Removing cured UV gloss and printing

[jessenator]

Yes, yes, google and all of that, but with the AI generated $#!@storm of repeat/bogus content coming up as top results, I wanted to poll the forum to see if anyone has done this successfully without the use of caustic and/or hard-to-dispose-of chemicals; a home remedy, if you will:

So there were a couple of vendor-side mistakes made with some enclosures in my last order, but I'd like the material itself (drilled aluminum is still good) to not be waste, even though the design/color is.

Won't be able to immediately take this on, but it's on my mind… Looking for a way to remove the UV layers without completely damaging the main enclosure powder coat (i.e. something other than sanding). Big ask, I know. If it's not possible, maybe I'll see if there's a powder coat shop who will clear them off completely with their access to said harsh chemicals.

Thanks.

 

[PedalBuilder]

I've scratched off small areas of UV print that I didn't want, like a 5mm circle marker for an LED that I installed elsewhere, and it worked well for me. Scratching it off without damaging the powdercoat isn't easy, though. If I had to remove all of the UV print, I'd probably just stick a faceplate on the pedal and cover it up.

 

[JTEX]

Maybe a buffing wheel with some compound?

 

[peccary]

If you want to get rid of everything, powdercoat included, I'd suggest acetone. It's not particularly dangerous (other than being flammable) and is inexpensive and easily available.

 

[sticky1138]

I've taken off a small amount (a couple words) of UV print by lifting it with an X-acto. The powder coat was still intact, but there were definitely some scrape artifacts. I'm curious about chemical solutions because I've been trying to do this on larger areas as well.

 

[Erik S]

I stripped the paint off a motorcycle gas tank once. I put it on a saw horse, sprayed it down with aerosol “aircraft stripper” and walked away. When I came back, almost all the paint was on the ground. Smells awful, works great.

 

[jessenator]

thanks, y'all.

I'm wanting to remove all of the UV artwork (wrong color, wrong drill pattern, wrong art combo), and scraping would be kinda tedious for one of them, because it's a big-ol area of print. For that one I'll start with acetone and work my way up the caustic scale

I'll try scraping off the more spread out design, but if that fails, I'll just strip it all.

 

[Giorfida]

Scuff sand it and spray paint over it

 

[chris.knudson]

I'll try scraping off the more spread out design

Maybe a razor blade?

 

[jwin615]

Fire.

 

[jwin615]

 

[xefned]

Did you have any luck with this?

I screwed up a Tayda print, and I want to keep the pretty red candy powder coating but loose the botched graphic. Any advice before I start in with the acetone and sandpaper is appreciated.

(I also did UV gloss laquer so that's probably gonna make it harder.)

 

[jessenator]

Did you have any luck with this?

I screwed up a Tayda print, and I want to keep the pretty red candy powder coating but loose the botched graphic. Any advice before I start in with the acetone and sandpaper is appreciated.

(I also did UV gloss laquer so that's probably gonna make it harder.)

I had mixed success. I left one to soak for a considerable time and while not clean, a screwdriver/chisel took the powder coat off and gave it an ...interesting aesthetic.
dramatic lighting...

With the other, I gave it only a little bit of time and did some gentle, 200 or 400 grit sanding. It gave it a bit of the skater cred look to it, so I was happy. Don't have a pic of that one on hand.

IIRC, the powder coating softened before the UV print, which was frustrating.

 

[xefned]

…a screwdriver/chisel took the powder coat off and gave it an ...interesting aesthetic.

That's a bomb aesthetic. I dig it.

IIRC, the powder coating softened before the UV print, which was frustrating.

OK, that's what I feared. I'm imagining you let it sit face down in acetone or paint thinner for awhile.

The last time I was in this scenario, I painted over the UV print with white and put waterslide on top. Even with no prep it looked OK. So if this fails, that'll be my fallback: white spray paint. Thanks for chiming in!

 

[jwin615]

I don't think you'll save the powder coat, at least not perfectly. Assuming it's actually flat, could try a high grit on a rotary sander and wet sand it. Use little pressure and let time do the work.

 

[jessenator]

So this was what it looked like before. I basically did some soaking face down in acetone and then tried sanding, kinda wet sanding, I guess.

I was able to actually get the black UV print off (don't recall if it was in the design or over the whole thing), but the imperfectly flat surface meant that the edges were sanded down to the aluminum, but the face of it was still blue. That quasi petina look going on. Could've done a rattle can poly job on it, but meh. Guy I built it for thought it was cool all the same.

 

[jessenator]

I don't think you'll save the powder coat, at least not perfectly. Assuming it's actually flat, could try a high grit on a rotary sander and wet sand it. Use little pressure and let time do the work.

I went full impatient with mine and just had a sheet of sandpaper on a flat surface and did hand orbital sanding, rubbing the enclosure on the paper

 

[jwin615]

I went full impatient with mine and just had a sheet of sandpaper on a flat surface and did hand orbital sanding, rubbing the enclosure on the paper

There's no force like brute force!

 

[xefned]

Scraping with a fingernail, it scratches off into little flakes.



The finish under the scraped part is no longer shiny like the original clear coat, but I might be able to buff some shine back into this section.