Hi Everyone,
I'm hoping someone has done this before and can help me out...
For a little project I have just started, I purchase a cheap 2nd Hand Hifi Seperate to use the case from. It has a brushed aluminium style front with black screen printed letters on it. Are there ways to remove these markings, and how successful are they?
Thanks for your time,
Simon
I'm hoping someone has done this before and can help me out...
For a little project I have just started, I purchase a cheap 2nd Hand Hifi Seperate to use the case from. It has a brushed aluminium style front with black screen printed letters on it. Are there ways to remove these markings, and how successful are they?
Thanks for your time,
Simon
Mookstar said:Hi Everyone,
I'm hoping someone has done this before and can help me out...
For a little project I have just started, I purchase a cheap 2nd Hand Hifi Seperate to use the case from. It has a brushed aluminium style front with black screen printed letters on it. Are there ways to remove these markings, and how successful are they?
Thanks for your time,
Simon
Hi Simon,
Yes, I have and have found Nitromors paint stripper (from any DIY store in the UK) will work fine.
Prior to this I had tried about ten different solvents, thinners, petrochemicals etc., without any real success, even if you apply the stuff for hours.
I just used a cotton bud dipped in the stripper to wipe over the lettering (in some cases I wished to remove only part of the lettering) and after a couple of seconds, the 'dross' can be wiped off with the 'clean' end of the bud. Clean up with water, if necessary.
This stripper avoids all need to 'scrub' at the job, which in one of my cases was highly polished stainless steel that I didn't wish to mark.
The most aggravating thing I found was that you only need a smidgeon of the stuff to do the job, and I have enough left to do about a thousand other similar jobs.
It only cost about £3.50 for the smallest quantity I could find, but I still hate waste.
Were I less honest, I could have taken the can back for a refund, there was so little used!
Regards,
Metal Cleaning Polishes
I had the same question about an hour ago, and then I discovered a solution. By using a Metal Polish Paste (in my case is AUTOSOL), I can rub the screen printing marking on my chassis. My chassis is made out of sheet metal, black powder coating, and the marking is on top of the powder coat. The result is quite satisfactory, although, the area where the printing used to be became shinier than other area. Cheers.
I had the same question about an hour ago, and then I discovered a solution. By using a Metal Polish Paste (in my case is AUTOSOL), I can rub the screen printing marking on my chassis. My chassis is made out of sheet metal, black powder coating, and the marking is on top of the powder coat. The result is quite satisfactory, although, the area where the printing used to be became shinier than other area. Cheers.
It does indeed sound like you've got an epoxy ink. Because it's crosslinked during the cure process, solvent won't get it off. Abrasion is your best hope- try an aqueous slurry of jeweler's rouge or even automobile rubbing compound. It will, unfortunately, be necessary to treat the whole panel.
If you're confident of your ability to handle corrosive and toxic chemicals and you have the proper facility to do so, hot Chromerge (chromic acid) will take off the epoxy without too much elbow grease.
If you're confident of your ability to handle corrosive and toxic chemicals and you have the proper facility to do so, hot Chromerge (chromic acid) will take off the epoxy without too much elbow grease.
Hi,
At the risk of seeming 'Pushy', can I please refer you back to my original post.
As I said, I had personally tried *all* of the liquids which are likely to be available to the average DIYer (and some commercial ones which would not normally be available), and none of them worked.
Some did slightly soften the legend, but not so much that it could be removed without scrubbing and wearing it off, which as, someone else has said, does affect the underlying finish.
To see suggestions about rubbing or polishing any such lettering off, worries me because as one cannot only rub the lettering, there will always be some effect on the substrate as well, which will not be good to look at. (Or at least, it will show that the lettering has been removed, which is totally unnecessary if my suggestion is adopted, and, in my view such results are not very 'professional' looking)
With respect to some of the other posters, abrasion is *not* the way to go here, and I would avoid all unsafe chemicals etc. for obvious reasons.
The paint stripper I recommended is cheap, easy to obtain in the UK (from whence the enquiry came) and I guess something similar is available almost all over the world.
It is (relatively) inexpensive, safe and easy to use, and a couple of seconds with some on a cotton bud, and the lettering simply dissolves and wipes away!
There is no evidence afterwards that any lettering was even there before, and nothing could be more easy nor more successful!
Why not try it for yourselves?
Regards,
At the risk of seeming 'Pushy', can I please refer you back to my original post.
As I said, I had personally tried *all* of the liquids which are likely to be available to the average DIYer (and some commercial ones which would not normally be available), and none of them worked.
Some did slightly soften the legend, but not so much that it could be removed without scrubbing and wearing it off, which as, someone else has said, does affect the underlying finish.
To see suggestions about rubbing or polishing any such lettering off, worries me because as one cannot only rub the lettering, there will always be some effect on the substrate as well, which will not be good to look at. (Or at least, it will show that the lettering has been removed, which is totally unnecessary if my suggestion is adopted, and, in my view such results are not very 'professional' looking)
With respect to some of the other posters, abrasion is *not* the way to go here, and I would avoid all unsafe chemicals etc. for obvious reasons.
The paint stripper I recommended is cheap, easy to obtain in the UK (from whence the enquiry came) and I guess something similar is available almost all over the world.
It is (relatively) inexpensive, safe and easy to use, and a couple of seconds with some on a cotton bud, and the lettering simply dissolves and wipes away!
There is no evidence afterwards that any lettering was even there before, and nothing could be more easy nor more successful!
Why not try it for yourselves?
Regards,
mrfeedback said:
Hi,
Of course this is quite correct, and should have been understood without saying for any such material, under any circumstances.
Nitromors, readily available in the UK (where the enquiry originated) is stated to be "Ideal for wood, metal, and masonry", and is water washable afterwards, as I had said.
In all such cases, it is still wise to first test in an inconspicuous area, just to be sure though, and perhaps I should have said this before.
As aluminium will not retain a good surface finish unless treated in some way (due to oxidation of its surface), most (if not all) such aluminium panels will also have been anodised before screen printing.
Under these circumstances, even if the chemical is not normally stated to be suitable for use on aluminium, in most cases and with some care being taken not to leave the solution on the job for too long, you could still use it satisfactorily, but, again, try it out first on a non-critical area.
The main thing is to avoid any dangerous chemicals (as they are unnecessary in this case), and any abrasive/rubbing/polishing exercise (no matter how vigorously and/ or carefully done) will certainly leave some evidence of the previous lettering, which will spoil an otherwise 'perfect' job.
Regards,
Hi,
I just got hold of some Nitromors, and rubbed it in with cotton buds as you described. However, even after waiting 5mins and rubbing it, it showed no sign of even thinking of coming off; no reaction whatsoever!
So with this added info, can anyone suggest what I should try next?
Simon ;o)
I just got hold of some Nitromors, and rubbed it in with cotton buds as you described. However, even after waiting 5mins and rubbing it, it showed no sign of even thinking of coming off; no reaction whatsoever!
So with this added info, can anyone suggest what I should try next?
Simon ;o)
Flux Remover !!
If you have some around, try spray flux remover. Depending on the type of ink used it may remove the markings. I discovered this by accident once with regard to marking that I DID NOT want to remove! It was a minor catastrophe. Maybe someone can benefit from my misfortune. Unfortunately, it works far too well: spray on, wipe off! Zip. Just like that.
If you have some around, try spray flux remover. Depending on the type of ink used it may remove the markings. I discovered this by accident once with regard to marking that I DID NOT want to remove! It was a minor catastrophe. Maybe someone can benefit from my misfortune. Unfortunately, it works far too well: spray on, wipe off! Zip. Just like that.
Mookstar said:
Hi Simon,
Sorry that my suggestion didn't work for you, but I now don't think you have a screen printed fascia, as you originally suggested.
I have done this successfully on three different jobs, and in literally less than five seconds, in all cases the letters simply wiped off.
I reckon what you have is an etched and (black) anodised lettered fascia, in which case nothing on earth will remove it, "cleanly". This process actually chemically changes the surface of the aluminium substrate by an electrolytic almost oxidising type of process, the same as with black anodised heatsinks. Accordingly, it is not something which is 'applied' to the surface, so nothing will 'dissolve' it off.
If it is an 'applied' surface treatment as you originally thought, this can be detected by looking closely at it with a good light and under a magnifying glass. With such a printed plate, you should be able to see the edges of the letters standing up by say at least the thickness of a piece of paper, but with anodised letters, it will hardly stand up (if anything) at all.
It could be hard anodising (unlikely) or normal colour anodising, but both processes make the anodised lettered surface much harder than the substrate, so even if you try to wear it off by any form of polishing or abrasion, you will do more harm to the surrounding metal plate than the lettering.
By doing this, the surrounding metal will have its surface removed and the original surface 'finish' will be lost. The difficulty is that the surface which is anodised is quite hard, but once through to bare aluminium, even assuming what was used is 'hard', or 'half hard' aluminuim sheet, it is very much softer and wears away ten times more easily than any anodised parts.
I regret to say that if my guess is right, you will only be able to do a reasonable job by completely stripping the entire fascia, a local anodiser or electroplater might be able to do this for you (possibly with acid, if the anodising is not too deep), and then completely refinishing it.
Alternatively, if the plate is sufficiently thick, it could be linished off carefully, again all over, and subsequently refinished.
Look up "metal finishers" in your local yellow pages if you choose this option, and I have always found these people quite helpful for 'one-off' jobs like these.
However to do such a job by hand, and make anything like an acceptable job of it, I would think is nigh on impossible, and the amount of rubbing would be a killer for sure.
I have had some experience of metal finishing, as many years ago I worked as a silversmith and jeweller in Birmingham,
and I wouldn't even attempt it, as keeping the surface flat is so hard. You will most likely end up with hollows and rounded off edges etc., which will not look too good unless you are not very fussy.
Sorry if this is not such good news, but I believe it to be the truth.
Regards,
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