Hi all. I'm seriously thinking about killing my fingerprints and polishing my frame and swing arm etc. Polishing up once previously painted alloy is no probs at all (been done plenty) but I dont know how to go about removing the anodizing from alloy on the swingarm and frame
I have heard that oven cleaner is the go, but never done this before, so if someone has, let me know how it went, or should I just start sanding.....again. I dont want to start this job, only to find out that I have ruined the finish and made my bike look like a mess Embarrasing trying to make her look schmick, but ending up with a mess, and fully stripping it to send away to someone to do for me. I am fairly hands on, and get satisfaction by doing it myself, so I want to give it a go, I think ?
Any help, or previous success stories or utter messes that can help is appreciative.
Natcam,
Do a search on YouTube for "removing anodizing" and you'll see a few good tutorials and examples on how to do it. You can also use drain cleaner or any caustic based cleaner. For best results heat the solution up so it will work faster, use a toothbrush for difficult areas, agitate the part in the solution.
Link above deals with alloy parts for a RC buggy but the principle is identical.
Wear eye protection and gloves, have plenty of fresh clean water on hand to rinse the part or flush your eyes in the event of a splash.
Start with a small area so you can work out how long it takes to remove the anondizing, better to have a few short soaks then 1 thats too long cause that will leave the alloy black or possibly even cause pitting.
How do you plan to protect the alloy after removing the anondizing? Cause it will corrode rather quickly.
(25-02-2010, 07:30pm)Macbusa Wrote: been there mate.... just go and buy some toxic oven cleaner, spray it on, let it soak for a while and then start sanding.
It's hard work, but when i did it, i investigated it abit and this was the general response i got... oven cleaner... and LOTS of sweat.
Did you regret starting once you had ?
How did it turn out ?
I dunno ??
I was going to sand blast my rims and polish, but decided that they would be waaaayyyy to hard to keep polished up blingy ! so just frame and swing arm..........I think ?
Yeah they looked sweet as, but I want to give it a go myself on a budget of chemicals (legal) sand paper and polish (plus beer). Did the rim lips before on a TLR, and very happy with the handy work. Never done anything anodized though.
(25-02-2010, 07:30pm)Macbusa Wrote: been there mate.... just go and buy some toxic oven cleaner, spray it on, let it soak for a while and then start sanding.
It's hard work, but when i did it, i investigated it abit and this was the general response i got... oven cleaner... and LOTS of sweat.
Did you regret starting once you had ?
How did it turn out ?
I started on the rear brake bar and after that i thought 'f@#k doing anything bigger" it was a pain in the ass.. although i did enjoy it ... to some degree.
(25-02-2010, 08:04pm)Natcam Wrote: Yeah they looked sweet as, but I want to give it a go myself on a budget of chemicals (legal) sand paper and polish (plus beer). Did the rim lips before on a TLR, and very happy with the handy work. Never done anything anodized though.
You will cry,bitch,moan,smell,swear if you decide to go there ,thats just the start,keeping up the polished parts is the biggest pain in the arse and a continuing one......I would never go back to that.Polishing the frame was/is a big no no especially if your legs are going to rub on the side frame.....it will scratch by simply riding and will look like shit.Just my 2 cents worth from past experience.
What about clear coat paint, do you think that would work ??
There is minimal chance of stone chips on the frame and swing arm, so it should be ok I think, so long as I can get it to stick ??
The last frame I did in the shop took a bit over 35hr to clean, smooth and polish. And you will cry, bitch, moan, swear and smell if you decide to go there, it is a prick of a job but it does look good.
I started out with a double coarse 3M paint stripper pad in the drill then used wet and dry from 40 through to 2400 (some on a small palm sander), when I was done with that I started with a brown stick on a hard polish mop then progress down to a white stick on a semi soft mop then past on a soft mop then I finished it all off with mother billet polish by hand.
It looks great, would I do a gain, yes but when some else is paying me to do it!
Got it !
Poking around in the shed after work today, and I found some Draino, which states "not for use on aluminium", so I thought, why not ??? that means that I should use it on aluminium (a bit like speed advisory signs on corners I guess). I removed the brake torsion bar and soaked it in the draino with warm water, agitating it around and scubbing with a tooth brush. Rinsed with water, and re-soaked and scrubbed again, and waddaya know, it worked !
Rubbed and polished up using just a cloth and some Autosol, and "bad-bing" (or should that be "BADA-BLING).
Here are a couple of piccys with half anodized and half polished, just to show, but its a bit hard to see.
Thanks to all the suggestions, as a bit of info from each has been very helpful. O well, back down to the shed to pull her all apart again.
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Embarrasing trying to make her look schmick, but ending up with a mess, and fully stripping it to send away to someone to do for me. I am fairly hands on, and get satisfaction by doing it myself, so I want to give it a go, I think ?
03 with a hair dryer - slammed and stretched (stealth mode engaged)
I dunno ??
it was a pain in the ass.. although i did enjoy it ... to some degree. 
