Manky old set of Deore square taper cranks….

(like these but found in a bin and scratched to buggery and filthy)

….bit of work with a drill and wire attachment to take off anodizing….

….then polish up with some fine grade sandpaper, metal polish, and lots of elbow grease….

(I decided to leave the spider with the satiny/unpolished finish as a contrast)

….ok not quite up to Jeff Jones standard – but they look pretty nice 8)

I think they looked better before you started, now they look like they came off a £95 halfords bike

yep.repaint them black.

anodise them pink, sell em to some joker on here for a gazillion quid

Every-one's a critic…

People that take anodizing off – do you lacquer the metal afterwards? I mean, nobody strips the paint off steel components and then leaves them to the mercy of the British climate do they? Why aluminium then? The anodizing is there for a very good reason.

I know they'll get a bit dull, but I've polished em with a bit of T-Cut, and will only take a quick re-polish every so often.

*puts D&T teacher hat on*
Oxidisation on Steel and Aluminium works quite differently too. Rust on steel and iron causes structural degradation over time, but when aluminium oxidises a very thin layer forms (we're talking microns) and this layer prevents further corrosion.
*takes D&T teacher hat off* 😉

Amyway, makes a change doesn't it?

Good effort I say!

Typical bloody STW forum naysayers responses…..

"Typical bloody STW forum naysayers responses….."

Typical forum naysayers naysayer response 😉

shiney = good, btw.

Good job well done, I like 'em. I did some LX HT2s like that and they've been fine. Looks waaaaay better than scratched and worn paint. The finish stands up just fine to usage. I found that Brillo pads are great for the final polish too, the ones with the soap in them! 🙂

If they had 'Middleburn' written on them , the nay-sayers would be fawning over them…. 😉

but when aluminium oxidises a very thin layer forms (we're talking microns) and this layer prevents further corrosion.

Someone should tell the aircraft industry then, they spend a fortune on preventing it oxidising.

When are you going to do the making it look good part?

DeVs – Member

but when aluminium oxidises a very thin layer forms (we're talking microns) and this layer prevents further corrosion.

Someone should tell the aircraft industry then, they spend a fortune on preventing it oxidising.

its a pair of cranks not a **** airplane!

Aluminium oxide is pretty brittle, not something you'd want where the metal was going to expand and contract quite a lot, such as on an aeroplane.

>Someone should tell the aircraft industry then, they spend a fortune on preventing it oxidising.

Do they just paint everything then ?

Aircraft structures use thin section materials, where any corrosion could cause serious stress fracture problems, especially as alloys can become work hardened and brittle over time. Not a problem on bike components, but an issue if you're trying to keep seventy tonnes of aircraft 35000 ft in the air.