Tutorial - How to strip / remove paint / powdercoat off aluminium forks / frame

I have been looking for aluminium forks for a while to put on my brother's Mielec Mash/Gash which came in raw aluminium.

I went to pick up a set of black Leader i806A V2 'track' forks from eBay yesterday - these were bought from BLB for £110 by the original owner, who decided to go for carbon as these are rather heavy thanks to the steel steerer (a mighty 794g).

CSB

**tl;dr **- forks are powdercoated black, I want them in raw silver

Step 1 - Get your kit ready
You will need to buy paint stripper (I recommend Nitromors) then the rest should already be in your house/shed:

• rubber gloves so you don't burn your hands,
  
• safety glasses so you can be smirky when you get Nitromors backsplash on them,
  
• Cling film so you can cover the parts you don't want to strip,
  
• an old toothbrush to brush the stripper in intricate parts,
  
• a metallic spiral scourer - this is needed as powdercoat is much thicker than paint,
  
• wire wool (0 or 00) for a smooth finish.
  
  

http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_193428_zps3d93a6be.jpg

Step 2 - Cover the parts you don't want to strip in cling film (in my case, the steerer) then apply a coat of Nitromors on the forks, wait for 20 minutes, brush it around with the toothbrush then apply another coat of it and leave for 30 minutes. Do this outside or you will probably die with the fumes.
If the forks were just painted, you can cut these waiting times as the paint would 'bubble' off.
Coat 1
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_193552_zps42dd348e.jpg
Coat 2
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_194918_zps6e2a2fd1.jpg

Step 3 - Use the metallic spiral scourer and give the forks a good rub, ideally lengthways, this should remove most of the powdercoat.
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_202556_zps44ecd203.jpg
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_202636_zpsb25bd971.jpg
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_202628_zps54cac751.jpg

Step 4 - Repeat Step 2 & 3 on the stubborn areas.
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_203134_zpse8b093f1.jpg
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130411_221202_zpsd20a3147.jpg

Step 5 - You're nearly there. Use the wire wool to finish the job, once again lengthways.
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130412_083412_zps42d8d1d6.jpg
http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g361/lasseaux/Useful%20Bike%20Stuff/Paint%20Stripping%20-%20Aluminium%20Forks/20130412_083425_zpsfab3c409.jpg

The black marks on the forks are the welds which I could polish off but i'm going for the raw look.

You could also use some metal polish / polishing compound to have a mirror finish.

I hope this helps - not a hard job, it just take a bit of time and elbow grease.

Cheers

Vince