Project "My Happy Mess"

[litew8]

ty va

It doesn't look as shinny in these pictures (as it does in older pictures) because it's been sitting outdoor ever since I had finished it. But, yes, I removed the anodizing first with Easy-Off oven cleaner. Sprayed it on and let it sit for about 10 minutes, then rinsed. Having stubborn areas was expected, where the anodizing didn't lift easily, so extra sanding had to be done. And since spraying oven cleaner on aluminum itself is "bad" (discoloration can occur), I didn't reapply. There were a lot of scratches that took a while to sand down and remove also.

Starting with a rougher grit sandpaper and working your way up to finer (I used 3 or 4 different grits, 4,000 being the finest if I remember right), once you get to the really fine grit, it's super easy to get scratches (again, just from sanding). So it did take a while to get it to where it'd shine, without scratching (read patients ). Then once it's done, it's super easy to scuff/scratch it - if it hasn't been coated/protected (which mine hasn't been yet).

that explained it