Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Removing ANODIZING?

oh hi!
was posting in another thread about removing paint, and thought i would throw this out there....

tips on how to remove ANODIZING?

now, ive heard oven cleaner. i have tried that on a spare black anodized stem, but it did a mediocre job. perhaps im just doing it wrong or something....but it left black on in allot of spots, and other spots were real cloudy colored....


anywho, lets just say the end game is to turn a black miche supertype seatpost (or my spare stem attempt) into a nice looking silver. im guessing it involves removal, then sanding, then polishing, etc....

BUT if you have done this before successfully, please share in detail and you will win exactly 100 internet points.

A media blaster with the right media will remove enough material to get rid of the coating, but will leave a satin like finish that will need to be sanded smooth and polished. This is much faster and more thorough than using chemicals. Any bike part you'd be doing this too will be unaffected by the small loss of surface material.

Something to consider is how you will keep the newly polished aluminum shiny? Aluminum oxidizes (corrodes) naturally and will need to constantly be polished if you want it to look good for any period of time. Most "polished" aluminum is actually anodized clear to preserve the polished look.

quoting myself from the other thread:


illd - after you remove an anodized finish with oven cleaner, you still need to use polishing compound or at least a few different grades of fine steel wool to shine it up.

ThePritchett is right, though...your shiny parts most likely won't be shiny for long.

are media blasters expensive? i guess thats something a quick google search could find out. but im here right now lol

pardon my ignorance, but would some clearcoat in a can work after polishing?

if u look at the "start here" thread, in the DIY section there's a tut on polishing aluminum.
It's fine if after oven cleaner leaves it cloudy. Do it for a couple of times at least to be sure. Then use 1200grit wet n dry if u wanna smooth out some surfaces. Then u rub like crazy for polish.
I think u can use clear coat or wax to prevent oxidation after u get it shiny.

I used Oven Off to remove anodizing on a spotted seatpost (Seemed like black spots all around) for polishing like in the DIY thread but couldn't remove them. I was able to polish parts that weren't covered with the black spots..

Any ideas of how to remove the spots?

I had awesome results with Klean Strip aerosol paint stripper. Sprayed it on a blue anodized Velocity rim, let it do it's thing, 15 minuets later all the blue just wiped off with a old towel. It was dull but suited my purpose.

edit: to get a nice finish on your seat post after the stripping, order up some semi-chrome from Velo-Orange, that stuff will make it glow.

This stuff works wonders too:

http://www.nevrdull.com/

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?259766-Do-It-Yourself-(DIY)&p=3677840#post3677840

EDIT: Am I the only person with a link to this thread?

^ ha no, i was about to post the same thing. never tried it myself though.

Took me a while to find that thread,I didnt realize it was moved into the start here thread.

I just used a wire wheel as it didn't mark the aluminum to the point of needing to sand it down afterwards to smooth it out before polishing. Then just hit it with some aluminum polish.