Refinishing black seatposts (Steel, XT, XTR)

[Tsundere]

I have an XT seatpost that is in very good overall condition, except the black is worn off in places. I think it's painted rather than anodized.
There are no scratches, the surface is perfectly smooth, it's almost like the black has been lovingly polished off.





I'd rather not go the route of repainting which will require sanding, priming etc, is there anything else that will mask the worn areas, even something that will need to be reapplied from time to time. How about black car wax?


Edit:
XT results here and XTR results here
Achieved using Birch Wood Casey Gun Blue as suggested by @fettler
This product only works on steel (including chromoly).

 

[Dr Dremel]

Yeah painting it would not last too long I´d guess. The original finish is likely black oxide. Technically only possible on steel with nickel, ie stainless, but the term is also used for blueing "normal" steel.

The industrial process is hard to replicate on a hobby level, but there are several agents for cold blueing steel, especially for guns. It hardly changes the dimensions (layer thickness is minimal) and looks like you could treat the worn parts without refinishing the whole post.

I did not try this myself yet, but I have a similar XT post and that´s what I would try first.

 

[fettler]

Birch Wood Casey Gun Blue, will take a good few coats but can be applied just to the areas that need it so you can avoid the logos.

 

[Tsundere]

Birch Wood Casey Gun Blue, will take a good few coats but can be applied just to the areas that need it so you can avoid the logos.

Thank you, I have ordered a bottle, will report back with results when done.

 

[JCS]

How about trying a black marker pen (sharpie) on a few spots. Could work?

Have used this method on a stem and bars and has done a pretty good job.

 

[fguki]

The proper way is:

Remove the head (steel) from the tube (alloy). Good luck with that. Its super pain in the ass! Remove the anodizing - or have it removed. Polish the tube to high gloss (so it isnt dull after re-anodization). Have the tube re-anodized (black) and have the logos pad-printed again.

At least thats how you treat it in a perfect world.

 

[Tsundere]

How about trying a black marker pen (sharpie) on a few spots. Could work?

Have used this method on a stem and bars and has done a pretty good job.

I can see that working well for small scratches and scuffs, but here the affected area is significant and stretches right around the post, I can't see how it would be doable without seeing the pen lines.

The proper way is:

Remove the head (steel) from the tube (alloy). Good luck with that. Its super pain in the ass! Remove the anodizing - or have it removed. Polish the tube to high gloss (so it isnt dull after re-anodization). Have the tube re-anodized (black) and have the logos pad-printed again.

At least thats how you treat it in a perfect world.

In a perfect world.

The top third is in almost mint condition, the part that sits below the seat tube doesn't really matter (although I'll use it to test the gun blue treatment), so there's only a relatively small area in need of cosmetic help. Certainly no need to attempt a potentially destructive tear down with the added complication of replacing the logos.

I'm confident that @fettler has provided the perfect solution for a simple low cost and risk free tidy up.

Time will tell.

 

[fettler]

I've used black marker for small marks but it sometimes looks a bit purple or flashes against the neighbouring finish. I've used gun blue many times but it can be tedious to build up a good coverage, Degrease with brake cleaner or isopropyl alcohol first for best results.

 

[stephan]

I have an XT seatpost that is in very good overall condition, except the black is worn off in places. I think it's painted rather than anodized.
There are no scratches, the surface is perfectly smooth, it's almost like the black has been lovingly polished off.


View attachment 830565


I'd rather not go the route of repainting which will require sanding, priming etc, is there anything else that will mask the worn areas, even something that will need to be reapplied from time to time. How about black car wax?

Am sure that would have been anodised, if its alloy you want an Etch Primmer like UPol Acid 8, however with the primmer and black paint your are going to struggle with the tolerances getting the post back into the frame. Go with @fguki recommendation above.

 

[Corduroyboy]

@fguki has his head and his tube mixed up! The head is alloy which is painted and the tube is steel (technically also an alloy but let's not go there...) which is oxide coated. I'd be interested to see results of cold blueing.