Old-Lumens:
Greased Lightning, Home Depot. I use a clear plastic storage container, like you can get in wal-mart and sit the parts in the bottom. I pour in Greased lightning and cover the parts and about an inch higher. Different lights take different amounts of time, as do different colors. It can take anywhere from an hour to several hours if you have a lot of parts.
In a small container, like a 2 quart container, it would take about an hour to do a 2D bezel. If you had the tail cap in there too, it will take more like two hours. The hardest surfaces are horizontal, the easiest are vertical. The cleaner works best on vertical surfaces because as the color and anodizing sluff off, they can separate easier on a vertical surface.
Parts need to be turned on their side after a while, like a tail cap, so the horizontal surface is vertical. All parts need to be turned upside down, because any surface right on the bottom will not have the anodizing removed, so it needs to be exposed. The very longest to do is something on an interior surface that’s hidden, like the inside of the tail cap. I take parts out every half hour, drop them in water and clean them with steel wool, to loosen/remove the outer layer. Then I put them back in and wait longer, till all the color layer and the anodized layer is gone. Remember that the color layer is above the actual anodizing layer and the anodizing layer is silver, so it’s hard to know when it’s gone. I can tell because the anodizing layer is a slightly flat looking silver and the bare aluminum is a bright shiny silver when I clean it with steel wool.
Does the bare aluminum have to be sealed or anything like that after it has been cleaned with steel wool? My black 2x AA mini is all kinds of worn down would probably look much better all shiny silver.
Old-Lumens
November 11, 2013, 12:03am
43
@ unknown00101 - I just use aluminum polish. Over time it will turn, but that's what the polish is for.
Old-Lumens
November 11, 2013, 1:55am
44
Beam shots are up, in Post #35.
That is danged nice OL!!! AS USUAL!! You continue to do great things to these lights!! The beam shots are incredible!! Thats a stout Trio!!
Dan.
edeekeos
November 11, 2013, 6:06am
47
Thanks for the information OL.
BTW those beamshots are INCREDIBLE! That 2D is like a handheld sun!
Old-Lumens
November 16, 2013, 11:50pm
48
Last of the glam and beam shots are up in post #35. The trio is done.
