Polishing Aluminum

[DPeterson]

Working back towards some scale boat projects. I am planning to buff up and polish some KMB lower units.

What are some good methods to get a nice shinny chrome like finish?

Thanks - Doug

[detox]

LOTS of ways. I like using Flitz metal paste polish.

[egneg]

Try this ...

http://www.nevrdull.com/

[DPeterson]

Thanks Guy's.

But - thats it? Just rub this on the aluminum? No sanding first? No buffer compounds? No buffer wheels?

Need a little polishing 101 course.

Doug

[Darin Jordan]

Doug,

I usually wetsand the aluminum with progressively finer sandpaper, until I hit around 600 grit (depends on how important a "perfect" finish is). I also usually sand in a single direction, though I don't know if this really matters or not.

Once that's done, I use my former bench grinder, now turned into buffing machine, and some polishing paste sticks I purchased at Lowes or Home Depot. Got the buffing wheels there as well.

One side is fairly firmly packed cloth, and the other is looser. On the firm side, I apply the polishing paste, refreshing it frequently as I work the aluminum piece. Once I get the shine close, I use a higher polish compound on the softer side and finish it off.

The pieces in the picture for my Spec Hydro took about 5-minutes total... maybe not even that long. Goes pretty quickly if the surface is fairly smooth and flat first.

Hope this helps.

[DPeterson]

Thanks Darin

Thats what I was looking for. Didn't realize it goes that fast. Thought I was in for some nasty time consuming ugly work.

Crap - Now I got to appoligize for ruffing you up on the other forum.

Doug

[Darin Jordan]

Thanks Darin

Thats what I was looking for. Didn't realize it goes that fast. Thought I was in for some nasty time consuming ugly work.

Crap - Now I got to appoligize for ruffing you up on the other forum.

Doug

Doug... No you don't... It's all cool. Save it for the water! We'll have some fun there, and then I'll buy you a beer...

I didn't polish these parts to perfection by any means... but I think if you take the time to get most of the grooves and scratches out first, the polishing actually goes VERY quickly with this type of buffing setup.

Careful... it's addictive!

[Hydromaniac]

I due pretty much the as Darins post, But I finish sand with 1000 grit sand paper wet. you can also use a dremel with a buffing head and rouge polishing paste for small and tight areas.

[T.S.Davis]

Yep, me too. Progress to 1000 then hit it on the wheel. I put rouge right on the wheel. It gets a little nutty though. You start wanting to polish everything.

[Darin Jordan]

It gets a little nutty though. You start wanting to polish everything.

You almost have to! Once you polish one thing, the rest looks like crap!

[FloatDaBoat]

Here's a tip if you're fabricating hardware from aluminum. Cover the stock with masking tape, use a ballpoint pen to outline the desired shape, then cut to size. Leave the masking tape in place until all the finish work is completed, i.e., grinding/filing of the edges (the pen outline serves as a guide), as this will prevent most scratches from occurring.