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Polished Aluminium
Polished aluminium looks nice and is cheap as chips to do if you don't mind spending a little time and elbow grease.
Things you need:
Wet and dry sand paper:380 to 1200 grit
(Optional)Auto pain stripper
Polishing wheel made from felt or clothe
Drill or dremel to attach polishing wheels to(usually the attachment comes with the wheels)
Red polishing compound(jewelers rouge)
A polishing cream called Autosol and a car buffer to use with autosol.
Start out by preparing the surface for polishing if it has paint on it this is where the paint stripper comes in i wont go into details just follow the instructions on the label of the stripper.Next to get the aluminium to shine like chrome you need to get the surface really smooth before polishing and this is done by sanding.Depending on how smooth the surface already is you might not need to use such a rough grit as the 380 you might be able to start with 600 or even 1000 grit just try the finer grits first ie 1000 and if you feel you need rougher go rougher.Just work your way up the finer grits till you reach 1200 once you feel you cant get it any smoother your pretty much done sanding and its time for the polishing wheel.Take your drill or dremel or what ever have the polishing wheel attached to,turn it on and grind it against the red polishing compound (the compound is like a bar of soap but waxy) you need to coat the wheel with it the wheel will turn the same color.Once its on work the wheel on the surface, just keep it moving around occasionally reapplying the rouge once you have done the whole surface clean it and check it out should look pretty smooth hit it again with the wheel a few more times then you can use the buffer.
Make sure you clean it pretty well before using the buffer as the autosol polish is finer and the bigger particles from the rouge will mess with the finish ,with your finger or what ever you want to use put some autosol on the surface and a little on the buffer and buff away don't use lambs wool on the buffer just the thin clothe ones that go on the buffer.
Clean the aluminium down and wipe with a soft clothe something like clothe nappy any way you should have something very shiny after all the elbow work.
I hope this has help someone or given them ideas
please excuse my poor grammer and spelling LOL!!!
Polished aluminium looks nice and is cheap as chips to do if you don't mind spending a little time and elbow grease.
Things you need:
Wet and dry sand paper:380 to 1200 grit
(Optional)Auto pain stripper
Polishing wheel made from felt or clothe
Drill or dremel to attach polishing wheels to(usually the attachment comes with the wheels)
Red polishing compound(jewelers rouge)
A polishing cream called Autosol and a car buffer to use with autosol.
Start out by preparing the surface for polishing if it has paint on it this is where the paint stripper comes in i wont go into details just follow the instructions on the label of the stripper.Next to get the aluminium to shine like chrome you need to get the surface really smooth before polishing and this is done by sanding.Depending on how smooth the surface already is you might not need to use such a rough grit as the 380 you might be able to start with 600 or even 1000 grit just try the finer grits first ie 1000 and if you feel you need rougher go rougher.Just work your way up the finer grits till you reach 1200 once you feel you cant get it any smoother your pretty much done sanding and its time for the polishing wheel.Take your drill or dremel or what ever have the polishing wheel attached to,turn it on and grind it against the red polishing compound (the compound is like a bar of soap but waxy) you need to coat the wheel with it the wheel will turn the same color.Once its on work the wheel on the surface, just keep it moving around occasionally reapplying the rouge once you have done the whole surface clean it and check it out should look pretty smooth hit it again with the wheel a few more times then you can use the buffer.
Make sure you clean it pretty well before using the buffer as the autosol polish is finer and the bigger particles from the rouge will mess with the finish ,with your finger or what ever you want to use put some autosol on the surface and a little on the buffer and buff away don't use lambs wool on the buffer just the thin clothe ones that go on the buffer.
Clean the aluminium down and wipe with a soft clothe something like clothe nappy any way you should have something very shiny after all the elbow work.
I hope this has help someone or given them ideas
please excuse my poor grammer and spelling LOL!!!
