[Cosmetics] How to remove the white letters on a flashlight?

Hello:

Do any of you have an idea of how can I remove the letters/logos on the body of a flashlight without damaging the anodized? We've tried with 99% acetone, industrial ink solvent, alcohol... without any luck.

Help!

Try with cutter.

It will be easier to cover it than to remove it. Furniture repair wax ought to work. Any sort of metal filler as used for car body repairs will work very well.

For removing the paint, you could try methylene chloride but it is vile stuff and will remove any paint from the light body. Sodium hydroxide will do it but will also strip anodising and eat the light body if left long enough.

Any permanent way to do it without damaging the anodizing?

Only with car body filler. At least that's the only way i can think of. You could dremel out the white stuff but you'd leave silver aluminium so I'd go for covering it.

Thanks for the replies!

Filling is not an option for me... how about wet-sanding with car body fine sandpaper and polish? Don't have it handy atm, will try later...

An idea occurred to me. I decided this light didn't need its MC-E logo on the back.

So I masked off the bits I didn't want to attack.

I could have used filler, I have some here but I thought I'd try something else.

So I looked for the 5-minute epoxy. And looked for some India ink. Couldn't find any - in fact the only useful black stuff I could find was some black shoe polish.

So I stirred some of that into the epoxy. At this point, I trashed a pair of light coloured trousers by dropping the mixing tool into my lap. A mixture of epoxy and shoe polish does NOT come off.

The applied a thick layer. Once it hardens I'll take the dremel and a nylon brush to remove the bits I don't want.

Just waiting for the black gunk to harden now.

If filling isn't an option, the only thing I can suggest is either polishing the entire light which would be incredibly tedious, or taking an appropriately coloured permanent marker pen and colouring in the lettering.

The best way to remove the logos depends on the process they used to "write" on the flashlight. If logos is just printed on surface you can try with wax but if they use laser the best way, if you don't want to damage anodizing, is cover the logos with something, like Don do.

Filling isn't an option as the anodising isn't black. It will be very difficult to find a gun-grey colout that matches. And filling the entire body with car-repair-paint will end on dissaster

I'm curious about your experiment, don't forget to post pics once you finish

Thanks for your replies!

You could use a vinyl carbon kevlar sticker: http://www.foliencenter24.com/3m-di-noc-carbonfolien/di-noc-carbonfolie.html?___store=english

Here applied on an ecig of mine:

That sticker looks great. All these pics of ecigs makes me want to take up fake smoking. Who knew they were so cool.

If you are a smoker, sure, go ahead, 4000 chemicals less than cigarettes and no tar or smoke... But if you don't smoke there is not a single reason to start putting nicotine (a toxic poison) in your body. Flashlights are also cool and - as long as we don't blow up one - completely safe.

Left the epoxy and shoe polish mix to harden. Unfortunately some of it scabbed off when I removed the masking.

I think this idea needs more work.

Buy a better light

sometimes simple is best

I agree I hate those flat spots made for a logos .. I want to slap chinese manufacturers like Cher hitting Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck ..."Snap out of it !"

But Label add value to product! Those broken english statement are just so cool, everyones love them! too boring without lor

Maybe not all of them. Two pick two examples

And another blessed one. Wasn't me that blessed them...

Or did they put those engravings on specially for me?

Or does the literal translation lose the flavour of the original Chinese?

It's the same thing with people getting their name tatooed in Japanese, things we don't really understand must be cool!