how do I strip factory silkscreen from HAII flashlight body

rmzalbar

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Sep 1, 2006
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I want to remove white silkscreening from the body of my flashlights. These seem to be black HAII. I've tried conventional solvents on the silkscreen, nothing. Seems to be at least as tough as powder coat.

Any ideas?
 

Size15's

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Either it's Type II, or Type III (aka Hard Anodised). There's no such thing as "HAII". Having said that, both type II and type III can be removed.

SureFire laser etches it's logos and other marks.

Are you sure the markings on the flashlights you mention are not etched?
If it's etched then you're best bet would be to colour in the markings with an appropriate marker pen...

Al
 

IsaacHayes

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The writting is black anodize? or your light is black anodize and it has white writting on it? Usualy it's laser etched...

But if your light is silver, then maybe you could remove it..?
 

photonhoer

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rmzalbar

Please note that the references so far (sink unblocker, lye, etc) are for removing the anodizing itself, not just (and maybe not even) the logos. So be sure to evaluatge your goals before using this sort of product.

Myself, I ahve no idea how to remove just the logo. Perhaps you'll have to contact the manuf to inquire how they were put on and what would remove them.
 

X Racer

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You want to remove the anodizing completely ? Or just the lettering ? Heavy Duty Oven-Off oven cleaner will remove anodizing from aluminum, but I am not sure you want to actually remove the anodizing.
 

Ken_McE

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If the logo is some type of ink or plastic try rubbing it with sugar. Sugar should not touch the anodizing but it is coarse enough to take off some inks.
 

rmzalbar

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right - i want to remove the silkscreening, not the anodizing. I was hoping it was a type of ink, as it felt slightly raised to me. When I scratch it, my fingernail 'rasps' across the lettering vs. the relatively smooth glide across the type II finish. Looking closer, I can't see that it's actually raised, so it probably is etched.

Alas!
 

Sub_Umbra

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There was a great post last week on a thread about 'brightening up' laser engraved lettering on lights that may be helpful in trying to understand how to achieve the opposite effect. The poster quoted Henry (HDS) from an email:

"... The white color is the highly fractured ceramic surface touched by the laser. Over time, the white powder will rub off leaving tarnished aluminum, which is a dull gray. ..."
I found it really interesting that the bright white we see right after laser engraging is not just exposed aluminum. If that's the case you could speed up the process of the 'white powder' falling off by just hitting new laser engraving with something like a bronze bristle brush (or something else that wouldn't put too much wear and tear on the surrounding anodizing). You could then either just wait for the exposed aluminum to tarnish (and fade against the black finish) or you could use something like BIRCHWOOD CASEY Aluminum Black on the newly exposed metal to knock it down right away.
 
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greenlight

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I had an experience removing ink that had been screened onto a glass cup. I was using the cup to fold cardstock, and rubbing it back and forth on the spine-fold. I noticed that the ink was disappearing, and made an effort to remove it all. I'm sure the friction was wearing off the ink, but it's possible that it was heating up, too, because the paper was very rough. Don't know if this helps, you'd probably rub off the anodizing, too.

How about a pic of the offending logo?
 
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