| Author | Message | ||
     Videoninja |
I am thinking about polishing up some raw aluminum, but I can't find a kit lovally. I have been able to find a kit labeled stainless steel polishing kit. It contains compound and buffing wheels would that work on alum? | ||
| Glitch |
I got not a clue, but I gotta ask, what cha blinging up? | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
Tried a local autoparts store? Or Walmart? Hell, I've used the mothers metal polish stuff on aluminum with fine results. | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
http://www.eastwood.com/buffing.html  | ||
| Sifo |
Depending on the quantity and size of parts you might be fine just polishing by hand after fine wet sanding. Otherwise a cloth buffing wheel works wonders if it is usable for your project. +1 on Mothers. I've gotten good results on aluminum and stainless steel. | ||
| Toona |
Here's a Harbor Freight kit for half the price of Eastwood's kit. http://www.harborfreight.com/ It will do "OK" with just a strong drill motor. A bench buffer is better, and a full on 3/4 hp or higher buff motor would do the best. The trick to polishing is surface feet per minute. The faster you can turn the polishing buff wheel, the better the results. What you are doing is mechanically moving the aluminum molecules from a "peaks and valleys" situation after sanding to a smooth surface after polishing. It just takes more effort with a slower/smaller set up, i.e. a drill motor set up with 3" buffs on the arbor. It can be done, just be prepared for the long haul. I buff aluminum everyday at my shop. I've got a 5hp 3 phase buffer with 16" wheels. I can make stuff shine REAL QUICK! Hand polishing after sanding, even to 2000 grit just gets you shiny scratches. Your hand movement isn't fast enough to move the aluminum. The stainless kit you referenced would probably work, but it's a little more aggressive cut than is needed for aluminum because stainless is a harder metal. If this is a one-off project, go for it. If it's something that you think will be recurring, it's best to get the right tools for the job. If you're looking at a multi-pack of compounds, black is the coarsest, red is a little finer, but will "cut" and shine, brown is a medium cut, but gives a decent finish white is a final polish, but doesn't "cut" very well Green is for stainless light blue is for plastics Don't use the same buff wheel for different compounds. Hope that helps, if you have any questions, let me know. Dan Alumicraft Street Rod Grilles www.alumicraft.com | ||
| Videoninja |
toona that helps a ton i ended up getting the kit from harbor freight with the green for stainless but got a white seperately for final polish. I am using a drill its a one time thing for me so its working ok but you are right it is slow pic to come in the next few days | ||
| Gunut75 |
I polished the risers by hand.  Polishing aluminum is no big deal. Just takes a little patience, that's all. I started with 600 grit. Then 1000, the buffing wheel with 1 compound. If I had any 2000 grit laying around, I could make them mirrors.Just work in one direction, then with the next grade, 90 degrees till the old marks disappear: Do it again with the next grade and so-forth. The finer ya get the brighter it will get. Cheers.  | ||
| Danger_dave |
Wet & Dry is making it a lot harder than it has to be! A Dremel tool, a stock of #414 polishing pads with a screw mandril and a tube of Solvol Autosol metal polish. Doesn't even need elbow grease. Brings alloy up like chrome. | ||
| Superdavetfft |
+1 on mothers... definitely the best polish on the market imho... | ||
| Danger_dave |
 Schools your mother(s) for bright metals. My not SHO. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
This guy has really good commercial grade stuff that works. http://www.bright-works.com/ I've not purchased from him in a while but I have spiral and loose buffs, stainless and aluminum compound, sanding rolls, etc from him. All top rate stuff at reasonable prices. Brad | ||
| Danger_dave |
Just raggin' by the way, But here's my experience. Bearing in mind these days I rejoice in the fact the the Buell is bright finish free. You wave a hose at it every now and then, rattle can black the muffler and it's job done. I had 10 years of keeping this in showroom condition.  It looked like that till I bought the Buell and simultaneously ran out of motivation to spend hours tidying a bike. Ohlin's shock, Race tech front end, slightly breathed on by a world class spanner man. Scared the daylights out of many a squid. The engine side cases, rocker cover, rims, triple clamps, fork legs and sundry other bits I hand polished - well Dremel polished. It won a few Best Brit prizes back when some Meriden's hated Hinckleys the way some Buellers hate on Harley. Quite an accomplishment! Autosol and a Dremel tool. The commercial guys can get the same result quicker - bigger scale machines. Best result for DIY effort. | ||
| Toona |
I've got a Keda pipe coming in on Monday. I'll post a pic of a before and after polish, on stainless.... |
