DE-anodizing without oven cleaner
 

Don't now if has been discussed here or not but there is an easy way to de-anodize your aluminum parts without using oven cleaner.

First pick up yourself up some Greased Lightning and put it in a plastic bowl of some sorts.

Then place your aluminum parts into the Greased Lightning

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/102_2886.jpg

Let it soak for about 15 to 30 minutes or so slightly agitating the parts now and then.

After about 5 minutes you can see a difference
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/102_2887.jpg


here they are after a half an hour.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/102_2894.jpg

be sure to rinse them well after removing them and then polish them up! "thumbsup"

I sanded mine off, this looks way faster. Who sells greased lightning?

you can pick it up at most super markets and hardware stores"thumbsup"

albertsons or walmart i think

I used draino on mine...but the same method, soak for a half hour agitating once in awhile.
Greased lightning is probably a little less toxic though.

i use drain-o too. it works a little faster and doesnt etch the metal half as much as the greased lightning does. if your going to polish it use drain-o, it will save a ton of time sanding and polishing. here is my old axial, i stripped and polished all of the aluminum links and rock rims. with the drain-o i just gave it a quick hit with some 2000grit sandpaper then a little metal polish.
http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/g...9/DSC01625.jpg

Shinny:mrgreen:

I'll have to try the the drano but I wouldn't want to get that on my skin. the Greased Lightning is safe enough to put your hands in at least. I didn't have any problem with the etching they seemed to clean up quite easily.

bottom two haven't been touched, the rest I hit with some mothers billet polish and the dremel real quick

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/102_2901.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/102_2902.jpg

Those look great......I don't remove anodizing much, but I think I like this idea better than Drano or Oven Cleaner. Thanks for the tip!

I will go pick some up and try it on my extra set of beadlocks. "thumbsup"

x2 that stuff scares me. i always use rubber gloves when dealing with things like drain-o

Now this is what i needed. Thanks"thumbsup"

Very Shinny going to have to try that on mine"thumbsup" I to sanded mine before takes too long especially by hand

I could not have read this thread at a better time.
Here is my question once back to natural metal what do you think would be the best paint for my beadlock rings?

damn, I know what im doing now. thanks:x

lol Really thanks I cant wait to do this to mine. "thumbsup"

Yup I saw this on this month's issue of RC Driver when they were deanodizing a Savage. Turned out pretty clean too. Is it just me or does Easy Off smell kinda chalky and vanilla?

OK, so here is the latest dilemma, what kind of Greased Lightning do I get?

Thats way better then oven cleaner.:shock: Thanks for th info:mrgreen:"thumbsup"

wow!

sanded mine and took forever, wouldnt do that again! lol
but this will defintely be the way to go for me. "thumbsup"


thanx ;-)

I did a set of upper and lower links with draino and all they needed was a quick scrub with 1000 grit sandpaper and a little polishing with the dremel and i was good to go. Thanks for the tip.

Just went and picked up some greased lighting and man this stuff works great even tho on the bottle its says not to use on aluminun bare or anodized. But its not ecthing the metal hit it with some 1000 grit sandpaper and alil elbow grease and some polishing compound. Looks like a whole new truck with out the axial green

Good Stuff.
 

Great tip!! I used the Greased Lightning today(under $4 at Home Depot) and it worked great. One of the 4 rings I soaked took an extra 10 min but a rub with a paper towel was all they needed after about 30 min.

I was also pointed to a product by Dupli-Color called Metal Cast that is a spray on that gives a nice anodized look if you are looking to change colors.

I used polished aluminum wheel cleaner one time on something anodized and It works too...... real well;-)

Thanks for the tip"thumbsup"
I will use this to clean my green links to

Guys all you need to buy is some caustic soda powder. Put a table spoon of it in some warm water and dip the parts you want to strip for a few seconds. Remember to wear gloves.

You can easily polish the parts with Tcut if required.

If you leave the parts in for too long the aluminum will turn black.

Funny thing, I thought greased lightning was oven cleaner ( I'd include oven trays in that.. )? :|:ror:

We've only got lame foam oven cleaner in the UK, very hard to get hold of decently strong chemicals that will do the job...

Neil, what the hell are you here for. arent you a speed freak?

I think I'd prefer using something that took 30 minutes over something that only took a few seconds.

First of all, how caustic is something that it can remove anodizing in just a few seconds?

Second, with the longer process your margin of error is a bit greater. I've read a lot of stories of how people have left their parts in oven cleaner for just a bit too long and it ruins the part.

Or if you guys are like me and like the brushed look go in your tool rooms and chuck up a wire wheel and have some fun lil time consuming but it gets the job done! ;-)

use the commerical grade works better..

Appreciate the heads up on the greased lightning. The oven cleaner about kills me every-time i have used it. Tis is much nicer..thank you "thumbsup"

Reb

Use 100% lye (drain-o, etc.), it will remove the ano without destroying the substrate material. Just keep a close eye on the process and everything will work nicely. I usually hang the part I want to de-ano on a plastic cable tie and dip the part into the mixed solution. When the part is done I would neutralize it with a baking soda wash/soak. Light hand polishing is all needed to be done.
Needs to be 100% lye (crystal form). Oven cleaner has other chemicals that will cause pitting.

100% Lye really isn't a practical use. I would have to say though it works I am sure. it still is a bit dangerous

"thumbsup" Already picked it up at Home Depot. Havent tried it as of yet, just been a bit too busy. Cant wait to get rid of the Axial green

Thanks for the tips and tricks, I've never heard of any of this till now. Sounds like it all works pretty good.

Acetone works too. Also works great for removing powder coating. I completely stripped a powder coated and annoed paintball marker in less then an hour using the stuff.

Great caution does need to be practiced when using 100% lye. Here's a good example on how to. "thumbsup"
http://bmxmuseum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=110989

greased lightning(or purple power) also removes chrome off tamiya plastic parts. leaving smooth shiny plastic unaffected

i dont know about greased lightning, but i got a wicked chemical burn from the old castrol super clean stuff. but then again, i had my hands in it for quite awhile stripping a rattle-canned black rc10 with a vegetable brush.

so like, whatever you use, be carefull... ;-)

my buddy just did this to his XR10 rings. It works great"thumbsup"

The other successful product we used was Rogo. It's a diluted sulfuric acid formula for drains that is available at your local plumbing supply.

Unless you are 100% comfortable with working with acid, stay away from the rogo