Polishing Aluminium

[Doug Dastardly]

Hi All,

I'm hoping to fit my scuttle (for the final time) this weekend and have noticed some light scratching on the Aluminium plate it sits on.

I had it covered in masking tape for long enough and this is just what's happened since that came off. I've polished it up with autosol, which made it look much better but I'm wondereing about trying to take out the light scratches.

Should I:

1) polish some more with autosol

2) wet and dry with 2000

3) buff with dremmel, either wire wheel or polishing wheel

4) something else

Any suggestions welcome,

Thanks,

Doug

[Mark (smokey mow)]

Option 4 - Replace it with Carbon

[peterm135]

I seem to remember scratches being polished out with scothchbrite and autosol (i think) but i cant find the link.

Or it could have been scotchbrite and wd 40

try the back of a piece first !

Mine i do like option 4 !

[pete g]

depends on the finish you want . i clean with scotsh brite and cell thinners.and autosol with wirewool. try it on a old piece of alloy first

[Doug Dastardly]

Thanks guys,

By Scotchbrite, do you just mean any heavy duty, non-scratch scouring pad?

Scotchbrite brings up loads of products.

[pete g]

yep

[Captain Colonial]

Scratch the whole thing to even it out, never worry again - simples!

/sorry, got nuthin'

//need beer

///badly

[s2rrr]

Don't do it in circles or it will look a dogs breakfast.

Bob

[Mid life crisis]

Definitely a thin layer of carbon fiber would look Problem is this is a slippery slope to covering or replacing all your ali with CF

[80BSY]

You need a "Loybloc" it's a rubberised and brilliant for sanding and polishing. It's like the old grey stuff one end of a school rubber used to be made of, I used to use them on my old Cafe racer, amazing things.

[Mid life crisis]

You need a "Loybloc" it's a rubberised and brilliant for sanding and polishing. It's like the old grey stuff one end of a school rubber used to be made of, I used to use them on my old Cafe racer, amazing things.

Is this the product ?

http://www.chronos.ltd.uk/acatalog/Polishing_Equipment.html

[80BSY]

No it's not, and I can't seem to find one on a web-search.

They look exactly like the grey, flexible sanding sponge you'd get from B&Q etc, but they're basically abrasive rubber compound. They are abrasive right through them, so as they wear, they will start to be able to polish into grooves etc.

They were in different grades, and you could actually polish out casting marks in a sensible time-frame!!

Think it might be worth a look in Classic motorcycle or Back street heroes. I've not had that sort of bike for 20yrs now, so don't know any better where to look for them, sorry I can't be more help..........Bob

[EvilKenEvel]

1200 grade and finer wet and dry used with wd40. Start with the 1200 and work up. Finish off with Autosol and it will come up a treat.

[Doug Dastardly]

Thanks all,

I tried autosol with a scouring pad but it didn't seem to be much better.

In the end I just applied elbow grease and polished it repeatedly with stockingette and autoglym metal polish, which I found to be less messy and better than the autosol.

The faint scratches are still there but it's nice and shiney so you don't really notice. My scuttle's still not fixed though so I'll look again and maybe try the wet and dry.

Doug

[Bob Green]

As a bye, I polish all aluminium based items on various grades of buffer wheels attached to my bench grinder. A filthy job but the end result is worth it.