Polishing Aluminum

[creative_mind]

NeoMoses,

Cool piccy, shiney too! What were the steps that got it's shine?

[NeoMoses]

I'm looking for both FLAT and SMOOTH finishes, so I do all of my lapping on a granite surface plate that's flat to 0.0001".
I start out with 220 sandpaper to work out all of the deep scratches. When the surface is consistent and all the deep scratches are gone, I work up to progressively finer sandpaper until I've gotten to 1000. (220, 400, 600, 1000 is my usual progression.) I use a mixture of warm water and dish detergent to keep the sandpaper from clogging. (WD40 may be a better method, but I've never tried it.)

And recently, I've started finishing with Mother's Mag & Aluminum Polish, which gives the amazingly shiny finish you see there. It's quite easy if you follow the directions on the bottle.

[avsfan733]

ok this may sound like an odd question but i have a reason...
Is mothers mag and aluminum polish ok for polisihng mag?
the reason i ask is becasue lots of stuff has become known as 'mag' in automotive circles that is really just steel, especially in wheels...its become a design word more so than a construction material.

[Ken_Shea]

You bet, as is Flitz. Everyone has his or her favorite, mine is Flitz which is great for Gold, silver, factory gun bluing, SS, Fiberglass, plexaglass and more as well.

Ken

[Cold Fusion]

I use Mothers on steel and aluminum. It normally take 5 minutes for a mirror like finish on my aluminum parts

[Zephrant]

Quick note- If you are doing a lot of parts and want a permanent shine, consider Nickel plating, or even Chrome.

I've had some aluminum supports plated, and they come out really nice.

Zeph

[strat]

not really the metal worker (yet) but do use mothers stuff on all my cars ..... great stuff!!!!

[Stevie]

Neo; please can you use the term Wet/dry emery paper; sandpaper sounds like we are trying to polish up wood

[NeoMoses]

I'll take note. It must be a regional thing, I call all grades of abrasive paper (36-2000) 'sandpaper.' However, if 'emery paper' is a more widely used term, I'll start integrating it into my vocabulary. I hate to sound uneducated. So, is sandpaper the rough, dry only paper used for wood sanding and wet/dry emery paper the stuff commonly used for metal finishing and wet-sanding?

[Urgundiz]

I agree with the procedures and the products but.. what about protecting the mirror finish? what you recommend? I've done some OverClocking and there is no need to protect the mirror finish because we look for a flat and smoot surface that will be in contact with the CPU, and other areas don't care, but when we need mirror finish for a wiewable product what is the correct procedure to make it last longer?

/u

[svenakela]

I did send all my alu parts for anodizing before. Absolutely outstanding finish and a surface rock solid and scratch safe, and besides that the surface can be coloured. I really recommend it.


I found this one for you DIY:ers: http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html
More information: http://www.anodizing.org

For myself, I have very nice connections to an anodizing company so I don't have to deal with the liquids.

Regards,
Sven

[NeoMoses]

Yes, anodizing is probably the best way to protect aluminum while leaving the polished aluminum look. You also may want to look at powder coating, although it's going to hide the nice polished surface you just made.