How to brighten Aluminum?

[dcohenour]

Hi All,

Some of the handles on my SS are pretty dull. Is there a trick / formula to brighten them? What have other people done?

I am in the midst of the rebuild, stripping the paint from the machine parts. One leg, one caster assy, and one end casting are almost completely bare. The lower tubes are repainted, along with the clamp bars. The second leg is being stripped now.

Do the aluminum parts need to be primed before painting, or can I just go direct to the hammer on paint?

Thanks for all of the help, I really appreciate it!

[heathicus]

The first thing I'll do is point you to MickyD's restoration thread: https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=3078

It's a very long thread, but almost every aspect is discussed in detail including the two things you asked about - polishing and painting.

But to cut to the chase, polishing the aluminum handles to a mirror finish is a multi step process of sanding with increasingly fine sandpaper, then polishing with cloth wheels and polishing compound. But you can get them shiny with just a little sanding.

For painting aluminum, a self etching primer is recommended. I think I tested painting parts primed and not primed and didn't notice any difference in adhesion of the hammered paint, but did notice a difference in the hammered appearance. I think the hammered effect was more dramatic on the primed pieces, and smoother on the non primed. But it was a long time ago and I don't recall specifically. It's been a few years now and I can't tell you which parts were or weren't primed.

[WmZiggy]

If you have a buffing wheel you can buy the stick polish in various grades. The white and brown grades polish Aluminum. An 8 inch wheel is best. I have mine mounted on another lathe specifically for buffing. You can get cloth wheels and buffing compound at Harbor Freight and Tools: http://www.harborfreight.com/# or try this page: http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsea ... g+compound buffing them with a motor is your quickest solution. If you want to hand polish them I have a polish called Bluemagic Mental Polish Cream. You might try it or another brand that you can find at any automotive store. For that matter, you can find the stick polishes at automotive stores and buffing wheels too.

[chris jay]

You can make aluminum look like chrome if you buff the heck out of it. I've done it many times

[billmayo]

I have been using a 8" fine brishel wire brush to remove the rougher surface on aluminum before going to the final sanding and buffering for a polish outlook. I had really good results with the hammered paints by using a self etching primer gray from Eastwood products which is on sale right now for $11.99.

[dcohenour]

Thanks a lot for all of the help. Right now I am leaning toward painting the aluminum castings after priming with a self etching primer, and possible painting the handles too. Although, the aluminum castings may look cool without any paint on it at all....

I noticed the other day that one of the handles buffed up nicely with a scotchbrite pad and some wd-40. I may try making a flapper wheel out of a scotchbrite pad and try that this next weekend.

On a machine rebuild (for work) I cleaned up some holes using a drill bit with a scotchbrite pad taped to it. It worked really well to remove paint, gunk, and rust. So I may try that for some of the holes, unless there is a better idea floating out there.

thanks again!

[JPG]

For aluminum handles/knobs, I use a fine to medium 8" wire brush. The whitish oxide is easily removed, and they will look decent. More aggressive brushing will go deeper and result in cleaner, but slightly duller appearance. Get really aggressive and you will be creating cavities.

I prefer knobs that look 'nice', but are not so polished that they be slippery.

[dcohenour]

For aluminum handles/knobs, I use a fine to medium 8" wire brush. The whitish oxide is easily removed, and they will look decent. More aggressive brushing will go deeper and result in cleaner, but slightly duller appearance. Get really aggressive and you will be creating cavities.

I prefer knobs that look 'nice', but are not so polished that they be slippery.

Tried the wire brush last night and it worked pretty well. We have a can of this paint: "Steel-it" and I thought I might try that as well. Actually, I would like all of the handles to be red. Not sure why...

[heathicus]

It's your machine. Do what you want! Part of the reason for my custom paint job was to "make it mine."

[dcohenour]

Yeah, I saw your machine and it is really cool. Maybe a Wisconsin Badger Themed SS would be in order...