[GUIDE] Polishing Aluminium...

unklerosco

Well I’ve been doing it long enough so I thought I’d do up a quick guide...

Reasons for doing it, shiny is good!!

This is all done based around anodised aluminium...

Anodising to put it simply is a process by where an aluminium oxide is grown from and into the aluminium.. It’s a chemical process, dies are added along the way to give u various colours (usually silver n black)... Unlike paint it’s not an added layer, it’s actually in the surface of the alu which makes it a bloody pain to remove.

Afaik u can get it chemically removed or there's the modders way of sanding till ur arm falls off... Then there's my way, let a machine do it for u

Tools:
Bench Grinder (stripped down)
Polishing kit for Bench Grinder

Gloves
Safety eyewear
Lots of time (lots n lots of time :rolleyes:)

Process...
The polishing kit comes with 3 mops, Sisal mop (Coarse), White Mop (medium) and a G-Mop (gangster, I mean Fine)... These work basically the same as different grades of sandpaper, the cloth's they're made of are of differing coarseness.

U also get 3 different compounds, Grey (coarse), Green (Medium) and Blue (Fine)… These are wax blocks that add abrasives to the mops to aid the polishing. With the Polisher running u simply run the block across the mop, the heat generated melts the block onto the mop, always best to add to little than too much as if u add to much it dries onto the aluminium and gets annoying as it leaves black pits that will need to be removed.

Step 1: Sisal Mop with grey compound

Step 2: White Mop with green compound

Step 3: G Mop with blue compound

Step 1 is the most time consuming of all... Starting at one end and working along until all the anodisation has been removed... U will use more compounds in this step than in the others, easily 2-3 times as much. Rotating the piece ur working with from horizontal to vertical and then at angles helps get a more even finish and help to give a better shine in the later stages.. Apply a decent amount of pressure but not so much that u cause the polisher to stop...

Step 2 is where all the work in step 1 pays off. Follow the same guidelines only use less compound and less pressure, here is where u will get ur final sheen.
Step 3 follows the same guidelines as step 2, here u will get ur final finish.

After u have finished polishing it is best to rub down the piece with some Vienna Lime Powder, this will remove any grease marks left on the piece(u will get these the first few times)

After that its best to give the piece a good polish using a wax based polish..

Tips:

Get a decent Bench Grinder.. I started off with one from Aldi, cost me €20 n did the job.. Till the casing on it cracked. When polishing the grinder is constantly on, far more than it would be if u where grinding metal… The casing is put under a good bit more stress. Also, the more powerful the motor the better…. In Step 1 the coarseness of the mop along the compound make the mop tacky… Applying pressure can cause the grinder to halt, the better the motor (more torque) the less chance this will happen... I got my last Grinder in B&Q, it's made by Rexon(i think) cost me €50 n was well worth it...

U will deffo need gloves, the Sisal mop will rip ur hand off… Also, when working with small pieces the alu gets very hot (to hot to touch) so u will need gloves.

Polishing Kits, I got mine from eBay here, very nice people to deal with... U get everything with it including a more thorough guide on polishing...

That’s it, below are some pics of the results u can get… hope someone finds this useful.. enjoy.

Step 1: It took about 20-30mins to do this stage..(and i've 7 more to do )


Step 2: It took less than 5 mins to do this stage..


Step 3: Hard to see the difference in the photos..






U dont wanna know how long it took to polish this...

Anti

Looks great, now all i need is a bench grinder and some spare time

awhir

thats nice man ,love the last pic with the garden looks real pro acctualy

so when ya gona start building ur rig/case ??

unklerosco

When i get my finger out n finish polishing whats left of the alu.... Been over a year when i started this case mod..