removing anodized coating

[Mr.Cool]

how do you remove the anodized coating from my axial links??? i think i saw drain cleaner works but can you guys help???

[broncoholic]

EZ off oven cleaner let them soak in it for a while. Make sure not to use your wife's good cookie sheets. I learned that the hard way,it will stain them.

[Mr.Cool]

do they turn out shinny??? and should i use a plastic container to soak them

[broncoholic]

Not sure about the plastic container, but they will not be shinney you will have to use some aluminium polish and a buffing head on a dremial to make them shine.

[bigflex]

a plastic container would be best. Thats what I use and have never had a problem. And if you use an old butter tube or something you can just pitch it when your done. Never dull works really well too (for polishing) and its alot easier.

[mikedoug]

I use the thick tuperware and oven-off from the store, any oven cleaner will work, just be careful with that stuff...also, simi-chrome when your sone will give them a highly polished look.

[bigflex]

yeah I need to add be sure you do it in a welll ventilated ares and wear rubber gloves. The oven cleaner is very acidic or caustic. Can't remember which but either way it will eat your skin if you don'r wear rubber gloves. Plan kitchen gloves will work just fine just tose them when your done.

[HomerJ]

Originally Posted by bigflex

yeah I need to add be sure you do it in a welll ventilated ares and wear rubber gloves. The oven cleaner is very acidic or caustic. Can't remember which but either way it will eat your skin if you don'r wear rubber gloves. Plan kitchen gloves will work just fine just tose them when your done.

It's actually very Basic. Opposite of an acid, but will still eat your skin off , you just won't know it as quickly as you would with an acid. Wear gloves!!

[GaBronco]

I bought a pie pan for less than a dollar at the grocery store and some Drano Gel and have less than eight dollars in my de-anodizing job. I didnt wear gloves but i wasnt sticking my hands in it either! haha

[Timmahh]

if you use the Easy Off method, you need to buy the original easy off. the scented and other stuff wont work.

i use Draino and water. take a gallon of warm water (115 ish degrees) pout 1/2 can of draino in the water and mix it up a bit (USE RUBBER GLOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Draino can and will eat your flesh).

dip them and keep an eye on them. depending on how strong your mixture is, and how thick the ano layer is, it will take between 30 seconds and maybe 5 minutes to take the ano layer off.


once you see the parts turning Black in color, take them out and rinse in HOT water, or better yet a backing soda water bath. 1 cup of backing soda to a qt of warm water. the baking soda nuetrilizes the draino.

keep in mind when its turning black, you are actually removing aluminum now. If you watch them very close, and pull them out, scrub off a bit, you ll be able to get rid of all the color and the aluminum will still be shiney. if you do soak it too long, the aluminum will start to get dull as it loses material.

same holds true with Easy off, dont over do it.

fwiw, you may be able to use greased lightning to remove the ano. though ive had both sides of trying it. it works on some ano, it dont on others, which doesnt make any sence.

fwiw, if anyone is looking for new ano and colors, lmk, i anodize.

[bigflex]

Originally Posted by HomerJ

It's actually very Basic. Opposite of an acid, but will still eat your skin off , you just won't know it as quickly as you would with an acid. Wear gloves!!

that would make it a caustic. it has a very high ph and its base is Sodium Hydroxide.

[megacabcummins]

I had some anodized cranks on my MTB, Castrol Super Clean dang near took the ano off... I would imagine if left to sit in that stuff it would strip it... and be a lot less caustic.

[montana.matt]

Castrol Super Clean does work good and it's not as nasty as EZ Off. I've used both, but prefer the EZ Off.... It's quicker at removing the annodizing. If you go the Super Clean route, you'll still have to buff out the links. You don't need a Dremel to buff them, you can do it by hand with a clean, soft towel. The Dremel is quicker and provides a better shine though

[Mr.Cool]

alright, my mom has oven cleaner. so i so them in that and wait until they are silver and then put them in warm baking soda water? then use my dremel and polish them

[montana.matt]

If you go the EZ Off route, make sure you do as we all said and use it in a well ventilated area, like outside. I just drop them in the EZ Off and once the green is gone, I rinse them off in warm water, dry them, then polish them up with my Dremel

[Timmahh]

if your using easy off, just soak them until the colors comming off. take out and use a medium bristle brush to scrub them a bit. if you still have color on them, soak them for a bit more time. keep doing this until the color is gone.

once all the color is gone, you can polish them up with your dremel and some polishing paste or compound. when you try to polish them, if they dont start to shine up right away, there is still some ano layer on it and you need to soak them more.

keep an eye on it, you ll be able to get rid of the ano layer and get them polished up well.

[4XADICT]

Greased Lightning works well also . And buff with #000 fine steel wool , works great and no mess , not quite the polished shiny but bright.

[clayton78]

I would Probley listen to timmah. He's been doing custom anodizing for awhile and if ya check over on the baja form you can see some of his crazy nice builds and ano work. I stripped my baja his way and it was little so easy and ready to polish the minute it came out of the pale. But Then I Had to have hin ano it .