Try posting to an old house forum where there may be some expertise on stripping aluminum.

Doryanna, if you choose a "gentle" stripper that specifically says it's ok on aluminum, you'll be fine, but read all the fine print. My father stripped an entire aluminum airplane with stripper, so I know it can be done! The other thing you can do is use a slow cooker if you can get part (or all) of it in at a time (here's how: http://www.dohiy.com/2013/01/12/restoring-authentic-hardware/). Get one at Goodwill, though, because you can't use it for cooking after that!

I am a vintage lighting geek, so I'm really excited for you! Please post it when you are done.