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I know its been asked a thousand times, I want to strip the anodize from some cranks and I was trying to avoid the Caoh (Caustic Soda) route if possible. Lets see your projects and hear how you did it. I don't really want to spend hours sanding either. Oven cleaner???
I had this dilema a while back and thought of oven cleaner.... had a black stem plate and wanted in bare alloy...
In the end I used caustic soda but in small doses... worked a treat 😉 oven cleaner barely did anything
one example:
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Indeed, it's not like paint, you do actually have to dissolve the anodising and that requires a strong alkali.
Caustic soda stripped my Hones in no time. Outside and no kids around. Can't do pics - the bike is in Poland.
Cheers so far, but a few more questions.. Cool so Caustic looks like it will be the only way. How? Whats the process? Did you rub it on or did you make a bath of caustic and lower them in? Then rinse with water? Or I have heard maybe with Vinegar???
Try some neat Traffic Film remover, if you can get some. Garages with a jet wash might let you have a bit.
A container of cold water, pour the soda in (I poured much more than suggested), it bubbles up and gets warmer. Your crank, hanging on a wooden stick, goes in, you just dip it in and out, might be useful to use an old brush. A few seconds in the soda and the anodising washes away. Leave the crank to dry, DON'T TOUCH IT AS IT BURNS!, pour some water over it later. When cold and dry (a towel is good), it needs polishing so you can use it as a mirror. Simple, really.
Tommid - the process i used was a bowl of cold water / 2-3 table spoon of caustic soda and gently mixed. Then I dipped the stem plate completely under the water. It doesn't take long for the anodize to colour the water... No longer than a min each time and rinse under running tap (I found after drying off a bit of a bit of brasso was handy to clean the finish as caustic soda can make the alloy look black) rubs off very easy mind!
Repeat until all off but keep an eye out as caustic can damage and eat the alloy!