remove anodize from aluminum

[Tay]

anyone know an easy way to remove anodize from parts. i heard oven cleaner but that didnt work so i used my soda blaster with no luck   ?

[Kilroy]

I've taken  took the aluminum trim from jukeboxes to a plater that specializes in aluminum. They come back looking factory new, and should be good for another 60 yrs

[BrianB]

A couple of companies sell "Anodizing Remover". Caswell Plating being the largest one and the easiest to find on the web.

Lye takes it off the best but is also very dangerous to use. The chemical reaction between lye and aluminum produces hydrogen gas and lye by itself is super-caustic.

The main ingrediant in the Caswell anodized plating remover is Sodium Hydroxide (NaOh). We use Sodium Hydroxide here at work to remove thin film surface coating on surface mount resistors to expose the resistive element for visual inspection. Pretty knarly stuff as well but as long as you glove-up and wear eye protection, you are good to go.

When I was restoring my Seeburg M100B I researched removing the anodizing from the aluminum trim. A few guys were using apprx. 36" lengths of 4" PVC piping capped at one end to contain the trim and the solution. Lye is easy to get as well as Sodium Hydroxide. Or, if you don't get a warm fuzzy about ordering/using either of those two, order the kit from Caswell or somebody else.