Definitely wet sand the defects out prior to polishing and the results will be much better. I used to polish cast aluminum car parts way back in the day and got really good at it over time. It is truly a labor of love and a time trap, so I mainly just did my own stuff. I eventually came to appreciate painted or plated surfaces and moved away from the soft shiny bling look.

Several issues with this video and a few warnings. Anodising is removed with a caustic soda. Your drain cleaner is a mild one. Easy Off oven cleaner is another more aggressive one. But you need to know a few things before doing this that the video did not mention. - This stuff is toxic (especially easy off). You should use a respirator when working with large concentrations. Wear heavy rubber gloves, it will eat your skin. - What it is actually doing is consuming the aluminum oxide on the metal. This later from anodising is 0.001-0.005mm thick. As a result, it WILL change the dimensions of the part. Be careful where use us it. The surface of the crank is no big deal. On the SPLINES might cause them to no longer engage correctly resulting in creaking, coming loose, etc. It is best not to soak a part, but rather apply it only where it needs to go. - Stronger caustic sodas will usually eat and damage steel. When you get to the drive side of the crank with the spindle, be VERY careful not to get any of it on the steel parts. On the polishing side, autosol is for removing mild tarnish. It will brighten an already polished part, but it has minimal "cutting" ability. A bead blasted/etched part like that crank needs to go through something more aggressive before getting to autosol. Some people mentioned sandpaper, which works on the flat areas you can reach, but there are other polishing and cutting compounds that yet you still do it with the drill on weird shapes. Last warning is on how to treat your shiny new part. There is a reason it was anodised in the first place. Raw aluminium will react with many other materials including stainless fasteners, spokes, carbon fibre, etc. You need to clear coat, ceramic coat or re-anodise the part ideally before use ideally. I don't want to say this is a bad idea and never do it... but you need a lot more knowledge going into it that this video is providing or you can permanently destroy your parts. This isn't quite as simple as stripping paint.

@Evertb1

9 ай бұрын

I totally agree with all your comments. This was not the finest hour of the GMBN tech team.

I’m a professional metal polisher been doing it for 25 years . I used the yellow oven cleaner to brake down the anodize then 220/320 da sand then use a yellow disk buff with brown compound, then I go to a white buff with white compound , then I finish it off their white buff with a blue compound for that nice bright shine . My buffer is a 5 hp beast . I’ve polished brass , stainless, steal and aluminum, ti .

Use a 2k clear coat after polishing. It’s a layer of protection, and keeps the polish look. Or you’ll have to polish every so often.

Pour some vodka on a cloth and rub it into the part until it screams "kurwa!". Ta-dah - Polished part

@nakitojimo2001

9 ай бұрын

🤣🤣🤣

‘Anna Dyzing’ and polish looks amazing! Well done!!

I mirror polished my Mountain Cycle San Andreas frame. It came out stunning.

I love vintage bikes and I have a bunch of them. One of my favorite ways to make them stand out is to polish various bits. It is amazing how the hard work really pays off in the end. I would love to see your bike all dressed up in shiny things! Lovely show Anna, Cheers - M

Back in my bmx days, the 80's, we used easy off oven cleaner to remove the old anodized finishes on our faded aluminum parts, then buffed them out with metal polish, leaving them chrome looking, but you had to re polish them after about a week!!

I've been wanting a silver crank for the longest time

You really want to get glasses when doing this. Drain cleaner is no joke if you get it into your eyes. You would most likely go blind so dont underestimate it

Chemical stripper for paint, 400+ grit (bigger grains would leaves too deep scratches) if you want the mechanical way. Then 600 or finer wet sanding, polish wet with cerium oxide for that mirror finish, clean part thoroughly with alcohol (that's why you dont want to use metal polish it leaves grease) then automotive clear coat. I've been doing this for over 25 yrs. Sounds simple eh? Because it is 🎉 Removing your dub crankset might be a bigger challenge 😂

You could speed this up by wet and dry sanding the part with a very fine grit paper first. When done polishing spray the part in 2K lacquer to give it some protection or maybe use some helicopter tape on the face . Might even be worth just sanding the worn face of the crank and polishing that if that’s all that’s been damaged by clown shoeing

@theVlKlNGR

9 ай бұрын

Exactly i wanted to say too! Because it has a way better surface without these little grooves all over it. Mirror polish for real.

@ryanhenderson5859

9 ай бұрын

600 should be the last grit used if you go any finer you’ll always have a cloud/hazy mirror polish, and 2k won’t stick for long on a polished alloy part won’t take long and it will start flaking off,

@reefbloke

9 ай бұрын

@@ryanhenderson5859 acid etch 2K should hold up ok, I’ve used it on diamond cut alloy wheels in the past.

Working on stripping an oldskool Redline BRUTE stem for a 1979 MX-II build. Usually use Easy Off Oven Cleaner or Greased Lightning Degreaser. But, they appear to have changed formulas here in the US. They are no longer as caustic as they used to be. Going to try Drano Drain Cleaner or straight LYE next. Good job 👍

I'm not gonna watch this. But i will say that bare aluminium corrodes in the air, doesn't even need to be wet. It won't hurt the structural integrity but it will go dull (not stay shinny) so you will have to keep redoing this and everytime you sand it you are taking away a minute amount of material (which would be fine unless you did every day for like 5 years). You could preserve the shinny by spraying clear coat paint on it but that's easy to get wrong and it would ruin the look of the part. Just easier to not spend the time to potentially ruin a very expensive set of cranks

@dystopiaisutopia

9 ай бұрын

Good. I wish nobody would watch it. GMBN doesn't learn

@bod3000

9 ай бұрын

Clear cote

Been doing it for years , sanding tools , Autosol and clear coat. Older XT cranks arms look good when restored to mirror finish .

Shiny looks amazing

I wish bike makers would release bare metal polished! Such a 90's vibe

Starting with 600 grit and going to 1000 grit and 2000 grit first, then polish it. Getting them reanodized clear is what I wasn't patient enough to wait for. I just sprayed clearcoat on mine. Anna was much too clean to do it the homeboy way. I think Henry did it a few years back.....

Polished smooth, yes!

the disadvantage is that aluminum oxidizes in the air and it will darken in just a couple of days

Have to wait for our sink to clog then ill polish all my groupsets, double whammy!

just what I need, doing up a bike for a friends daughter and I bought some silver cranks, but want to polish them up.

I love black parts but damn they wear so quickly... I recently think about striping anodise on my cranks - thanks for idea with drain cleaner. I will probably apply some transparent lacquer after polish.

Possibly considering a full polished frame for my Cannondale Gemini 2000

My friend and i have polished up the swingarm of my Orange 224 the main frame is gettigna new custom paint job. It's guna look brand new when done

Didn't know that anodizing can come of using drain cleaner? Nice work. Next video how to anodize or reanodize a part 😜

i have a buffing felt wheel and WHITE compound for softer metals such as aluminium. always wetsand any imperfections out

Nice video! Frame polish next?

I'd have picked thicker gloves. Those are only rated to keep things out for 1 or 2 minutes, that's why they're called disposable gloves... Dishwashing gloves are a lot thicker work for much longer.

i restored a ton of 90s bmx bikes this was my main way to go.. just polish them up and sell them lol

A word of warning. Sodium Hypochlorite or Hydroxide (drain cleaner) will dissolve aluminium. If the anodising does not start lifting within a few seconds it isn't anodised and you must STOP and rinse immediately! If you leave the cleaner in contact with the threads (or any other exposed surface) for too long it will remove aluminium, damaging or weakening the threads (pedal or bolts).

It seems as cranks get more reliable the finish becomes less so… my XTR crankset lost its XTR logo on the drive side within a few months… maybe this is the answer to keep things looking good

You’ll have to be careful with this as it can damage the taps. I did it with a rear hub once using and eventually the tap of the ratchet ring got stripped.. maybe I let it soak to long. If you can you should plunge the taps. Better save then sorry

Isnt that just going to corrode now you've removed the protective oxide layer?

@hifiandmtb

9 ай бұрын

Yep.

@blusoda0021

9 ай бұрын

No, not especially.

@TheButlerNZ

9 ай бұрын

Oxidise... Yes... All metal does... but some far quicker than others... (Lead is one of the quickest ... that doesn't explode... and Aluminium.... but your cranks are most likely Alloy (often confused with Aluminium... but subtilty different... )... I'm betting Magnesium Alloy... But Magnesium also oxides (thing MAG-nesium wheels... Look great polished... but goes dull after a while if not coated. Luckily... due to 90's bling bling boys in their doof doof cars.... there's a huge range of Mag Wheel clearcoat etc. that is designed to keep that high shine finish with a clear coat protective layer. (I only say Oxidise over Corrosion, as oxidisation will occur on contact with air, regardless of climate... Corrosion is usually more associated with contact with a corrosive product... or damp conditions which is a grey area between corrosion and oxidation...

There's a reason it's anodised. If it's 7075 and you remove the coating it will look terrible very soon after riding in the wet.

If you do it to a painted part, the finish is not smooth, it will still get the silver look, but more like the look of a cast aluminum part than smooth.

Nice concept. But… You’ll need various compounds and various polishing wheels to get a mirror shine. Doing it this shown way won’t achieve a “factory” finish.

Wont it weaken the alum. Lets say you do it to a hub

Clear coat the finished product and seal in the shiny. "Yee hooo" keepemcoming

crank and stem

I used caustic soda. It took about 5 seconds. Must wear adequate safety gear. #askgmbntech

@zhoutai182

9 ай бұрын

NaOH dissolves aluminium, so don't do it

@bod3000

9 ай бұрын

(See above)Sorry also must wash really well. Look it up It's an industrial method. Yes caustic soda does eat aluminium. I guess so do the products Anna used. They just take longer. Also wasn't a bike component I stripped. There's a beautiful finish on it. #askgmbntech

I'm glad for everyone's sake you machine polished it, why do it by hand?

I just realized I've got too much carbon on my bike. 😞

I'll agree with many voices here: this video is actually harmful, because it's easy to cock it up and there's no care instruction after you polish it, as you're getting rid of the part's protective layer. Dunno why would GMBN Tech produce this kind of videos (similar one: repainting your frame, also starring Ana), where it takes years of practice to perform the task up to snuff and not ruin equipment worth hundreds or even thousands of pounds

Ez off oven cleaner works quit a bit better

A poor technique when going for a brushed look just makes it look like you’ve done a polished finish badly.

nasty

"Literally 30 seconds to a minute". Do the English speak English in England?

Deraill-eur, too much US in that pronunciation 😂