Anodising Part 2

[Sithlord]

Hi guys ,

A while ago, I posted a thread regarding getting one of my frames re-anodised, I found a company not far from me, to undertake the anodising providing that the frame was stripped of paint.. (Had frame sprayed over anodising in 2002) as the company had no facilities to remove paint !

I also found another company that would undertake the whole experience for me minus the paint removal, but at a massive cost of £ 300.00 plus!! , this was to remove the anodising and polish, and then re-anodise and the company could not guarantee the finish, So I decieded that £ 300.00 would be best spent elsewhere.. and started to undertake the job myself..

Progress so far..

The frame has had a bath of that nice stuff caustic soda, (2 ltrs of water to 1kg of caustic) and it removed 90% of the paint and anodising, I have now removed most of what remained by hand, using a wire brush and wet and dry.. there is however the odd bit of paint/anodising left in the welds and awkward places.. but starting to look good..

Whats the best way of polishing the rest of the frame and removing whats left ? or

Does anyone know of any other firms that may wet blast the frame and anodise ?

How polished is polished enough for anodising..

Any help would be much appreciated..


Si

 

[B3]

With anodizing, what you see before you get it done is what you get after, so if you want a matt/brushed finish scotch brite it, if you want it highly polished, like hubs etc, then you'll have to use fine grade wet & dry then autoslve to a high shine.

 

[Sithlord]

Thanks for that, any idea what grade of wet and dry ? I have got 1200 as a final finishing paper, I have used a wire wheel on a drill to most of the hard work! but has left a 'scratched' finish, I am not looking for a polished finish, ideally a brushed type finish.. so I guess not much more to do, its just getting those little bits of paint and anodising out of the damm welds ..

Autosol is that the stuff I need ? , will this not leave some sort of residue on the finish ?


Si

 

[cce]

600 followed by brillo pads gives a smooth brushed-ish shine that'll last a week or so.

 

[rody]

For a quality ano finish, the piece must be meticulously clean and have a high gloss shine.

You've GOT to get the scratches out of the frame or the end result will be very dissapointing.

I chemically strip all paint/ano and then shine on a 2' diameter polishing wheel with buffing compound. To do a frame right, it usually takes me about 3 hours of mechanical polishing. The polisher is from WW2 and is huge.

Best of luck...

rody

 

[Sithlord]

Thanks guys .. will brillo pads get the paint out the little awkward places ?

A brushed ano. finish is what I was after rody, are you saying that the affect will be poor..Rody ?

 

[cherrybomb]

If there are any scratches before, they'll be there after, so the question is........is the finish you have the finish you want?

I'm going to be prepping a Proflex frame over the Christmas break so I'm interested how thing pan out.

I'd certainly hold off with the wire brush! Try some wire wool or an old tooth brush and paint stripper on the welds.

Any deep scratches wet and dry..600 through to 1200 (or 2400). Then wire wool or a scotchbrite pad, (wire wool and Brasso works well) and finally metal polish and elbow grease.

They'll probably acid etch the frame before it is anodised to get it clean, so they can control the surface finish to a certain degree by time in the bath, but it won't cover blemishes.

Why don't you ask the anodisers what they recommend......they're doing this stuff every day.

 

[Sithlord]

Thanks for all your comments, been out to buy to brillo, paint stripper and wet n dry, Spoke to the company whos doing the anodising, they can fit it in on friday !!! :shock: so it looks like all I have to do now is have another day at it (Polishing that is !) and I think it will be there, brillo works a treat BTW thanks Cherrybomb..
Oh! the only other thang I have to do is deceide on the colour... mmmmm Red,Black,Silver,Gold..
Thanks

 

[cherrybomb]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this when it's done

You best get some photos up sharpish when you get it back.

 

[B3]

Make sure none of the parts left in the frame, bottle mounts etc are made from steel, as these will disolve in the anodizing process.