Removing my black anodised aluminium finish?

Pocket10s

Pocket10s

Pocket10s

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Hi all!

I managed to snag an amazing B-Grade deal on my Raijintek Thetis case from OcUK. However, it's anodised black and I really wanted a silver or white case.

Is there an easy way to remove an anodised finish from aluminium? Google brings up some options with oven cleaner that looks nasty and also, will mean the aluminium will oxidise?

Are there any places in the UK i can send the panels to that can paint them? How much would it cost?

Thanks
 
Surely it would have been far cheaper and less hassle to of just bought the silver case in the first place as there only £86 :confused:

As having something painted normally costs a fortune
 
As above, it's going to cost more than it would have been to just get the correct colour from the start.

You can spray it if you have the time but it'll never look as nice as the original imo
 
Removing anodising from aluminium parts is relatively straight forward but does require the use of caustics... You will be left with raw aluminium surface which would need polishing/brushing to look decent and will be much more susceptible to scratches than an anodised surface.

You could strip and re-anodise it, but unless you already have the kit (and it's now pretty hard to get hold of sulphuric acid, there are alternative methods however) it'll cost you more than the £86 chaparral mentioned to DIY it and probably significantly more than that to get it done professionally.

Your only realistic option is to paint it. Pop down to Halfords and get some 1k Acid etch primer (not especially cheap alas) and some car paint of the colour you want.

https://www.yourownarchitect.com/ca...? 1,surface. Make sure the paint is... More
 
Thanks for the replies! I may as well just keep it black then :D - seems too much effort.

chaparral said:
Surely it would have been far cheaper and less hassle to of just bought the silver case in the first place as there only £86 :confused:

As having something painted normally costs a fortune
Click to expand...

I got it for £44 which I thought was a bargain - I did not mind the black, just really wanted a white or silver case but thought I should not pass it up!
 
Pocket10s said:
Google brings up some options with oven cleaner that looks nasty and also, will mean the aluminium will oxidise?
Click to expand...
Aluminium always oxidizes fast because of its very high reactivity.
You can have pure unoxidized aluminium surface only in inert atmosphere.
Only thing keeping aluminium from burning completely by itself is its oxide layer being stable at normal temperatures.
But if temperature is high enough, aluminium "turns from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde" and you have in your hands highly reactive element itching to rob oxygen from anything it meets.

Thermite is all about high reactivity/energy excess aluminium stripping oxygen from iron oxide, producing lots of heat and molten iron.
Aluminium powder is also used in some explosive mixes and solid rocket propellants. (well, mostly same thing)
Heck, you could burn aluminium even in "inert" carbon dioxide atmoshere, because of it being more reactive than carbon:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00102200108952170
Ditto for water:
https://web.archive.org/web/2009100...rg/preview/CDReadyMJPC09_1980/PV2009_4877.pdf
 
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