Deanodizing Z-Idlers

[Laserbea4k43]

Trying my hand at de-anodization today. I’ve got some Chaoticlabs CNC Z-Idlers that come in black and red but I don’t want those colors so I’m going to try taking it off.
I’ve got:

• 1 bucket of water for the lye
• 1 bucket of water with baking soda to wash it
• 1 jar of 99% lye
• Gloves
• Goggles
• Titanium backer mixing stick I might find something else to use before I start….
• A t-shirt to cover my face…

I guess the first step is disassembly…

 

[Laserbea4k43]

Ran into my first issue pretty quickly…. These bolts are very low profile. I might not be able to get them out!!c
Anyone know what kind of tool I’ll need?
None of my sockets fit and none of my needle nose pliers can seem to get in there….

 

[Laserbea4k43]

Got it!
Was easy as cranking the dial!

 

[Laserbea4k43]

OK, disassembled!!
Can’t lie, I’m a little worried about those bearings in the dials… hopefully going nuts with lubricant when done will save them. If not, is what it is…
Edit, going to use an old printed extrusion as a mixing stick

 

[Laserbea4k43]

OMG…. Bubbling and stripping almost immediately!!
PLEASE WEAR PROTECTION!!!
Going to check back in 15 minutes

 

[Laserbea4k43]

Nope..I’,m good with how they look after 5-10 minutes
I seem to be able to wipe off any excess….
going to pull out the dremel and start polishing….
Wish I would’ve printed that Dremel Station…..

 

[Laserbea4k43]

Wiped clean, time to polish….

 

[Laserbea4k43]

Polishing did absolutely nothing....
I guess I'd better get a proper kit (and take some lessons) because the bonus bits that I have don't do the job.
Until then, gonna get my Z-Idlers installed.
Noticed that my kit didn't come with any of the fasteners, which is ok, because I'll be able to use the ones already installed, if I'm lucky.
Always had a love/hate relationship with ChaoticLabs....
Also, doesn't come with any pulleys. I don't like that idea... Hopefully my current pulleys will work fine...

 

[Laserbea4k43]

Done!
Hopefully this fixes my issues with QGL…
That way, I can go back to printing the rest of the mods I need to finish my EBB 2209 USB setup…

 

[NoGuru]

They turned out really nice.
I just spray painted mine but they don't look that good.

 

[Laserbea4k43]

They aren't too bad. I may polish only the dial and/or pulley mounts.
Accuracy is bananas too!!
I mean, this only happened one time, but it was a damned good time!!!