Polishing aluminum

I recently purchased an aluminum air cleaner. It is heavy and thick aluminum and purchased at a swap meet. It needs a polishing .How do i do that .What is needed to do that .Where do i get the equipment.Thanks Tony.

 

youtube is full of polishing videos,i buy my compounds & wheels at harbor freight & my motor is a 1/2hp with an ace hardware screw on arbor adapter,be careful polishing aluminum is addictive & very DIRTY!

 

3m heavy duty rubbing compound to remove the heavy stuff and Zepher pro 40 to make it look like new

 

We polish some aluminum here, my suggestion is to use a sizzal rope wheel with a cutting compound which removes most large scratches, when your done with the cutting compound use a cotton type mop and polishing compound, probably what is in the previous post. Use of the two compounds will net you a result that your after, good luck Wayne

 

Gesswein <sp> lustre bar on a muslin wheel

http://www.gesswein.com/p-4665-lustre-bar.aspx

Best yet...

 

Thanks for the advise and information. Tony

 

Take some polishing abrasive and put it on a rag. Then rub the rag on the aluminum until all the oxidation ends up in the rag. Then buff the aluminum with a clean rag.

 

Go to the HAMB Tech Forum, where there's a "How to polish aluminum" tech thread.

 

Same here! Warning, hang on to small parts !~
Just looking at an Eastwood catalog helps figure things out.

 

Remember if the wheel catches an edge, any edge, ZING! the part will be gone. You may find it embedded in the far wall, or your face, or never find it at all.

So be careful, always polish from the center out, do not bring the edge near the wheel, unless the wheel is running from the center over the edge.

 

There are many ways to skin this cat.

One of my favorite methods with large flat items like an air cleaner:

Either block sand or dual action (DA) sand down to a 500 grit using WD40 as a lubricant. Starting grit depends on surface condition; usually a 120 DA pad or 240 sandpaper is as rough as you'll need.) Block sanding is best for flat areas bigger than a DA pad, as it helps remove and not cause waves.

The oiled 500 grit will then buff out easily with a spiral sewn wheel with white coloring compound at a relatively low RPM. I try to avoid as much actual buffing as possible on aluminum because it is a very dirty metal. Sanding with WD40 is relatively clean and contained.

 

after you're done polishing your part, you can try out the roll of "al jolson" in a local play!

 

I like to wet sand alumunum parts after the file and dry sanding. Be sure to wear a full face sheild and dust mask and work gloves while buffing on a wheel................unless you like the Al Jolson look. Bob

 

If polished to a 240 grit finish as ChromePlaterJosh suggested, that gives you the opportunity to make a smooth surface that follows the part's contours, and is free of irregularities. If that same work is done with an aggressive buff and aggressive compound, a shiny surface can be produced with less effort, but the surface will not be free of lumpiness and imperfections.

 

Right on. There is more to a professional polishing job than simply making the metal shiny. If a part has already been polished and only needs to be rebuffed, then a sanding may not be needed, but it normally is because of surface corrosion that shows up more as the metal is polished.

I take the aluminum down to a 500 from the 240 because it lessens the mess and heat made with buffing (thin parts don't hold up well to aggresive buffing.) This is all assuming there is a large relatively flat area that needs polished. Different shapes and designs of aluminum will require critical thinking and trial and error, as one way does not work on all parts.

 

Thank you all for the advise

 

Built this neat little buffing station out of stuff lying around the shop. direct motor high speed belt drive arbor low speed, surface pad for paint.It is addicting.