shimano XT m730 cranks, polished or anodised?

[SEANSTEPHENS]

okay so i have a quick/ probably quite dumb question...

are m730 cranks bare aluminium so i can just polish them to a shine, or do they have an anodised finish? i borrowed this picture from the forum which i think illustrates what I'm asking quite well. it looks like the wear you see on these arms is through an anodised surface so polishing wouldn't tidy these up unless you had them refinished

can anyone shed light on this please? cheers

 

[xerxes]

Re:

You can sand them with fine wet and dry to remove the anodizing and then polish them to a mirror shine.

Here's some Deore II cranks that were similarly scruffy that I did a while back:

As you can see, there are still some marks on these because I didn't spend overly long on them, maybe an hour or two. If you take more time to remove all the scratches with wet and dry you can get an even better result.

 

[Kult Friction]

Re:

The M730 is anodised, In fact BITD I think it was the only Shimano crank that was, Even dropping down one group to the Deore II/ Deore DX MT62 saw a barrel finish which lost it's lustre quicker but was also much easier to polish.

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

maybe i should get some barrel finished ones instead and save myself some work

isn't there an m735 crank or is it the mt62 DX crank id be looking for?

sean

 

[Kult Friction]

Re:

It really depends on what you have at your disposal, by hand it is going to take time, possibly a good afternoon with various grit. Even with machinery its not the quickest process as you have to ensure you remove the anodising in a uniform fashion, otherwise when you get to the final polish you will notice hazing and have to start all over.

I've done many cranks from many different manufacturers so it is definately possible.

Drop me a pm if you want any advice on polishing mate and I may be able to offer other solutions if you have your heart set on the M730's.

 

[Kult Friction]

Re: Re:

maybe i should get some barrel finished ones instead and save myself some work

isn't there an m735 crank or is it the mt62 DX crank id be looking for?

sean

It would be the MT62 as i think all the M7XX will be anodised. The MT62 looks very similar to the M730 just a different finish, printed logo and a different forging process, IIRC there were also two variants of the MT62 with one looking very slightly sleeker than the other but not overly noticeable.

 

[SEANSTEPHENS]

Re:

thanks guys for the responses, i think i'll pull the dx cranks from my old diamondcrap and see how i get on polishing them

cheers

 

[paddy311]

Re:

As KF says - it's entirely doable on the M730 cranks. As long as the threads and tapers are OK then any set of M730 cranks are worth doing - they are extremely high quality forgings and still well sought after even outside retro MTB circles (touring for example).

If there are no deep gouges then you can do them in two hours of 120dry/240dry/320dry/320wet/600wet. After that it's a 3 stage machine polish with grey/green/blue compound. Twenty minutes.

If there are deep gouges then the extra time on the 120 and 240 stage depends on how bad they are. That's how I do it anyway.

 

[xerxes]

Re:

After that it's a 3 stage machine polish with grey/green/blue compound. Twenty minutes.

Or one stage with a tin of Brasso and an old pair of pants.

 

[paddy311]

Re: Re:

After that it's a 3 stage machine polish with grey/green/blue compound. Twenty minutes.

Or one stage with a tin of Brasso and an old pair of pants.

Do I take it you prefer shatin......... sorry, satin finish ?