Remove Anodizing

[BigC123]

EZ OFF Oven cleaner...spray it..let it sit for a few and then start rubbing it around..with a soft brush or your gloved hand and the anodizing will come right off.
from NOOB

This just in......
Eagle One "Mag Wheel Etchant". This stuff will peal anodizing off of alum REAL fast. Use caution, it will eat paint too
?&^?&^

[hakmazter]

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Easy off is way too difficult and makes it blotchy. Make your life easier and use Red Devil Lye. It is in a white container with a red lid. You will find it in the drain cleaner section of your grocery or hardware store. It is granular and you mix it with water. I would say that if you mix up some in a gallon of water, put in about 1/8 of the container. The more you use, the better but be careful. Stuff is nasty. Of course, there is a big warning that you shouldn't use hot water, so that is what I use...lol. Do not breathe in the fumes and use a coat hook to dip your parts in the solution. No scrubbing required. All equal removal.

Maybe McCabe will help me make a deanodizing video for here. Trust me on this. We used to de anodize amplifiers and restore 25 year old BMX parts. I know how to deanodize aluminum.

[hakmazter]

Oh yeah, rinse with water and then just send down drain....since it is drain cleaner. Hurts if gets on skin since it is designed to disolve hair, etc....rinse with water if gets on skin. I would assume that you all have fairly tough skin if you are wrenching on R/C stuff all the time anyways....but of course, use caution.

[hakmazter]

and if you leave your part in too long....like an hour...there probably won't be a part left....

[hakmazter]

should take a minute or two....

[Mr Fusion]

I'm going to pick up some Lye today... been meaning to try it since I talked to you at Cam's place a couple weeks ago. I have some blue parts to "fix" lol

[hakmazter]

Let me know how it works. I have only used Red Devil.

[Mr Fusion]

I picked up the only thing I could find... only place open today was Walmart. I got a bottle of liquid (lye) drain cleaner called "instant power / hair clog remover". It's about 6 bucks, and is in a red bottle. btw, It doesn't label it clearly as "Lye" but there are warnings about "lye spills", etc.... so it's pretty obvious what it is.

I used one of those cheap plastic food containers... and soaked some parts in it, full strength right out of the bottle. WHen youa re done, you can just rinse it down the drain, since it is drain cleaner.

It took a few minutes... then started to work pretty good. I left the first batch in like 10-15 minutes total and they looked great. Completely clean of the color and a nice smooth finish.

So... I put in the rest of the parts I had, and got something to eat. Kinda forgot about it for a while. :eek: It was in there between 1-2 hours I think. Oopps lol...

Those parts were burnt pretty good. They have a dark color and you can tell they were starting to dissolve. I'll see how good they are once cleaned up... with steel wool or buffing, etc.

Anyway, this stuff worked great. Just don't walk away for too long. :D

[razzor]

I used to use drain cleaner fro etching logo's onto ally products i used to make especially ally radiator covers on race cars we used to build.
make a negative sticker from good thin vinyl.
Clean ally well and stick on vinyl template and using a earbud/cotton bud apply the cleaner.
I used to mix 1-2 table spoons in half a cup of water.

Apply wait a few mins, it gets dry and apply again rubbing a bit with the cotton bud.
Repeat 3/4 times and rinse off with water.

[3pointX]

I've done the drain cleaner bit on my paintball markers and it works really well. I would plug all the openings with rubber plugs (to prevent removal of internal anodizing) and let it sit for maybe ten minutes. Works well on RC poarts too. Draino gel was my cleaner of choice but just about any of tehm work. The gel just gets in to little crevaces and doesn't run off as esaily. After I rinsed it off I woud finish with a rubber brissle wheel on my air drill, that would take off any remaining ano and residue and also buff out any pitting that the drain cleaner may have started. After that, just rinse the parts really well and finish polishing with some Mothers.

[Dave D]

Chris was showing how he had his name on his parts. Here is how someone on a budget can do there own,

I used to use drain cleaner fro etching logo's onto ally products i used to make especially ally radiator covers on race cars we used to build.
make a negative sticker from good thin vinyl.
Clean ally well and stick on vinyl template and using a earbud/cotton bud apply the cleaner.
I used to mix 1-2 table spoons in half a cup of water.

Apply wait a few mins, it gets dry and apply again rubbing a bit with the cotton bud.
Repeat 3/4 times and rinse off with water.

[hakmazter]

brilliant! I think you are right. The only concern I would have is that it might bleed over the edges of the vinyl.....

[razzor]

Thats why use a good quality thin vinyl and clean part properly so it sticks nicely.
I am doing this in the coming week, will post pics when done. Waiting for a buddy to make the template sticker.