aluminum polishing/ write up/ pics

ok ppl here it is. a step by step to bring out some shine in your old faded and or oxidized aluminum.
hopefully this will be an ongoing learning process for all of us.
please feel free to post comments on how this worked out for you or suggestions on how to make this process easier/better.

it took me approx. two hours on the front fork.

p.s. i apologize before hand for any misspellings, my son spilled some pepsi on my keyboard and the keys are a bit sticky.

what you will need.
1.eye protection

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2. www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_Us...RAFT&pid=00964876000
those are the sanding pads you need or similar.
3m makes a similar product.(and on the seventh day god created 3m )

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3.buffing set, i cant seem to find one on the site but its a 8 piece set (1 pad post, 3 different size buffing pads, and 4 blocks of rouge each a different grade). i found them at my local sears for about 14 bucks each.

i found these at my local sears for about 14 bucks each.
you will need more fine sanding pads and buffing wheels depending on how much you want to polish.
the one set of each was enough for one front fork and the crank case.

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4. drill

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5. dremel or other rotary tool with abbrasive pads and polishing pads.

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6. 300,600, and 800 grit sandpaper

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first step
clean it with a degreaser. i use meangreen super. any oils left on the surface will make the aluminum dust stickier then it already is and it makes clean up a p.i.t.a.







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second step
(DO STEP 2 and 3 ONLY IF YOU HAVE GOUGES. LIKE FROM CONCRETE MEETING A CRANKCASE) starting with the corse sanding pad sand down the gouges until its hardly noticeable but still there. use this pad ONLY on the extremely bad area using circular motions.

i dont have any pictures of this step because fortunatly the forks are in good shape.

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third step
step up to the medium pad and in circular motions starting at the spots you just hit with the coarse "feather out" the scratches until they are no longer visible.

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fourth step
use the fine pad to remove the scratches from the previous pad. good light is a definate plus at this point. (sunlight is best in my opinion)

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fifth step
break out the dremel with the abbrasive pad on it and hit all the tight spots and go over all that you just hit with the fine pad.(they say fine but it still leaves scratches that dont buff out)



Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/02 23:30;)

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/03 00:02

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/07 18:21

ok heres the grunt work.

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sixth step
starting with the 300 grit sand everything as smooth as you can and continue with the 600 and 800.at this point you should see some shine start to come through.


p.s you could probably take this step even further and jump to 1500 and 200 grit to make it mirror like.it will polish to almost chrome.
i stopped at 800 to keep the aluminum look.(i plan on takin a drill press style wire wheel and "swirling" my aluminum)









Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/02 23:42

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seveth step
now the fun part. set up the buff wheel with the largest size and apply black emery compound. just enough to coat the pad lightly. same compound on dremel pad.
remember that all these steps are pressure sensetive meaning that lighter pressure is better as opposed to the sanding steps where the pressure should be greater.



Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/02 23:45

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/02 23:49

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eigth step
midsize pad and brown tripoli compound. same compound on dremel pad.
and by now your probably thinkin damn that looks good.

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ninth step
heres the bad dad. small pad and white rouge. same compound on dremel pad.
this is actually a jewelers compound and man it makes it sparkle.




i finish up with turtle wax mild rubbing compound followed by Meguires Gold Class Wax

remember to clean the part after each sanding and buffing. the dust will also act as an abbrasive.

i truly hope this helps out.


joe

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/02 23:54

Hey mykznme,
Good write up. Did you consider reapplying some sort of clear finish instead of the wax? Why don't you publish the whole thing as an article?

KZCSI

KZCSI wrote:

Hey mykznme,
Good write up. Did you consider reapplying some sort of clear finish instead of the wax? Why don't you publish the whole thing as an article?

KZCSI

i thought about clear coat but the only thing i could think of would be clear urethane and im worried that road debris will chip it but im open to suggestions.
the less i have to wax on cleaning day the better.

as far as the article goes i didnt think people really checked the article page to often so i figgured this would be a good place for it.
does the article section support jpg.?

KZCSI wrote:

Hey mykznme,
Good write up. Did you consider reapplying some sort of clear finish instead of the wax? Why don't you publish the whole thing as an article?

KZCSI

Bad idea. Clear coat will not properly cure to a polished surface... and within a year or two you WILL be peeling chunks off. Reason being that paint/clear adheres to pores. That's what self etching primer is for. If you polish correctly there will be no pores really... it will be smooooth like a babies behind.

The best thing to do with this kinda of polishing is to do a few coats of high quality carnuba. Do a coat and wait a day and then do another. Repeat 5 times or so and let it cure and harden between coats. Then, just a polish cloth and some Mothers wax/polish once every few weeks, or when you clean it after a rain ride/wash up.

Post edited by: twowheeledterror, at: 2006/01/06 16:26

Mykznme,
You're right the articles section doesn't get a lot of traffic but that's changing.

Yes, JPGs work fine in an article.

KZCSI

Check out Glisten PC, it's made for clearcoating polished aluminum, and it's "only" $27.00 a pint :ohmy:

www.por15.com/PRODUCTS/PRIMERPAINTSCOATI...bid/133/Default.aspx

.

steell wrote:

Check out Glisten PC, it's made for clearcoating polished aluminum, and it's "only" $27.00 a pint :ohmy:

www.por15.com/PRODUCTS/PRIMERPAINTSCOATI...bid/133/Default.aspx

.

thanks steell, thats exactly what i was looking at.
i knew there had to be something because the factory had a clearcoat on my forks but it wasnt enamel.

i guess i will put this in the articles

what kind of speed was your dremel running at? Whenever Ive done polishign with the dremel all I do is kill bits.

sad part is i dont know.
do you mean sanding bits or polishing pads?
if your burning up polishing pads its going WAY to fast. and stay away from sharp edges.cotter pins suck:dry:
i used the battery opperated.
its the only one i have right now and it sucks.
it lasts for about 15 minutes at full charge so when it died i put the bit in my drill and finished up.
i wouldnt suggest this though as the bits are only rated for 1500 rpm i believe.

Post edited by: mykznme, at: 2006/01/07 18:25