I had a local guy engrave my Trust info on the side of the magazine well.
It barely penetrated the aluminum,  mostly just chipped the anodized finish.

I sanded it out with 360-600-1200 paper.
Really smooth and glossy now.

Since the lower needs refinished I also dremeled, filed and sanded to install a PDQ bolt catch/release.

My concern is will the sanded super smooth areas not blend well when Cerakoted, or will the blast media they use be sufficient to blend in the sanded areas?  

Should I hit it with a lower grade of paper to rough it up before I send it out for Cerakote?

I think the media blast will take care of it for you.  
Are you gonna have it engraved somewhere else before you send it off for Cerakote?

I have already sent and received it from Tarheel, should have just gone that route originally.
I got it engraved on the magazine well lip.

I wanted this to be black anodized.

It will be my sons first semi auto rifle.
Sucks that now I have to pay to refinish it, although he really wanted black, he decided on a color that he seems to like.

I just want it to be right for him and worry about the finish not matching where I sanded the lower smooth.

Email sent.

Wow. Great price.

That is a good price to prep and Cerakote an AR lower. A firearms refinisher near me gets $70 to do a stripped lower.

Like I said, I've already ordered the Lauer Durabake from MidwayUSA to refinish one of my AR lowers. It was supposed to be here today, but now the UPS trackings says Wednesday 01/04/17. So, more waiting.

If the project doesn't turn out well, and you all still have the sale on, you may be hearing from me...

Thanks.

I haven't taken any digital pictures yet, but I got the Dura-Bake in Matte Black I ordered from MidwayUSA yesterday. It was a tad cool out (about 55*F) but I warmed up the rattle can, and warmed up my Aero lower after prep (sanded out the blemished pitting, bead-blasted and soaked in acetone). Got oven warmed up to 350*F and went outside and put a few light coats on and then cooked it. The smell was not real pleasant, at least it didn't smell like a pork roast cooking in the oven but with vent-a-hood on high and the back door cracked open, it was tolerable.

Let it cook for 30 minutes, then turned the oven off to go to my dentist appointment. When I got back and got the lower out of the oven I was pleasantly surprised at the results. It did have one tiny piece of lint under the paint and some bubbling on a couple of trigger area corners. I took a scotch bright pad and buffed it a bit, cleaned with acetone again, blew it off with compressed air and applied another couple of light coats and back in the oven.

Only time will tell how well it holds up, but no more dimple pits and the finish looks great! I think I may have overdone it with the bead-blasting around the corners and sharp edges, but still turned out well. I had a 1/4" bolt screwed into the threaded hole, where the handle goes, to hold it and hang it in the oven, and I tried to scratch the finish off the bolt with my fingernail, and it's as hard as a rock. No fingernail scratching.

So far so good.

I used the entire 6oz can of Lauer Dura-Bake (which ain't much). Although it turned out good, on the next project I think I'll try the Brownell's Aluma-Hyde or the Cerakote. The 6oz can of DuraBake was about $30.