Need some help

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Exabian

Exabian

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2012
Messages
266
Location
South Korea (Camp Humphrey)
Hello,

I managed to get my hands on a couple of 30 mm shell casings and I would like to repurpose it but it has the green paint coating the aluminum shell. My question is how would I go by removing the paint so I can expose the aluminum? Once I get that i will need to buff and polish the round. Any advice on this will be welcomed as well.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.
 
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I'm far from an expert in these things & have never tried a 30 mm case, but you might try turning a tight fitting jam chuck to fit into the open end then mount it between centers on your lathe to sand off the paint & polish it.

I do that sort of thing with 50 cal cases - no paint to clean off, but I sand them to clean off the gunk & tarnish. I usually just use 600 grit but sometimes follow that with a couple of mm pads depending on how it looks. Then I polish with Brasso or a similar metal polish then spray with a lacquer formulated for brass.

Of course the 50 cal cases are brass rather than aluminum, but I would think that a similar approach would work with appropriate polish & finish.
 
edohmann said:
I'm far from an expert in these things & have never tried a 30 mm case, but you might try turning a tight fitting jam chuck to fit into the open end then mount it between centers on your lathe to sand off the paint & polish it. I do that sort of thing with 50 cal cases - no paint to clean off, but I sand them to clean off the gunk & tarnish. I usually just use 600 grit but sometimes follow that with a couple of mm pads depending on how it looks. Then I polish with Brasso or a similar metal polish then spray with a lacquer formulated for brass. Of course the 50 cal cases are brass rather than aluminum, but I would think that a similar approach would work with appropriate polish & finish.
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Thank you. I thought about sanding as well but I just wasn't sure if there was another way. I guess I was just worried about scaring the metal in the process.
 
If it is anodized, I would try something other than sanding. I found several sites claiming that Greased Lightning cleaner works for such things. Here's one that looks promising:
Removing Anodizing From Aluminum Quickly and Easily.

I have no idea if this will work for your cases, but it might be worth consideration. As for all such things that you find on the Internet - caveat lector!
 
Exabian said:
Swagopenturner said:
That coating is probably anodized. I'm not sure what health concerns it might cause when sanding, but I would recommend a respirator!
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Do you know of a safe way to take the anodized coloring off?
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Normal oven cleaner should take it off. Do it in a well ventilated area or outside and use rubber gloves. There is a lot of posts about using oven cleaner to remove anodizing
 
Donovan said:
Normal oven cleaner should take it off. Do it in a well ventilated area or outside and use rubber gloves. There is a lot of posts about using oven cleaner to remove anodizing
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I found some videos on YouTube about that but I've soaked it for 10 mins each time so fare but only a little came off.
 
Got it! I forgot one part which was to wipe it down, I was just submerging it in water. Any it's looking good now. Just need to clean it up more an polish it to mirror shine.

image-827456224.jpg
 
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