Yeah I don't know much about removing anodizing, but when you're down to bare metal, it's pretty easy. Basically you just wet sand up to as fine a grit as you want to go then wash with soap and water. At this point you'll have a smooth dull/matte finish. Then apply some Brasso (if it's steel, aluminum polish if aluminum), let dry and buff it off. I actually did 4 coats of Brasso because the post seemed to absorb the first few applications. On this bike I have Steel Nitto bars, a nice shiny old Phillipe stem and polished silver wheels (rims/hubs/spokes), polished Campy cranks so the seatpost had to match. As it was an obscure French size and the only one I could find was black I had to apply a little DIY to get the effect I wanted.