Though much slower than the other suggestions, sunlight (normally in short supply hereabouts, but if you check your window I think you'll find it in abundance today) is a great bleach for most inks. Perhaps a clip light with a UV bulb?
With apologies to those of you NOT enjoying an un-seasonably warm and beautiful day.........................
Gene Powell Rad Finishes Portland, Oregon USA
On Feb 9, 2010, at 12:47 AM, R.S. Broderick wrote:
>
> Perhaps others have run into this problem before:
>
>
>
> You manage to source an NOS version of a particularly difficult to
> find vintage bicycle component, only to be confronted with the
> handiwork of a well intentioned but nevertheless frustratingly short
> sighted LBS inventory control freak who has at one point seen fit to
> brand your new found treasure with some meaningless scrawl using the
> likes of a common felt pen. In the case of something along the
> lines of a clear anodized aluminum alloy chain ring (...i.e. my
> particular circumstance), I have in the past taken a simple rag
> doused in lacquer thinner and wiped the offending visage clean. And
> in those confounding circumstances where the cad was silly enough to
> have used a "permanent" type marker, I have found that those Mr.
> Clean Magic Erasers do wonders at chain ring tattoo removal of this
> sort.
>
>
>
> ... HOWEVER ...
>
>
>
> This time I have run up against an indelible black marker the likes
> of which must have its origins in the the French cosmetic industry
> (...which might actually make sense, to the extent that the
> Stronglight chain ring itself only just arrived here stateside Par
> Avion courtesy of the French postal authorities). So, either the
> French have actually perfected a method of permanent eyeliner
> application for the haute couture mademoiselle and reconstituted
> same in pernicious pen form, or the ink in question is merely a more
> mundane sort that has had some thirty years to allow itself to
> permanently stain this chain ring in a manner beyond that which I
> have ever previously encountered.
>
>
>
> In either case, before I grab my handy can of Aircraft Paint Remover
> in a final attempt at exorcising the unwanted coloration while
> risking ruination of the anodized clear coat in the process, I
> thought that I might solicit the collective wisdom of the CR List
> membership as to any other non invasive yet effective measures that
> one might contemplate (...and no, using a felt pen to finish the job
> of converting my bis chain ring into a noir ter is NOT an option).
>
>
>
> Robert "such stains on chains beget mainly my disdain" Broderick
>
> ...the "Chronically Cloudy Clime" of Oregon
>
> Portland, USA