frames/gas tanks) it has left an almost pitted/porous surface (ie. harm to parent material)... that is on steel, would imagine that a softer metal like aluminum would be even worse.

As for removing the anodizing via reverse electrolysis, I've heard it works.

Also, I found (via interwebz) that a "dilute aqueous solution of phosphoric and chromic acid" will remove the anodizing without harming parent material... but you need to be an excellent chemist to do it without killing yourself.

....Yeah. Just trade em straight up. Much easier.

Not much of a market locally for deep v's so it may be hard to trade them. Yet
Is there anyway for me to tell if it's PC'd or anodized?

anyone have pics of Gold anodized V's that have been DE-anodized?
does it just look like polished V's?

Every time I've sandblasted something (old car/truck frames, motorcycle frames/gas tanks) it has left an almost pitted/porous surface (ie. harm to parent material)... that is on steel, would imagine that a softer metal like aluminum would be even worse.

As for removing the anodizing via reverse electrolysis, I've heard it works.

Also, I found (via interwebz) that a "dilute aqueous solution of phosphoric and chromic acid" will remove the anodizing without harming parent material... but you need to be an excellent chemist to do it without killing yourself.

I know we're getting pedantic here, and we probably both agree that swapping them is a lot easier, but I should have said media blast, not sandblast. You can strip aluminum with glass beads or nut shells just fine.

I know we're getting pedantic here, and we probably both agree that swapping them is a lot easier, but I should have said media blast, not sandblast. You can strip aluminum with glass beads or nut shells just fine.

yeah, I was really crabby yesterday... sitting at home in my office looking at a blizzard out the window all day, wishing I was out skiing/snowshoeing/causing trouble instead of working.

when under the sun,

Ano = matte (not much light reflection)
Powdercoat = shiny

right?

im currently working on mirror finish polishing my silver ano'ed aluminum, after oven cleaner, it needed MORE oven cleaner(layers are thicker than i thought). i should have soaked it instead of sprayed but i couldnt find a big enough container~ now im just sanding the ano'ed alu off and its working so far. my next step is sanding with the range of grits of sandpaper (200 to hopefully 1000+). then mother's alu polish! <3

when under the sun,

Ano = matte (not much light reflection)
Powdercoat = shiny

right?

im currently working on mirror finish polishing my silver ano'ed aluminum, after oven cleaner, it needed MORE oven cleaner(layers are thicker than i thought). i should have soaked it instead of sprayed but i couldnt find a big enough container~ now im just sanding the ano'ed alu off and its working so far. my next step is sanding with the range of grits of sandpaper (200 to hopefully 1000+). then mother's alu polish! <3

if you put the time in, they are going to look fantastic.

if you put the time in, they are going to look fantastic.

yea i hope so. i just finished doing 400 grit on the sand paper and i put on a little bit of mother's alu polish on, already refects like an ancient mirror~ im so excited to see the results when i finish doing the 1200 grit~

Here's mine after 600, 1000 and 2000 grit and Commandant 4 polish. Picture does not do it justice. Mind you, I ordered a set of 'raw' deep V's, that is, taken off the production line before anodizing or powdercoat. So it saved me doing the deanodizing. I did that once to a MTB rim to polish it and I dropped it in a bath of warm water and drain cleaner granules. Nasty stuff, but it does the job way faster than oven cleaner. You will not get all the anodizing off with just the drain cleaner/oven cleaner, you will still have to sand some of it off.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee12/Toverei/IMG_0144.jpg

Here's mine after 600, 1000 and 2000 grit and Commandant 4 polish. Picture does not do it justice. Mind you, I ordered a set of 'raw' deep V's, that is, taken off the production line before anodizing or powdercoat. So it saved me doing the deanodizing. I did that once to a MTB rim to polish it and I dropped it in a bath of warm water and drain cleaner granules. Nasty stuff, but it does the job way faster than oven cleaner. You will not get all the anodizing off with just the drain cleaner/oven cleaner, you will still have to sand some of it off.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee12/Toverei/IMG_0144.jpg

that. is fantastic.

batavus: i take it you spoke directly to your velocity rep?

@Batavus (http://www.bikeforums.net/member.php?u=21689)

dang that looks sooooo good! got any pictures from the side? as in a whole bike view?

how long did that take you? what kinda equipment did you use to sand? im at 1500 now and i just figured out that i need to wet sand by hand but dont know how to hold the sand paper because before i just did a drill + drum~

Semi-derail: what are you guys using to keep aluminum shiny? I'm thinking my spring break project is going to be putting a mirror shine on my stem, cranks, etc. and I'm hoping I can hold off clouding for a while between polishings. Any clear coats, polishes, potions or incantations I should check out?

batavus: i take it you spoke directly to your velocity rep?

No, I ordered them through a shop, but they took quite a while to arrive. I figure any shop could do this for you.


I am mocling up the bike they will sit in and should have it finished in about a week. So wait for the pics.

I hand sanded everything wet and that took me a couple of days. just a few hours every day after work.

It's a total pita, but I didn't want to use a drill or buffing wheel with polishing compound because that will run very hot and possibly warp the rim.

Oh and I did all the sanding/polishing with the rim unlaced so I could make an arc with my hands the center of which started roughly in the center of the imaginary wheel. So all sanding marks run along the radius of the rim, not against it.

Semi-derail: what are you guys using to keep aluminum shiny? I'm thinking my spring break project is going to be putting a mirror shine on my stem, cranks, etc. and I'm hoping I can hold off clouding for a while between polishings. Any clear coats, polishes, potions or incantations I should check out?

mother's mag & alumium polish? ;D that made my 400grit sanding shinny~!! i have stopped the project tho... i got to 1000 grit.. and wet sanding is hard work.... and all the infintesimally small grains of sand is getting stuck in the scratches.. it looks all messed up~

it will get DULL very soon.