Aluminum Polishing Tips

[CA]

Well I think I get the drift...

Forgive me for showing my newbness by freaking out about everything turning black...I didn't realize its suppose to.. here is what a little toying around did for me...

...phone doesn't do it justice.
The tool I am using is called a RotoZip. I have never actually used a dremel, but the roto is quite nice because it has adjustable rpm's from 10k to 30k...seems to do the trick, I would get a bench but I am trying to cut costs so this will have to do.

This was without stripping, just soda blasting. But my larger pieces will definitely be stripped.

Thanks for the help.

[petejw]

CA,
nothing wrong with that,
looks real sweet.

[crazy steve]

...The tool I am using is called a RotoZip...

A RotoZip has a lot more power compared to a Dremel, so you should be ok. A bigger buffer does speed up the process considerably though.

See, it's not so hard.... Looks good.

'78E original owner

[vileneeds]

I am fixing to start the same project, any snags or hang ups you come across would be helpful.

[vileneeds]

bump.

Bump for posterity.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Hey

totally agree with steve,
the dremel is fine for intricate work,
but for the larger pieces, get your self a bench grinder
and buffing pads to suit.

heres a cpl of pics with what ive done





well worth the time and effort.

Hey, what does that stuff look like now after use?

[webbcraft2150]

I used Aircraft Stripper to remove all the clear coat from engine cases and fork tubes. Buffing wheel on a drill took care of the rest. Harbor Freight sells a polishing kit that has several different wheels in it and has proved handy gettin in some of the tight spaces. Watch your buffing speed!!! Too fast and you can "burn" the compund you are using, makin for a bigger mess. Before I got a "real" buffer, I would GENTLY clamp my drill in the vise with a buffer wheel and go to town. Upkeep on the polished parts is not a big deal at all. I found that after a good wash job, a leaf blower works great getting things dried off quicker.

[b.walker5]

. Watch your buffing speed!!! Too fast and you can "burn" the compund you are using, makin for a bigger mess.

YES, buffing speed must match the metal. Alloy will "ball" quickly if friction heat gets too high, seriously marking the surface. Soft metals, low speed, hard metals, high speed.

I have done this for a job many years ago, and it's extremely dirty, but satisfying work. Steve's method is good and will produce good results if you put the time in.

I use this homemade rig in my garage..



The wheel on the left normally holds a 100 grit linishing belt.



Mops.

I've got some drawings somewhere from when i made the shaft if anybody wants them to build your own.

[crazy steve]

YES, buffing speed must match the metal. Alloy will "ball" quickly if friction heat gets too high, seriously marking the surface. Soft metals, low speed, hard metals, high speed...

It's not so much the speed as the compounds you use. Typical commercially available buffers run at 3600 rpm for use on metal, with 1800 rpm units recommended for plastic.

You should never use anything coarser than tripoli on aluminum or other soft metals; emory or stainless compounds should only be used on steel. If tripoli won't remove whatever flaws you're after, do additional prep (working your way up to a 'fine' roloc or 400+ grit sandpaper) until it does. The coarser compounds will embed in the soft aluminum, making a mess that's hard to fix... AMHIK

[b.walker5]

Steve, the sheetmetal shop I worked in had adjustable speed buffers, 4 bench mounts and about a dozen handheld units. The bench mounts had 5 speeds from memory, (adjusted with pulleys like a lathe) and the portables were plugged into big old rheostats and each work station. The place was staffed mostly by old school Poms who had carreers spanning generations in Stainless and Alloy sheetmetal fabrication, and if you didnt do it thier way you didnt do it all. I worked there as a trades assistant as my first job out of school, before I took up my electrical apprenticeship. My mentor was an old Pom called Don Stainburn, who had some pretty strict ideas and methods on how things should be done. One of them was matching the speed to the metal. I once seen him take a brass ships lantern from a scratched up peice of metal most people would have thrown away to a thing of absolute beauty with nothing but a sisal mop, brasso and a light touch, by simply adjusting the speed of the buff to the metal. Took him days, but what a job. I cant remember what the speeds were now, but there used to be a chart on the wall saying what mops, compound and speed was to be used for each metal. The factory's long closed now, and Dons dead, but his sons carried on, one of them has his own business in town here so I might go and see him and see if he still has the chart.

[Roy Bean]

I get my supplies here.

http://www.tarheelparts.com/cgi-bin/...AdaptersArbors

[crazy steve]

Steve, the sheetmetal shop I worked in had adjustable speed buffers, 4 bench mounts and about a dozen handheld units. The bench mounts had 5 speeds from memory, (adjusted with pulleys like a lathe) and the portables were plugged into big old rheostats and each work station...

Interesting... I've never seen a multi-speed buffer (other than homemeade units), even in the commercial shops 'back in the day'. Depending on where you look, you'll find different recommendations on motor speed, with some saying 1800 rpm, some 3600 rpm, with most saying the higher speed if you're doing hard metals such as stainless. I know that before I bought my buff motor and was using a drill-motor-in-a-vice rig, it was sloooow going. As I only have room for one, I went for the higher-speed motor. I've never had any issues as long as I've matched the buff wheel/compound to whatever I'm doing except with plastic; that really does need a slower motor.

One thing I have found; I'll only buy Eastwoods 'tube' compounds these days. The common 'bar' compounds (also sold by Eastwood, as well as Caswell, Sears, etc) just don't work as well for some reason. The tubes are more money, but last and work better, cutting faster and giving a better finish. I don't know what the difference is, but there surely is one...

[mro]

Tips, first photo

I've polished a few parts

Standard


Special




One thing I've found is that some aluminum parts (recycled beer cans???),
have flaws in the metal that show up when buffing.

Some old cast aluminum sucks.


mro

[crazy steve]

...One thing I've found is that some aluminum parts (recycled beer cans???),
have flaws in the metal that show up when buffing.

Some old cast aluminum sucks.

Yeah, some of the metal the factory used is pretty suspect. I ran into that a lot too....

[foreda]

Vfd

Hmm.. Makes me think of building a homemade model using a variable frequency drive. I'm going to have to research this one!