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

Mike in DFW, Tx

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

Mike in DFW, Tx


Dunno what the pros use but I re-polish my alum truck rims with
Nev-R-Dull magic wadding. Best I remember, my last can was bought
at a CVS drugstore.

technomaNge

This is a nice NG once I got all my kill filters set correctly.
--
I listen to Rush and Sean on
http://www.wabcradio.com/listenlive.asp
daily. You should try it.

I've used Never-Dull before and it works pretty well but I dont know that I
would put it above Flitz or any of the other polishes I have used. I was
thinking maybe there are various grades of jewelers rouge or some other more
industrial grade products that would get me the mirror finish I'm after.


"technomaNge" wrote in message
...
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

Mike in DFW, Tx
Dunno what the pros use but I re-polish my alum truck rims with
Nev-R-Dull magic wadding. Best I remember, my last can was bought
at a CVS drugstore.

technomaNge

This is a nice NG once I got all my kill filters set correctly.
--
I listen to Rush and Sean on
http://www.wabcradio.com/listenlive.asp
daily. You should try it.

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

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:01:26 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
"mike" quickly quoth:

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

All my buddies with motorcycles swore by (not at) Mother's Mag polish.
http://www.autogeek.net/motmagalpol.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...nce&n=15684181


--== May The Angst Be With You! ==--
-Yoda, on a bad day
--
http://diversify.com Ending Your Web Page Angst.

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:01:26 -0600, "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

Mike in DFW, Tx

If by "mirror finish" you mean high distinction of image rather than
optically flat, you're almost there.

Flitz, Mother's etc can't make a finish better than it was, they only
restore finishes by removing oxides and tarnish. You're trying to
create a finish that didn't previously exist.

If you just want it "shiney", then a buffing wheel and tripoli buffing
compound will get that done very quickly. Some will say rouge (white
or red) but I think tripoli works better on aluminum, though a light
hand-buff with white rouge and a cloth can sometimes give the final
coupe-de-grace -- that'll last about 15 minutes before the ali starts
to dull from surface oxides forming. How good your finish can be
will depend some on the aluminum. Some aluminum alloys accept a
higher polish than others.

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

Mike in DFW, Tx

You should be able to find a product called SimiChrome.
It's a paste that will do what you want to do unless you are looking for an
optical quality finish.


--
John R. Carroll
Machining Solution Software, Inc.
Los Angeles San Francisco
www.machiningsolution.com

mike wrote:
I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a mirror
finish as possible.

Well, acording to our friends at NASA, India Ink!

http://nasatech.com/Briefs/Feb01/GSC14147.html

--
HZ

Hank Zoeller writes:

mike wrote:
I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a
mirror finish as possible.

Well, acording to our friends at NASA, India Ink!

http://nasatech.com/Briefs/Feb01/GSC14147.html

After a single-point diamond turning.
Where are these tools available, BTW?


--
Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail to this account incurs a fee of
$500 per message, and acknowledges the legality of this contract.

Bruce Barnett wrote:

Hank Zoeller writes:



mike wrote:


I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a
mirror finish as possible.


Well, acording to our friends at NASA, India Ink!

http://nasatech.com/Briefs/Feb01/GSC14147.html



After a single-point diamond turning.
Where are these tools available, BTW?




Here is one source:

http://www.sp3inc.com/pcd-cat.htm

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

Mike in DFW, Tx


I really like Mothers Aluminum Polish, sold in many auto parts stores.

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:01:26 -0600, "mike"
wrote:

I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a mirror
finish as possible.

What do you mean by "mirror" ? Shiny, or reflect your face in it? If
you want shiny it's easy, if you want a perfectly flat surface as well
that's harder.

I'm assuming you just want shiny. This is pretty easy and you can do it
all by hand for little money. You can use power tools if you want, but
aluminium is pretty soft and the better controllability of doing it by
hand will be quicker than fixing high-speed slips with a power tool.

Go to the shop and buy a set of "Garryflex" blocks (UK brand - there'l
be a local version) These are big rubber blocks, filled with grit.
They're colour coded and come in different grit grades. Get a set of all
of them.

Now work the big grits first and work carefully and methodically over
the whole surface. Support the piece (if it's sheet) on a layer of old
carpet or blanket on a wideworkbench - you don't want to drop or bend
it. When you've worked the whole piece with one grit, go down to the
next grit and start again. Work clean - wash your hands and the
workpiece between grits.

It's dead easy (and quick) to get a mirror shine. The hard part is
getting one that doesn't also have scratches in it. Don't rush into the
finer grits - a big scratch needs a big abrasive to remove it, even if
this makes a lot of smaller scratches in turn. getting out those few big
ones will take twice as long as putting that first mirror onto it did.
So that's another reason to work from clean unscratched sheet in the
first place and to be careful when you're working - don't use dividers
on stuff you're going to have to plate or polish afterwards.

I appreciate all the advice and knowledge here. Here is a picture of what I
am trying to accomplish. I might consider subbing it out to a local metal
polisher if it isnt an arm and a leg

www.miketyler.net/alum_compare.jpg

Mike

"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:01:26 -0600, "mike"
wrote:

I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a mirror
finish as possible.

What do you mean by "mirror" ? Shiny, or reflect your face in it? If
you want shiny it's easy, if you want a perfectly flat surface as well
that's harder.

I'm assuming you just want shiny. This is pretty easy and you can do it
all by hand for little money. You can use power tools if you want, but
aluminium is pretty soft and the better controllability of doing it by
hand will be quicker than fixing high-speed slips with a power tool.

Go to the shop and buy a set of "Garryflex" blocks (UK brand - there'l
be a local version) These are big rubber blocks, filled with grit.
They're colour coded and come in different grit grades. Get a set of all
of them.

Now work the big grits first and work carefully and methodically over
the whole surface. Support the piece (if it's sheet) on a layer of old
carpet or blanket on a wideworkbench - you don't want to drop or bend
it. When you've worked the whole piece with one grit, go down to the
next grit and start again. Work clean - wash your hands and the
workpiece between grits.

It's dead easy (and quick) to get a mirror shine. The hard part is
getting one that doesn't also have scratches in it. Don't rush into the
finer grits - a big scratch needs a big abrasive to remove it, even if
this makes a lot of smaller scratches in turn. getting out those few big
ones will take twice as long as putting that first mirror onto it did.
So that's another reason to work from clean unscratched sheet in the
first place and to be careful when you're working - don't use dividers
on stuff you're going to have to plate or polish afterwards.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:31:59 -0600, "mike"
wrote:

I appreciate all the advice and knowledge here. Here is a picture of what I
am trying to accomplish.

Oh, right, engine parts.

Add another £100 for a Foredom or similar machine with a flexible shaft
and £50 or so for the numerous felt bobbins and compounds you'll be
needing to reach into the corners. OTOH, you'll not regret owning the
Foredom afterwards.

Am only wanting to polish the outside flat areas. I didnt think it would be
that hard but now am a little concerned that this particular cast ali cant
be polished to the sheen of the valve covers.


"Andy Dingley" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:31:59 -0600, "mike"
wrote:

I appreciate all the advice and knowledge here. Here is a picture of what
I
am trying to accomplish.

Oh, right, engine parts.

Add another £100 for a Foredom or similar machine with a flexible shaft
and £50 or so for the numerous felt bobbins and compounds you'll be
needing to reach into the corners. OTOH, you'll not regret owning the
Foredom afterwards.

In article ,
says...

Now work the big grits first and work carefully and methodically over
the whole surface. Support the piece (if it's sheet) on a layer of old
carpet or blanket on a wideworkbench - you don't want to drop or bend
it. When you've worked the whole piece with one grit, go down to the
next grit and start again. Work clean - wash your hands and the
workpiece between grits.

and sand in one direction -only-.

Which is the trick to sanding down to the near mirror finish that will
just need a polishing it up to a real shine.

Bruce Barnett wrote:
Hank Zoeller writes:


mike wrote:

I am wanting to polish up a flat aluminum surface to as close as a
mirror finish as possible.

Well, acording to our friends at NASA, India Ink!

http://nasatech.com/Briefs/Feb01/GSC14147.html


After a single-point diamond turning.
Where are these tools available, BTW?


Umm, the diamonds themselves are not terribly exotic. The MACHINES,
however, are extremely exotic. Many of them run under a complete
deluge of water held to .01 degree C, to keep all parts of the machine
from thermal expansion, as well as the workpiece. These machines
usually use laser interferometry for position measurement accurate
to a few nanometers. A nm is 3.9 x 10^-8 inches, or 1/400 the
wavelength of blue light. These machines cost several million $ each,
and there are, at best, a few hundred in the entire world.

Jon