How to remove anno?

[calcan311]

Anybody know how to remove anno? I have some parts I want to anno myself, just don't know what to use. I recall someone once said soak your parts in lye.

[punkncat]

lye

Keep in mind you will have to repolish and seal the parts to eliminate oxidation.

[Target Practice]

Scrape it against concrete. It'll texture it too.

[Lohman446]

Anybody know how to remove anno? I have some parts I want to anno myself, just don't know what to use. I recall someone once said soak your parts in lye.


I'm going to self anno but I don't know the first thing about removing anno (not that I do either). Why does this sound like something I would do with predictably bad results?

[ojhspyro89]

Well, you can beadblast it. Thats what i do. Makes it like a matte finish almost. I have it on my gun right now. Its your best bet other than sanding it forever. I have some pics somewhere around here....

I can do it for ya, PM me if your interested!

[VFX_Fenix]

More specifically NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) which can be found in relatively pure pellet form in Red Devil drain cleaner.

It should be mentioned that high concentrations of a strong base like NaOH can cause severe chemical burns and WILL chew through your skin and cloths if you get any on you. When mixing (edit - and using) your solution be sure to wear eye protection along with Neoprene based gloves (like those made by Scorpion), a rubber apron, some shoes that will protect your feet from drips and spills, preferably a face shield, long sleeves, and have some source of running water near-by, garden hoses are great.

Also, don't just dump the stuff down the drain after you're done with it. Add vinegar to the solution to bring down the pH of the soultion (which will be close to 14) or if you have some pool supplies you should be able to adjust the pH to between 10 and 4 at which point you can dump it down the drain (though you still probably shouldn't since I don't know what all comes off the piece when you strip Ano). Anyway, don't make too much of this stuff, consider most things that get this stuff on it that are soft goods ruined unless you clean them off quickly, a quick spin through the wash will reveal any areas that the solution splashed on by leaving some lovely holes.

[AGDlover]

i heard barfing on your stuff will remove it because of the acid in your stomic

[calcan311]

Thanks for the hepl guys, So red devil drain cleaner or lye. I diffently plan on polishing and reannoing right away after.

[wombo102]

i once heard cooking oil would take off anno, dont know if it will or not though

[mobsterboy]

i heard melting down steel into a molten liquid and then throwing your parts in will do it. once you throw them in, you have to let the steel cool, and then realize that mobsterboy just told you how to get your gun real FUBARed up

[Paintchucker]

i once heard cooking oil would take off anno, dont know if it will or not though


that might have been oven cleaner...

[VFX_Fenix]

Thanks for the hepl guys, So red devil drain cleaner or lye. I diffently plan on polishing and reannoing right away after.

Red Devil = Lye = NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide)
Lye can also be KOH (Potassium Hydroxide)

In either event, they're both nasty nasty nasty if you touch the pellets with damp/moist skin or in concentrated solutions.

And HCl (the acid in your stomach) will eat the metal too.

[Carbon]

yeah man, listen to Fenix, havent yall seen fight club?

[gortman44]

yeah man, listen to Fenix, havent yall seen fight club?

No, why what happens :confused:

[player4]

Anybody know how to remove anno?

Send it to me......I might even decide to give it back.

[VFX_Fenix]

haha, I forgot about that in Fight Club.

But I do work in a chemistry stockroom and it's part of my job to handle this stuff on a daily basis both in pure solid and solution form. Believe me, I've lost a few lab coats and aprons to this stuff. The Red Devil isn't exactly the highest quality NaOH, but it's certainly good enough to turn your average fleshy critter into soap before you could retieve it and clean it off from a saturated solution (no more solid will disolve into the solution).

[magmonkey]

home anodizing a walk through from someone who has been a anodizer

what you need

all tanks need air agitation and heaters

a hot soap tank to remove light oils
3-5 mins @ 120 degrees
pull the parts and rinse them
hold the parts above the rinse tank and look for water break (you will see an uneven drying pattern) if waterbreak is present re soap

after this step you cannot touch the parts or you will re contaminate them

rinse freash cold water

if you are thinking about self anodizing it your setup should already have a caustic etch tank to clean the parts before anodize


you can use this for etching back old anodize
however be careful not to over etch your parts or you will end up with junk

a clean water rinse

rinse in cold fresh water for 1-2 mins making sure all etch/nitric de smut has been removed


a nitric acid de smutter

etching your parts will bring impurities to the aluminums surface as smut this needs to be removed
30 seonds to 2 mins in a nitric de smut bath will do it depending on the nitric concentration

if the parts are not spotless you will see ever impurtity through the anodic film
and you will have a crappy anodizing job

you can use the same rinse tank from the caustic


after your parts are clean

anodize tank

given you have proper chem. content
for color anodizing on 6061 generly you should try to hold 16-18 volts for 22-25 minutes
keep a tank temp of 70-72 degrees

rinse again NOT THE SAME RINSE

1-2 minutes fresh COLD water (cold is very important as hot water will seal your anodizing)
agitate and be sure to rinse all holes to aviod sulfuric leak out.

if the parts have not been rinsed you will have a crappy anodizing job


if you have gotten this far without problems you can dye and seal
but I have to get to work so that can come later