Originally Posted by High Seas  destroyer125 - I am following with great interest. We have got 25-30 mast steps - I'll send pickie later - that are in need of refinishing.
Uggh at an hour each and a single polishing wheel each and rouge - I could do them to a very high sheen. BUT so much labor and so little time.....
BUT - I just picked up a spot abrasive (sand) blaster - thought I'd give it a BLAST - but first gotta source some media.
Am I on a reasonable path - or will this also be a 1 hour job to get them cleaned up?
The parts were anodized - an now covered with sea salts and associated "gunk".
 Jim |
Shoot me a PM or email if your wanting to have them refinished and reanodized.
You will want to chemically strip the anodized aluminum with a sodium hydroxide/water mix (use crystaline drano in a pinch). You will not want to physically remove the anodizing or you will foul up the aluminum underneath. The seasalts and other gunk will be removed by the lye mix, but I would suggest give them a good dishwashing before you try to strip them. Salt water will corrode raw aluminum very quickly, hence the reason they were anodized in the first place.