Topic: Questions about polishing aluminum

[72cafe]

so i am going to polish up the bits on my cafe project like a sweet spinner rim. but, i don't have the foggiest idea on how to do it. does anyone know of a good place to get some info and/or want to take the time to splain to me the in's and out's???

i know i need to get a dremel, but thats all i know. educate me!!!!

[78 k550]

to Polish rims that are stock they are chrome. If you have some aftermarket rims and their aluminum I would use Mothers mag & aluminum cleaner. It works real good. If your cleaning up cases and fork tubes and thing's like that. Mothers works great also. I'll take some pics in the morning of a fork tube I polished last week and haven't got to the other so I can give you am A, B comparison. Here is a side cover i did also. Not to much justice on the pic, indoors and dull lighting. I'll shoot the forks tomorrow. I used a 400 grit then 600, then 800, then 1200, then 1500. Wet sanded on all grits, then rubbing compound, then polish. You can see the reflection


Paul

[theunrulychef]

If your rims are clearcoated, you'll need to remove that first with scotch bright pads & some laquer thinner.  Then, like paul said, step up your grits.  I would add a tip I learned that's worked pretty well for me.  Sand each grit in one direction (horizontal or lateral) as best you can.  Then on the next grit, sand in the perpendicular direction until you see no traces of the previous grit.  Alternate back & forth until you get to 1500 or 2000.  On that final sanding, use more of a swirling motion.  Then when you're done buffing with mothers, it should shine better than chrome.

I've also found that you can skip alot of the sanding for many parts if you have access to a few toos: Blast cabinet, hard & soft wire wheels, and a few polishing wheels.  Blast off any paint & grime.  Use some 400 paper or the hard wire wheel to clean up any casting defects or large scratches.  Use the soft wire wheel to smooth it out.  Then polish using the polishing wheels stepping from brown to white tripoli.  Finally, buff it out by hand with some mothers.  This doesn't work well for finned or oddly shaped parts, but it works wonders on pieces with alot of flat surface.

I'll also skip the polish altogether on some parts that won't really be seen & are finned like crazy. I've got one of those damned black F2 motors, so piece by piece, the paint is coming off.  When I did my oil pan, I just blasted it & put it on the soft wire wheel.  Looks fine for how often I'll be seeing it.  Same thing goes for the "oil cooler" between the block & the oil filter housing.  This creates more of a brushed appearance.

If you're planning on using a dremel tool, I'd imagine you need to get your hands on some tripoli (brown & white), but since I haven't gone that route, I wouldn't be the guy to answer about that.

[Bodain]

Yep... What he said... Anyone can do this, but it's alot of work. I first started thinking about aluminum polishing 1 year ago. My Kawasaki ZRX has
black powder coated rims. I wanted them shiney. Today they shine like chrome. I started sanding. You just progressively move to finer sand paper.  The end result is great, but this is way too much work. I spent quit some time browsing the local Ace hardware store. I was trying different pads and wheels, looking for a way to take the labor out.

After I have those rims done, I finally hit upon something. "Scotchbrite"  You can find various scotchbrite wheels. Fit this up to a power drill, or even better an air grinder tool, driven by compressed air, this will give far more RPM than can be achieved with a hand drill. The scotchbright will actually remove small imperfections without laborous manual sanding and still leave the aluminum in excellent condition for the higher grade sanding. You can actually get an excellent shine just by doing the scotchbrite then apply the mothers and buffing. To really get the mirror grade shine there is no replacement for 1000 to 1500 grit sanding.  Also.. I use WD-40 as a lubricant while sanding.

There is one more tool you need for those parts with tiny recesses and lot of curved surfaces. An electric dremel tool. I found this to be "THE MOST TIME SAVING ALUMINUM POLISHING TOOL" I love this thing... Using only two end attachments I can take a perfectly nasty aluminum part
and turn it into very shiney aluminum in two steps.

Step 1...  Go over piece with tiny scotchbrite type wheel.

Step 2..   Now apply mothers to area and hit area with a tiny felt pad wheel.

Step 2.. Take a clean cotton rag and rub off all the black...  

It will shine, shine, shine.

A simple 3 step process that will reveal mirror like shine and I've never touched a piece of sandpaper.

Pic...



You can see I've polished the outer edges of the instrument light cluster and the upper portions of the handlebar controls.
I think I'm going after the upper triple tree. It appears to be aluminum. I'm not sure if the bottom part is.

[72cafe]

Bodain

what kind of tank is that? do they it 750s?

[DiscoEd]

After I have those rims done, I finally hit upon something. "Scotchbrite"  You can find various scotchbrite wheels.

Bodain, can you please post some pics of these Scotchbrite wheels? I saw something in the autoparts store that I think is similar to what you're talking about but it looked way too coarse for the job.

There is one more tool you need for those parts with tiny recesses and lot of curved surfaces. An electric dremel tool. I found this to be "THE MOST TIME SAVING ALUMINUM POLISHING TOOL" I love this thing... Using only two end attachments I can take a perfectly nasty aluminum part and turn it into very shiney aluminum in two steps.

What two attachments are you using? Those little white felt wheels? How many of them do you go through? It seems like the one that I have fly apart rather quickly.

Regards,
DiscoEd

[paulages]

in addtion to the methods described above, i've also had good luck using a good jewler's rouge with a no-stitch cloth on my 8" bench grinder/buffer. i was getting some pretty nice results sanding as described above (blasting first where neccesary), then hitting the surface with a brown tripoli and a stitched wheel, then moving up to the true rouge.

THEN, i bought this polish found here: http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/usca/products.html, and holy #$%*, does this stuff work well. it won't make a turd shine without first putting some elbow grease into it, but it did totally transform several pieces i thought i was done with. i'm rebuilding a cb550 from the frame up, and polishing and powdercoating everything. i'm using the 'metal restorer' and 'showmans blend', and this thing is looking nice.

i'll get pictures next time i'm down at my shop.

[grumburg]

Have used Mothers for years, but a friend told me to try Mothers billet polish. Did the side covers on my 74 550 this afternoon and used regular Mothers on the 75 550 last summer. The billet is much better. Costs twice as much ($13) but is well worth it.

[DiscoEd]

I did some experimenting today. On my CB550 the PO had taken to much of the aluminium with a wire wheel or something like that and left it in a fairly sad state. I took off one of my cylinder head side covers and set out to put some shine on it.

I first hit it with some 320 grit wet and dry sand paper. The next size i had handy was 800 (wished I had some 400 and 600). I then went to 1000 and 2000. You know it still looked fairly hideous. I could see though that it did take many of the major scratches and pitting out.

Next I went to the autoparts store and didn't have enough cash to buy the mothers billet, so I bought some stuff called "Blue Magic" metal polish. $4.51 vs. $13.89(for the Mother's billet). Anyway, I then whipped out my cheap chinese motor tool and put on one of the only two small felt pads that I had. I applied a small dab of the Blue Magic paste and selected a speed that would not sling the paste all over or make it get too hot.

Man! I gotta tell you in about two minutes the thing started looking mirror like. I don't know if the Mother's billet polish is better than this "Blue Magic" stuff or not but at least I know that my bike is really going to look great when I get done polishing it all up.

I honestly feel that by next spring I'm going to have a 31 year old bike will rival (or turn more heads than) the appearance of my brother's 1 year old "show room" Vulcan Drifter.

Maybe Santa will bring me some of that Mother's polish and I can compare the results and post my findings. I tried to take some comparison photo's of the part I worked on today but it's too difficult to see the contrast in the picture due to the flash lighting.

Regards,
DiscoEd

[CB750R]

look up Caswell plating, they have an extensive array of polishing materials information and compounds, I bought there aluminum kit and have been very impressed.  I don't have any great pics to show because I'm mid polish but I'm redoing the polish on my D&D pipe, and I've polished the valve cover and its by far the most thourogh way I've found to polish.  It is a very labour intensive process to get aluminum to come out mirror like but man is it worth it!!!

[seaweb11]

The results are kind of Cool when your done.

[theunrulychef]

Damn, seaweb11, that's a nice engine.  Is that a K8?  Looks like a good combination of polishing & aluminum paint.  Don't mean to derail the thread, but if you started off with a black engine, I'd love any tips on getting the paint out of the head fins.  I've got pretty much every other piece that I can pull off all shined up & I'm just waiting for the rebuild to polish the block & head assemblies.  Also, did you clear coat the valve cover, or is it bare aluminum?

I'll have to get a hold of some of those air grinder scotch brite pads.  We used to use them to clean off gasket surfaces when I worked at a Ford shop.  I'd forgotten about those. 

[Jim Shea]

What is the exact name of the Mothers polish referred to? It is not a popular brand here in the UK, hopefully it is available.

[DiscoEd]

What is the exact name of the Mothers polish referred to? It is not a popular brand here in the UK, hopefully it is available.

Mother's BILLET METAL POLISH

Go about half way down the page....

http://www.mothers.com/products/productcatalog/wheelprod.html


-DiscoEd

[Objectionableone]

Here is a good article on polishing from the Vintage Japenese Motorcycle Club.

http://www.vjmc.org/techtips/darkness.htm

[78 k550]

Here are the fork tubes I'm working on now.

Paul

[Bob Wessner]

Nice! Are you planning to clear coat them when you're done, or leave them just polished?

[TwoTired]

Clearcoats don't stick very well to highly polished surfaces.  While I really like the high polish, aluminum needs frequent repolishing to maintain that apearance.
It will be dull in 6 mos to a year unless you keep it polished and waxed bi-monthly.

Clear coats onmirror surfaces will come off in sheets as the surface is so smooth, there is nothing to keep it from lifting off!

I'm pretty sure that's why Honda left the aluminum in a "brushed" appearance under the clearcoat.  The "brush" scratches make little handles for the clear coat to grab onto.

Cheers,

[Bodain]

Here is my standard polishing tools. The only thing missing ultra fine wet and dry sandpaper.





Using nothing but the shown two attachments for the dremel. I get results like these.

Clutch... No sand paper ever touched this clutch cover.


Front Fork again using only the dremel tool

[DiscoEd]

Bodain,
Thanks for posting the pics. Now I have an idea what the scotchbrite wheel looks like.

Very nice work by the way!

Regards,
DiscoEd

[78 k550]

Bob,
 I'm just leaving them polished.

[mylittleho]

Its expensive but google ZOOP SEAL. it is a coating for billet wheels and polished aluminum that leaves a protective coating on the aluminum that lasts for 6 months..

[mylittleho]

Also try www.finishingforums.com

Ok nevermind that website doesn't seem to be around anymore..

also try WWW.CASWELLPLATING.COM they have a polishing forum.

[paulages]

where have you found the scotchbrite wheels? i've never been able to find them on a wheel. sure is a pain in the ass to do by hand...

[dusterdude]

paul,any good paint supply store will have them,they are available in 2 different styles.one is called roloc and uses a twist motion to attach to its anvil and the other is called hookit which uses a velcro attaching setup,of course this uses its own anvil setup too,also these names are 3m products

[mylittleho]

Also a sisel polishing wheel and black emory on a polishing machine will make short work of any kind of sanding shaping you might need..

I used harbor freight 6" polishing wheels on a bench grinder and it worked well but not nearly as good as a bench mounted polisher... since the polishers spin about 2x faster than a bench grinder... or you could get an adapter like this one to attach it to an electric motor of bench grinder VIA a "V" belt..

[mylittleho]

caswell also sells scritchbrite like wheels for either a bench grinder, or angle grinder..


http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/brightex.htm

[Faust]

 I have polished a bit of aluminum and second everything said here, particularly Caswell. Very nice people, was a father and son team but I think it has expanded. If the piece has large flats, go for the stitched wheel on a good buffing machine. Watch your grip and your hands, wear heavy gloves.

Here is the best hint I can give to anyone living in "Industrial" America. Industry is dying, so look in the Yellow Pages for "metal finishing, polishing". Most of these are small "job shops". Things are universally slow, they will talk to you about jobs they would have laughed off 2 or 4 years ago. The guy who did the aluminum trim on my '64 Plymouth last year told me that in 1999 he had over 400 competitors in New England, now it is below thirty. (hearsay)

[Faust]

Since clear coat was mentioned, I was wondering what experience with clear powder coating? It seems to work well with wheels/rims. But most auto wheels aren't polished, they are turned. The knife grooves probably leave some "hook" for the powder.

Another hint, most of our local powder coaters have opened a "side door" for all of the locals who want wheels and such done. Last time I spoke with them, the minimum was $75.00. However, the minimum covered quite a lot. I suspect that would do a whole bike. They are finicky about the prep for the metal. Their heat takes care of most of the garbage on the aluminum, but they don't want to take blame for a bad, but small job.

[Faust]

or you could get an adapter like this one to attach it to an electric motor of bench grinder VIA a "V" belt..

For anyone searching. I believe the "bearings" are "pillow blocks".

[theunrulychef]

You can wax polished aluminum as a substitute for clear coating as long as it isn't a piece that gets really hot.  I've had Meguir's wax on my brake resivoir caps for a good 4 or 5 months with no degredation in shine, although, I'll probably need to pull them off soon & re-wax them when I get around to waxing all of the other polished parts.  I'm sure this would work well for the fork bits, master cylinder, and control housings etc. 

Anyone wax their disc brake calipers with any sucess, or do they get too hot?  When I get new lines, I'll be doing the calipers & master cylinder in one foul swoop.

[mylittleho]

If you apply polishing compound (not metal polish) with a polishing wheel they are waxy to begin with so no real need to seal them.. Just every couple of months wash the aluminum with liquid soap to remove all the old wax and hit them again with a small polishing wheel and compound.. no hand rubbing or buffing and no need to seal..

[grumburg]

I just keep some Neverdulll handy to clean off road film and dirt between polishing in spring and fall.  Seems to leave a coating that prevents dulling.

[CB750R]

May be a little off topic, but seeing as theres quite a few people familiar with Caswell on this thread...
anyone ordered there chroming kit???  Or has any experience with Chroming/plating???  Just the thought of having my own little Chroming setup in my garage makes my mind spin with the ooodles of stuff I could make shiney!!!!

[DiscoEd]

May be a little off topic, but seeing as theres quite a few people familiar with Caswell on this thread...
anyone ordered there chroming kit???  Or has any experience with Chroming/plating???  Just the thought of having my own little Chroming setup in my garage makes my mind spin with the ooodles of stuff I could make shiney!!!!

I've looked that stuff over too. I wonder if it's worth while or not. I mean aside from the fun of the do it yourself aspect, would it be any cheaper to try this at home vs. taking it to a plating shop? I wonder just how good the qulaity of plating you can achieve is?

Regards,
DiscoEd