Lye + Aluminum Please Help

[sarahperdue]

Hi Y'all,

I knew in my heart it was aluminum, then a magnet stuck to it... Ok, super, so I ignored that little voice in my head continued to tell me that it was aluminum and hit the baked on stains with the same lye solution I used on the rest of the oven.

And, yep, it was aluminum. I guess it the magnet stuck to the underlying steel. Anyway, behold my poor P-7 window shield. Can this be fixed? I know, I know, I know, it will only show when I'm cleaning the oven. But I WILL KNOW it's there.

Thanks in advance,
Sarah

 

[sudsmaster]

There may be two potential solutions:

 

1) Replace the shield with one that isn't partially dissolved. You might be able to find one in a junked P-7 oven.

 

2) Remove the shield and take it to some shop that can sputter it with more aluminum metal.

 

Offhand I'd say #1 is the more practical solution.

 

 

[kb0nes]

You could probably etch it more to try to get it to at least look uniform. If you have a large enough pan you can submerse it in you could soak it in a dilute lye solution to etch it. The finish would be more matt in appearance then original, but it may get more uniform with an all over etch.

It could be buffed also but would be hard to get uniform results with the surface texture.

An anodizing shop could do either a BrightDip or electropolish (or even anodize it a pretty color!) but these might incur a $75-100 fee unless you are good as sweet talking / sob stories.

 

[sarahperdue]

Not dissolved

Perhaps my lye solution was weaker than spray oven cleaner because it’s discolored but has no surface damage. I may brush it with a light lye solution to even out the color or i will leave it as is. I’m annoyed with myself, but it will be hidden most of the time.

Thanks

 

[sfh074]

Anodized Aluminum ......

That is aluminum and it is/was anodized. The lye ate into the anodization coating. Only thing is to take all the anodization off and get down to the raw aluminum. Then hand polish the aluminum or give it a brushed look with 320 grit sandpaper in one direction. Or take it to a shop that can sand blast it to take the rest of the coating off and leaves it with a nice matte finish. There is a place here in Atlanta that redid my 56 Philco fridge aluminum shelves back to the original light pink anodization but it was quite expensive. Even small parts were more than the cost of chrome plating. [this post was last edited: 9/18/2019-17:41]

 

[sarahperdue]

Neat

That’s very interesting about anodized aluminum

 

[combo52]

Hi Sarah, I would just spray it with oven cleaner and make it look even as my Brother Phil suggested since the only time it will be seen is during oven cleaning. If it brothers you too much I can find a replacement shutter.

 

John L.

 

[sarahperdue]

Thanks, John!

It won’t bother me that much!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Not rarely in ranges you will see aluminized steel which keeps steel from rusting but with more strength than plain aluminum provides. This explains why your "piece" of aluminum attracted a magnet.