mountaindave 

I recently got some fairly ugly XT thumb shifters for a good deal. The anodizing was quite faded and inconsistent, so I wondered what they would look like polished. The details on how to polish aluminum can be found in other threads, suffice to say it took a draw file to get the stippled surface smooth at the start. I’ve only got one done (it takes a few hours) but here’s the progress and final result of the left thumbie:

File work couldn’t get all the nooks and crannies. The left shifter has some work yet to be done with sandpaper.


Closeup - note the difference in surfaces already:


Undersides, rough sanded - note the anodizing is still very black on the right.


Left shifter done!!




What “turd” have you polished and actually made better?

RCMoeur 

Nice work. Although comparing classic thumbies to a bodily byproduct might get the torches n' pitchforks C&V crowd riled up.

My motivation to spiffify depends on the destination. If it's for a rebuild at the co-op, it might get a rudimentary cleaning before re-installation. If it's for personal use, it depends of how nice the bike is - the commuter gets different stuff than the shiny bikes. If it's for a bike that expects "like-new" condition, such as a restoration or for our local program for foster kids, they'd get a full cleaning and repaint.

Alas, I don't seem to have a lot of before-after photos of reincarnated parts, except for re-covered saddles.

obrentharris 

Very nice!
I went the opposite direction. These MTB Race Face cranks, originally blue, were more raw exposed aluminum than paint by the time my son finished racing them. I repainted them for use on my Atala.



Brent

mountaindave 

Ha! Note that I used quotes. And in my mind, it was the finish that was horrible, not the shifters - I love the shifters!

I actually have been looking for some XT thumbies for a while. (I have Deore with the inferior stamped steel bands). I don’t like vintage Rancidfire. It’s only about a 50/50 chance that T9 can bring them back to functional (1000 tuneups in a can!)

mountaindave 

Another project:

This used to be a mattte anodized Ritchey Logic crank, but the PO had rubbed off some of the ano with his shoes. Half the work was done, so I completed it. The NDS arm cracked and it was a PIA to find a 172.5 arm (it doesn’t match), so I figured it couldn’t get any worse.


Gotta work of the part around the pedal threads… The whole crank was pretty scuffed and rough.

RCMoeur 

This is where I start my usual spiel about "the only way to really clean Rapidfires is to pull and dunk them in an ultrasonic cleaner for x zillion cycles." Just did two sets yesterday. And if I did it right, they won't re-gum up again...

Andy_K 

I don't have the patience to put that much work into polishing, but it is fun to see what you can do. I find that with polishing 10% of the effort gets you 90% of the bling. I usually only make about 5% of the effort.

These were both for a Clunker 100 Challenge.

Before:



After:



Before:



After:




I used sandpaper on the SR stem, but I think I went straight to the Mother's polish on the Tourney brakes.

zandoval 

People have told me when I polish up parts on my old beaters its like putting lipstick on a pig. But I know for a fact that when my bikes are polished up they go faster...

Andy_K 

I've been known to rub the ano off of cranks with my shoes too. Here's an FSA Gossamer crank that I've used on half a dozen different bikes.



It cleaned up pretty nice.



I put a bit more work into this one that the parts I posted above. I still didn't bother to go after the deep scratches. I figured it would look like this after a few rides anyway.

And this is how I treated it.

awac

You say that like it’s a bad thing…….lol

I read about taking anodising off with oven cleaner, nasty stuff, but apparently takes it all off. I have always used sandpaper, as not a fan of chemicals but has anyone have any experience of this?

Jeff Wills

Easy-Off takes off the anodizing but the end result is blotchy and uneven. You end up wet-sanding anyway to get a consistent finish.

My right ankle is funky so I end up scarring my right crank no matter what. I’ve most of my cranksets over the years.

daviddavieboy

I have never had oven cleaner work very well as Jeff Wills mentioned. Just as much work goes into making the finish looking good as it would have been just sanding the ano off in the first place. I found it leaves pits in the aluminum that are difficult to get out and the cleaner will not remove the most tenacious bits of anodize.

Jeff Neese

I've had good luck with Easy-Off oven cleaner on a couple of stems and a crankset. Those are large, simple parts and easy to buff out. I just put the part in a bench vise and use an orbital polisher and Mother's. It's definitely messy and gives off dangerous fumes.

daviddavieboy

[QUOTE=Jeff Neese;23002890] I just put the part in a bench vise and use an orbital polisher and Mother's./QUOTE]

Power tools would definitly help as I was using my non powerful hands. Thanks !

awac

Maybe worth mentioning for safety to keep Iron and Aluminium grinding separate areas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite

It was even used to weld rail tracks together.

mountaindave 

I didn’t bother to get all the gouges out of the crank arms for the same reason - especially in places where they won’t be seen much, if at all.

Thumb shifters are, literally, right in front of my face.

rccardr 

Pro tip #1: Sand parts with 80 grit paper before using Easy-Off oven cleaner to remove anodizing. 10 minute application usually does the trick, sometimes rewuires a second application. The sanding lets the lye get under the ano, resulting in a more consistent result.

Pro tip #2: Low number grits get rid of deep scratches, always sand across the scratch, not along it. Proceed from 80 to 200 to 600, then SOS pad to clean micro grit out of the surface, then to bench buffer.

Careful use of a bench buffer makes the rest of the work go MUCH faster. Your fingers will thank you!

Roger M

I fixed a gouged up seatpost a couple of years back. A vise and several different grades of sandpaper, followed by some aluminum polish. Not perfect, but definitely presentable.

SwimmerMike 

I usually follow do something similar to what @rccardr does. Short stints with ez-off sand with progressively finer grits than polish with mothers, but by hand.

If a part has really bad road rash or I want to reshape it (like the top of this seat post)I will use a file prior to the sandpaper.

randyjawa 

About five minutes, per hub...




using my bought for a buck or two, at a yard sale, electric polishing wheel (caution; wear a mask to filter out the suspended particles that get into the air when using such a set-up)...


And some store bought polishing sticks (three grades can be found but I use only two)...

mountaindave 

Decades ago I got a bench wheel (older than me) on its own bench with an adapter for a table saw which I instead use as a rest for sanding. One side is alternately a grinding/wire/polishing wheel, the other is a disc sander. Amazingly versatile - I use it all the time.

For old oxidized aluminum without deep scratches, the polishing wheel does quick work.

I always wax after I polish.

mountaindave 

The wheel also works well when somebody puts the ice cream scoop through the dishwasher when it’s clearly not supposed to go through the washer because it strips the polish.

etherhuffer 

I have a set to clean up. What do you soak them in?

etherhuffer 

Another turd polishing choice is wet blasting or ‘vapor blasting’. It leaves a nice satin finish you can just go with or continue to sand and polish.

SurferRosa

Yes, I've used aerosol oven cleaner (with lye) on dozens and dozens of parts. No way I would attempt a polished finish on anodized parts without first using a chemical remover.