polishing aluminum ?

[whiteworks]

..

 

[Guest]

I have a peice of aluminum that is a little rough, what sequence of sand paper should I use before I polish it out?

How rough?.....I have started on parts I have done with 80 grit......and worked up

If it was a previously polished piece......and just got ugly looking ....whatever grit that will take out any scratches......400....then up to 1500...then I put it on the wheel..aluminum is pretty forgiving

 

[Guest]

slightly pitted looks like it may have been bead blasted

The idea is to start with the finest grit that will remove any scratches or pitts in a reasonable amount of time....If you have a wheel setup....sand out deep scratches and level any pitts......and start with the grey wheel compound...

 

[RiverDave]

White Works, do you just have to polish one part? or is there a series?

RD

 

[Nord]

Dave should know..............

I'm getting stickers made for the site shortly.. "Brushed Aluminum"

RD

 

[Racey]

it turned out pretty good didnt get to crazy trying to make it perfect just cleaned it up a bit. polishing aluminum is a bitch.

Whenever i hand polish aluminum (though usually i'm doing it on parts i can turn in the lathe) i'll use some good wet/dry paper with wd-40, keep the paper and part wet, it helps stop clogging of the paper and really improves the time it takes to polish out.

 

[RiverDave]

it turned out pretty good didnt get to crazy trying to make it perfect just cleaned it up a bit. polishing aluminum is a bitch.

Yes.. Yes it is, one of the few parts of metal working I genuinely do not enjoy. I tend to just take everything to a local guy becuase it's not worth my time and frustration.

RD