Brush finishing aluminum tubing in quantity

[Sparky John]

One company I distributor for has a few style machines that might catch your interest. Check out:

http://www.feinus.com/p/stainless/stainlessmain.htm

For short pieces, my customers do it on a 2-1/2" x 60" 960 Vari-Speed Burr King Belt Grinder with a Scotch Brite belt.

www.burrking.com

The trick is in keeping the graining straight.

[mxtras]

Originally Posted by Sparky John The trick is in keeping the graining straight.

Nice link - Thanks!

Keeping the grain straight is exactly why I am pursuing semi-automation.

Thanks for the ideas!

Scott

[schiada96]

Just find a sheet metal shop with a timesaver if they tell you the parts are too short tell them to build a tray. It will save all of your headache.

[pinskip]

Hi

I am only new to this site so I am not sure if I can be of any assistance to you. My background is in electroplating and many parts are prepared with a brushed finish before electroplating. Depending on the type of finish that you want, you could try the following. A flatbed sander with a very fine grit (400) belt could be used for flat surfaces. Many parts are also prepared on large polishing machines using linishing belts of various grits. You can also use polishing buffs that have a grit stuck onto them with special glues. 3M also sells a range of belts and abrasives that give a very good brushed finish. There are also a lot of polishing compounds around that can also be used to obtain a brushed finish.

If you want a good book on finishing of metals, try and get a copy of the Cannings Handbook. It is a metal finishing book but has a very large section on polishing and finishing of various metals.

I hope this has been of help to you.

Regards,
Paul

[mxtras]

Ok, guys. For the time being, I will continue to finish my tubing with a DA. I went around and around with various ideas (thanks to all that posted) and have concluded that for now I will simply finish with ScotchBrite on a DA sander. It's relatively quick, efficient and is easy to touch up on an assembly.

The Hitachi finishing sander accomodates ScotchBrite without the use of doublesided tape, by the way. Not to mention, it is much quieter than the Makita.

I am sure I will eventually reach a better conclusion, but for now it's a DA.

Scott

[mxtras]

UPDATE:

I have recently graduated to a 6"X48" belt sander using ScotchBrite belts (Medium). This works great even though the belts are a little pricey ($48 Ea). I can pre-finish all sides of a lengthy (~24") piece of tubing in about 30-60 seconds and because the belt is semi-soft, it easily conforms to subtle differences in the surface to provide excellent blending.

I think this is a usable method for now. If my volumes continue to rise, I will likely be back in the hunt for a faster solution, but for now I am done with the research and the DA is now enjoying a much deserved vacation.

Scott