I've tried "Blue Magic" and "Mothers" aluminum polish. With hand rubbing, the finish is darker every time. As soon as it starts to turn black, I wipe it off and then buff by hand. It looks good but definitely darker. Is it my technique or is there a better polish?
Can't offer much help on your technique or results but suffice to say it can be really difficult to get a perfect shine on aluminum. I usually apply product with one cloth and buff it to a shine with another to try and keep the amount of contaminated polish to a minimum. I have used a bunch of products over the years and have had a lot of good results with a product called "Autosol." It is available at many auto parts stores and comes in a black and gold tube. http://www.autosol.com/ Apparently NormK beat me to the punch. LOL
Autosol is the best metal polish I've ever used. Used it to polish brass plaques and artillery shells at the regiment I used to be posted to, works great!
And what did you screw up to deserve that duty. We used Silvo silver polish to polish our two cannons on tbe parade square when our performance met the proper criteria. Also made to galvanized garbage cans shine like chrome in the drill hall. Available really cheap at your local grocery.
Absolutely nothing, it was for polishing engraved casings as gifts for maintenance troop members posted out They had defaulters use it to polish the galvanized fire doors on the gun park floor
Are you trying to get to this point? Well you're not going to do it by hand, believe me. Unless you have 40 days and 40 nights of time. You need a 8" bench grinder or bench buffer, along with several compounds and buffing wheels. You need a place like this http://bright-works.com/ for supplies and info. I've bought all my polishing stuff here. There are several compounds to use with aluminum. They also have video and instructions to get a good start on it. A 6" grinding wheel will work but it takes longer and doesn't do as good a job quickly. The reason yours is getting darker is because you're leaving a metal paste behind. Try cleaning it with and cleaner wax and see all the grime come off. Also If you didn't strip the clear coating off then you're not really polishing the aluminum. The clear coating will most likely need a good stripper to remove it. I think you might be able to use oven cleaner to strip it. Just be careful not to leave anystripper on to long. You can "burn" the metal and then you have to try and polish it out. The clear coating is tuff for sure. The suff recommended above posts is fine for hand polishing AFTER it starts to dull in a year. Remember to put a/several coats of carnuba wax or synthetic protection coat after you clean the piece after buffing with wheel. That is also the time to hand polish any swirls out before waxing. Oh yea it gets a little messy and buffing particles in the air so wear proper gear. Have fun.
Same company and same type of stuff. But Brasso is far more gritty than silvo which is formulated for fine silverwear. I would think that Brasso would leave pretty decent swirl marks in aluminum.
When you Girl Scouts start shining like The USMC who use Brasso, I'll invest some scratch in Silvo. Starting with my oyster fork..
Nice results GreyVF750F! I've tried a 6" buffing wheel on a bench grinder with different compounds but wasn't happy. I'd like to polish the engine cases on my RD before it goes back together. A lot of nooks and crannies...
Sometime but only when in Canada to see the refections of all that phallic stuff you dudes have to polish. I still ain't figured oot why shining up those galvanized trash cans is so important. That one and if the environmentalists are coming down on the Brits for those bearskin hats some of those dudes wear. No wonder there are no bears in UK.
Then for those you need a variable speed drill and buffing "balls" and "cones". Same supply house should have them. You will also need to work on your finger strength and skin toughness to get into some of those Time to tuffin up................... I had started with a 6" buffer years back and like you said it was just OK. I then bought the 8" and it made a world of difference.
I like the Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish. I think its your technique, once it starts to turn black keep rubbing it in for a more than a few minutes. Once it is worked in real good, then get a clean micro fibre cloth and work it clean. I have found that it seems that different polishes fit different jobs and you have to evaluate what works for where.
Many times as Grey points oot, aluminum is sometimes clearcoated. That has to go before any of the non-ferrous metal polishes will work. The polishes through chemical or abrasive action will leave traces of the polish behind on the various surfaces that can be clearcoated, have texture or even whether the metal is cast or forged. A good solvent that is pure stuff to wipe the work down is acetone. Acetone and water are miscible. a weaker solution can be made by wetting the applicator ( a fancy name for a shop rag) with water then the acetone.
