mike wrote:
I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a mirror
finish as possible. Its a relatively small suface (sqft) I started by step
wet-sanding up to1000 grit but am not sure the best route to take now. I
have used Flitz metal polish in the past but am not sure that will give me
the nice micro-finish I am looking for. Maybe there is a step polish system
that is available? What do you use? Any recommendations or advice would be
greatly appreciated
You need a buffing wheel and a stick of jeweler's rouge. You have to
apply the rouge heavily to the buffer and then jam the workpiece hard
onto it so the work and rouge get hot. When you smell hot Carnauba wax
you are getting there. You may literally have to hold the work with
gloves to avoid burns. When the wax is hot enough to be near liquid
the rouge is able to flow and expose the surface of the tiny particles
that do the work. Wear a dust mask, or you'll be blowing black crud
out of your sinuses for a week.

I worked on polishing an 18' radar dish into a solar collector, and we
tried a bunch of "easy ways out" before finally getting a really GOOD
polisher and doing it the "elbow grease" way. You can use a buffing
wheel and bench grinder motor due to the small size of your part, and
that will make it a lot easier. (The monster 1 Hp buffer we used after
burning up a cheapie was a very heavy industrial grade machine, and it
really tired your arms out.)

Once you get the setup put together and the buffing wheel loaded, it
will only take a couple of minutes to do one square foot, from rough
sandpaper finish to mirror polish. You will NOT get a real mirror,
however, due to uneven material removal and warpage. If you want it
totally shiny, this will work fine. if you want an optical grade,
first-surface mirror, it is a LOT harder to keep from having inch-scale
waves in the surface. (That's not inch-DEEP, I mean tiny waves of
maybe .010" deep repeating every inch or couple inches. Very careful
attention to keeping the buffer moving evenly and making each pass at
right angles to the last pass will help some, but you can't avoid this
patterning with freehand buffing.)


Jon