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De-Anodize Aluminum Parts - 2
First clean the anodized part thoroughly with denatured alcohol. Next fill your plastic container with enough Greased Lightning to completely submerge your part. If you are able to suspend the part in the solution it's better because you get to de-anodize it all at once.
If you just drop the part in the Greased Lightning, only the upper portion of the part will be de-anodized and you will have to flip the part over. While the second side is de-anodizing the first side will turn black from oxidizing. Sometimes this is inevitable with parts such as flat chassis pieces. I try to do all sides at once so there is less clean up later. The parts I am doing today are round, so I'll just make sure to move them around a lot. Each part will be different. Drop it in and Go Greased Lightning GO!
Once the oxidizing process begins you might see bubbles start to come off the surface of the part. Check the part every minute or so. Leaving the part in for too long will cause over-oxidation and turn the part black. When the anodizing comes off it turns the solution to the color of the part and make the part appear to not be changing. Pull the part out of the solution every now and then to see its current color.
Continue to agitate the part and use the brush (shown above) to speed up the process. As mentioned before it will take 2 to 10 minutes to complete. Most will be done in about 5 minutes. Once they've reached the color you desire, pull the parts out and immediately rinse with cold water.
Use a Scotch Brite pad to clean up any black areas where there was over-oxidation of the aluminum. (Some aluminum will not turn black) The bare metal will have a flat dull finish. Polish if desired.
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