"Pre-Meltdown" wrote in message
...
"Bill Schwab" wrote in message
...
*Maroon* scotchbrite. 
Works well, I think first degreasing/cleaning the alum helps as well.
Steel wool ought to work just fine, too.
99c sell the green stuff in 6" stacks for, uh, 99c.
Also, if you are doing this in any quantity, you can get scotchbrite
made for belt sanders. For my 4x24, they were $10-12
*each*--goodgawd.....
This is one of my medium-sized "production runs" - aka two of them 
Haven't tried it, but a sponge and Comet or its equivalent might work
nice--mebbe great.
Scotchbrite tends to get gummy from alum.
Face milling would not be a problem, as the pieces are short, and I
don't think you'd have to mill off more than .010, altho that might not
get the deeper dings/gouges.
It probably would not get all of them, but then neither would
scrotchbright. How would the scotchbright finish handle fingerprints?
Strictly speaking, scotchbrite is not a finish, but a grade of sanding,
and leaves raw unoxidized aluminum, which is a magnet for fingerprints,
just like polished stainless.
The oxide that forms over time seems to be much less of a magnet for
prints, but looks like, well, oxidized aluminum. Not necessarily bad,
tho.
Before that oxide forms (if you want the brite finish), you can send it
out to get "clear-coated", or even anodized, or just
spray-lacquer/polyurethane/etc it yourself, which should look really
nice. That's the only way I know to keep off prints, and to keep the gray
oxide from forming.
Which got me thinking:
If the gray oxide finish on fresh/polished aluminum is not so bad (actually,
"natural anodizing", and is itself highly protective and hard), I wonder if
accelerating its formation in an oven would be practical? Esp. as your
parts would fit.
Just don't get fingerprints on it before you put it in the oven....
Strictly speaking, say from a conductivity pov, these oxides start forming
almost immediately, within minutes, enough to effect contact conductivity.
Sending stuff out to be anodized is expensive, but actually a pretty easy
diy. There were/are some outstanding web sites on how to do this.
I'll have to try the oven ditty myself.
--
------
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY
Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican.
Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way*
to Materially Improve Your Family's Life.
The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive!
AND,
Make sure whomever you do vote for believes in
ABSOLUTE separation of Church & State--ferchrissakes
entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie,
all d'numbuhs
--
------
Mr. P.V.'d (formerly Droll Troll), Yonkers, NY
Stop Corruption in Congress & Send the Ultimate Message:
Absolutely Vote, but NOT for a Democrat or a Republican.
Ending Corruption in Congress is the *Single Best Way*
to Materially Improve Your Family's Life.
The Solution is so simple--and inexpensive!
AND,
Make sure whomever you do vote for believes in
ABSOLUTE separation of Church & State--ferchrissakes
entropic3.14decay at optonline2.718 dot net; remove pi and e to reply--ie,
all d'numbuhs
The parts in question form the outer casing of the offending gizmo and
are likely to handled far more than the largely flycut and visible
innards.
Bill