Title kind of says it all. I am wondering if you have removed the paint from an alum. scope to have a "silver" finish?

how did it work out?

I'm not aware of any scopes that are painted -- all I know of are anodized, a process akin to bluing of a gun barrel. There may be a chemical way to remove anodizing, but to my knowledge the only way a home workshop guy is going to do it is just like you would remove bluing: You'll have to use some kind of abrasive polisher (wire wheel, buffer?) to get down to the bare aluminum. Once the bare aluminum is exposed (if this were practical), then it is subject to oxidation, just like steel is subject to rust. There are various products on the market to prevent aluminum oxidation -- bare airplane skin is a good example -- but I can't say how appropriate they would be for a freshly-skinned scope.

Fascinated by this question, I sent it on to a friend of mine who is not only a shooting enthusiast, but a chemical engineer. Here is his response:

The short answer is "don't ruin your scope". The long answer is, anodizing is an electrochemical process. The aluminum article is made the anode in an electric circuit. The article is immersed in an electrolyte solution with additives to produce the desired color. The main chemical formed on the aluminum surface is aluminum oxide (alumina). The alumina is white and the additives give it color.

I don't know for certain that this process is reversible. But pretend it is reversible for the sake of discussion.

First point -- if you were going to try to reverse this process you would need a transformer, a rectifier, a voltage control system, an amperage control system, the rest of the circuitry, an inert (lead, ceramic, ??) container, and the electrolyte solution. This is going to cost a hell of a lot more than a new scope.

Second point, if the process is reversible, aluminum is going to be going into solution. What will this do to the threads and the hermetic seals on the scope? Will the lenses fall out?

Third point, aluminum is HIGHLY reactive. We have never seen pure aluminum. What we call "aluminum color" is the color of a thin coating of aluminum oxide. It re-oxidizes itself as soon as it is exposed to air. Without polishing it will look chalky white. It will not look like stainless steel.

Tell the [expurgated] to go right ahead. It sounds like a good idea -- certain to save a bunch of money.

Lads,

Remember when you could change the color of just about everything w/"contact paper"???

I haven't seen any "silver" contact paper lately. Oh well... there's always DUCT TAPE, the handyman's best friend!!!!

Sorry... my imaginary friend "skinny the talking weasel" told me to say that.

Mike

Michael, I think Jeffe needs tin foil for the look he wants. There is an A/C duct tape made from pure aluminum....


Tubes that aren't bare anodized aluminum are usually powder coated. That stuff is a bitch to remove, too.

so, i forked my path on this .. i bought a new nikon silver finish scope, its on the way..

and i have a couple cheap aluminum scopes. i am almost certain some of them are PAINTED, if baked, and not adonized.

i, unlike most people, machine aluminum quite a bit.. and well, BULLOCKS that it oxidizes like steel rusts.. i've got blocks and parts, and stuff, that has been machined and basicalllt left ... unless "coolmist" cutting coolant is the cat's ... knees on antioxidizing finish, i've never done ANTHING to coat alum .. i think aluminum oxidation is real, just that the "rapid" part is as measured against epocs.

and, typical of me, i'll put my money where my mouth is, and clean up a scope, put some steel rings on it, wipe some wd40 over it, and see what it looks like in about a year

jeffe

Pretty close to the "bubba" question of all time. You suppose I can rechamber my Weatherby Mark IV using an electric drill and a Dremel?

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
and i have a couple cheap aluminum scopes. i am almost certain some of them are PAINTED, if baked, and not adonized.
jeffe

jeffe, not sure how these guys do it, but they don't anodize the aluminum.

They say that they can coat an aluminum scope with their finish in a wide spectrum of colors.

Spradlin's Tef-Coat

They are apparently authorized by Leupold to refinish their scopes without voiding the warranty.

I have wondered if Spradlin's does the Leupold Custom Shop work.

quote:

Originally posted by Wm.S.Ladd:
Pretty close to the "bubba" question of all time. You suppose I can rechamber my Weatherby Mark IV using an electric drill and a Dremel?

thanks for all your actual addition to the world. You profoundly state your knowledge and experience with nearly every post.

Do you annoy me? Like a sand flea in my boxers

I painted a couple of blue/black scopes to "silver" about 20 years ago. Worked great for a hunting rifle and the paint managed to last 3-4 years of hard hunting before they needed another spritz with the spray can to refreshen.