Polishing Aluminum

[creative_mind]

Hi y'all,

Maybe someone somewhere can help shed me some insight how to polish aluminum to a chrome like finish.

[NeoMoses]

You'll need to first start off with sandpaper to work out all of the deep scratches in metal. I usually start with 220 unless there's some serious scratches. Once all of the scratches are gone, switch to progressively finer sandpaper (320, 400, 600, 800....) By the way, I usually wet-sand, and use a little bit of dish detergent in the water to keep the sandpaper from clogging.

You'll find that as you get to finer and finer grades of sandpaper, you'll be approaching a mirror finish. However, to get the most brilliant shine, use a buffing wheel or a vibratory tumbler with corncob media. Either way you can get a mirror finish on aluminum, which will look like chrome.

Check out www.caswellplating.com They've got a good HOWTO on buffing aluminum, and they also sell buffing supplies.

Here's a pic of a piece of polished aluminum. You can get a much flatter surface than this (notice the machining swirls), which will yield a better reflection.

[CDignition]

a few tips:

1) use WD 40 or Tap Magic for lube, not water. Water will turn the parts black and ugly

2) after using paper, go to red scotch brite, then grey finne scotchbrite...use same oil her too

3) when you use a buffing wheel, use green wax first, then white wax to finish up....

4) for extra bright shine, some hand polishing with Flitz can help too..

[lsfoils]

...Mother's brand polishing compound (usually found in automotive stores for dressing up billet wheels). Once you have a finish you can buff in a mirror with this stuff in seconds...

[NeoMoses]

Here's a couple more pics. They're both lapped up to 1000 grit sandpaper. I wouldn't call this a mirror finish, but it's a good start. (Yes, they're both copper, but copper and aluminum will polish up very similarly).

[CNCnUtZ]

Second vote for Mother's mag and aluminum polish here! Cheap and very effective.
Ive also used it lap the dovetails of my various machines and works great too.
Ive seen that several people on the internet have used it for lapping dovetails and such with great results as well.

[Klox]

You can also consider using diamond paste for the final polish. a 4 micron paste should do the trick.....
It works fine on moulds, i never tried to polish aluminium with diamond paste.

Klox

[Ken_Shea]

Never used "Mother's mag and aluminum polish " but Flitz has a warning on it to use welding goggles to view after polishing.

Is the Mother's mag and aluminum polish abrasive at all?

Ken

[lsfoils]

I have use the Mother's polishing compound on several projects and have always been amazed at how little effort it takes to get a sheen. It feels like light grease and its glossy smooth texture makes it look like there isn't any abrasive in it. (The abrasive pastes I've used in the past were dull and thick). I have always wondered if it somehow micro-etches the surface...

'course, maybe it embeds photons or micro LEDs... laser technology!

[NeoMoses]

Holy Cow!!! I just tried out Mother's for the first time, and I'm amazed at the extreme sheen you get with such little work. It's really some amazing stuff. Thanks for the tips, guys!

[High Seas]

Nothing like a convert! Been using Mothers on all our Stainless Steel on the boat since 1990 - it is awesome.
If you need to clean stainless (may not be a choice for aluminium) MDR metal polish/cleaner - most chandelerys can get it, but you pay a yachties price for it!
Jim
Note if you want a protected finish but satin, not high gloss, use the 3M green pads for application -- but then for your ap you wanted shiney stuff!

[NeoMoses]

Ok, it's time for me to show off. Enjoy!