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Dark's Guide: How To Remove Anodising


Alex Dark

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Basically i accquired some green cranks, and came to the conclusion that putting these on my bike with red parts would make it resemble a christmas themed steed....a look i didnt really want. So, i decided to do some research on how to strip the anodising off them.

Up to 6 applications have to be used, depending on the thickness and quality of the anodising

I pored over several sites to try to ascertain the best method for removal...and ended up on several r/c car forums, they all suggested the use of sodium hydroxide ( oven / drain cleaner ). Sodium hydroxide effectiveloy dissolves the aluminium oxide layer (which is what anodising is composed of) on the surface of the alloy.

I went into my local shop and found some Mr. Muscle oven cleaner for the princely sum of £1.89.....sorted....

I started off assembling all the bits and pieces i needed:

Rubber gloves

Toothbrush

Newspaper

Oven cleaner

Wire wool

Autosol

Rag(s)

Lay the item to be stripped on the newspaper.

Then spray a light film of mr. musle all over the surface ( make sure to do thisd in a well ventilated area as i found out later on ). You'll have someting that looks a bit like this:

Leave the item for around 5 mins, and you'll have something like this: The anodising will have begun to have been removed, leaving a green mess that needs to be brushed off with the toothbrush.

Repeat the application, and agitation with the toothbrush intil all the colouring has gone, and there is a dirty black / grey layer over all the raw aluminium.

The item now has to be washed to prevent any further corrosion. Once the item is dry, lay it out on some more newspaper and set to it with some fairly coarse wire wool to remove the tarnisheed effect and the last of the anodising. Once most of it has been removed, use some finer wire wool, then buff to a shine with autosol metal polish with a clean fluffy rag.

REMEMBER: Use rubber gloves as caustic soda is an irritant and can cause skin damage. If it comes into contact with skin, wash with copious amounts of water. If ingested seek medical advice.

Also, use in a well-ventilated area as the fumes can be a bit savage....i started to feel light headed

Edited by Alex Dark
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