Restoring aluminum parts questions...

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 6:52 pm

rbursek wrote:How do you restore the white and in the case of the SS red?

Tape off near the letters. Then spray paint it and remove with a damp solvent rag to remove it off the surface.

"Wild Bad Bob" · Post by **"Wild Bad Bob"** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 7:53 pm

Thanks beeg!!

rjent · Post by **rjent** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:50 pm

charlese wrote: mickyd gave us a great service. Wish he was still around!!!!

What happened to him?

He seemed quite an asset to this forum .....

fitzhugh · Post by **fitzhugh** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:53 pm

Great help, thanks all!

I think I'd rather have my engineer spend their time sharpening stuff than simply staring out the window trying to stay awake! I picked up a medium nyalox and some nevrdull, both were at the local HW store. No appropriate dish brushes to make into a brush for a drill.

The nevrdull does clean it up, but I think I may go through it quickly with all the aluminum to clean. It also doesn't seem to polish much, though I'm fine with a smooth, good surface that doesn't feel like oxidized aluminum (any bare aluminum, really, just worse with serious oxidation). I'll put some paste wax on it after cleaning up and that will take care of the gross texture along with the rest.

I'm certainly going to read all through all mickyd's thread! Wow, that is great. I would like to get to his level of polish. I'm going to start with just getting it usable, but I'm working on the older greenie first and would love to take the newer one to that level next (got two, an 80s and a freebie greenie that came with it). That thread is fantastic - thank you! He sure did a great job.

I'm going to play the hands online videos on cleaning and inspecting while cleaning and use what has been suggested and elbow grease.

teacherman · Post by **teacherman** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:20 pm

I wonder if wet or dry sandpaper (silicon carbide?) in various grits would work to clean up the old aluminum. I do like the polished look. I have had good results using Simichrome® on aluminum motorcycle parts, so I think it is good stuff, and relatively cheap.

I would think that Johnson's Paste Wax would help prevent corrosion. It would likely fill and protect small pits and prevent further oxidation.

fitzhugh wrote:Great help, thanks all!

I think I'd rather have my engineer spend their time sharpening stuff than simply staring out the window trying to stay awake! I picked up a medium nyalox and some nevrdull, both were at the local HW store. No appropriate dish brushes to make into a brush for a drill.

The nevrdull does clean it up, but I think I may go through it quickly with all the aluminum to clean. It also doesn't seem to polish much, though I'm fine with a smooth, good surface that doesn't feel like oxidized aluminum (any bare aluminum, really, just worse with serious oxidation). I'll put some paste wax on it after cleaning up and that will take care of the gross texture along with the rest.

I'm certainly going to read all through all mickyd's thread! Wow, that is great. I would like to get to his level of polish. I'm going to start with just getting it usable, but I'm working on the older greenie first and would love to take the newer one to that level next (got two, an 80s and a freebie greenie that came with it). That thread is fantastic - thank you! He sure did a great job.

I'm going to play the hands online videos on cleaning and inspecting while cleaning and use what has been suggested and elbow grease.

steve4447 · Post by **steve4447** » Sun Apr 13, 2014 9:36 pm

I just use Simichrome or Flitz...All it takes is a little patience ...

http://www.flitz-polish.com/

idcook · Post by **idcook** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 12:23 am

charlese wrote:Here is the answer to your aluminum question. mickyd gave us a great service. Wish he was still around!!!!

First here's post #42 of the "How to guide of polishing aluminum". Check out all of the photos in this post to see if that's what you want. http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... stcount=42

If you like those results (and who wouldn't) then here's a link to the entire post. http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthr ... g+aluminum

There's another thread that may give you some help.

WOW!

I just spent a few hours going through that thread (as well as the various links offered… and links within those links). It’s truly impressive how MickyD provides a step-by-step for that Greenie restoration/ (I’d gone in to learn about how to clean up the aluminum).

Equally impressive is how the members of the forum availed themselves to helping MickyD to accomplish near perfection in his restoration. Right down to supplying pdfs used to print replacement caution labels.

A truly remarkable forum group.

fitzhugh · Post by **fitzhugh** » Mon Apr 14, 2014 2:28 am

I agree. The internet can bring out the worst but it certainly brings out the best far more often, it just goes unremarked much of the time. People are willing to put out great efforts to write up and share something they've learned even when they know they are unlikely to ever meet in the flesh someone it helps, and likewise to answer questions in such detail. The answers I've received here are good examples. I hope to do the same as I learn.

The nevrdull is working. I just needed to work a little harder at it. I'll get some semichrome because I think I need something I can use with different applicators.
Thanks to all for the help!
Fitzhugh

fitzhugh · Post by **fitzhugh** » Tue Apr 15, 2014 6:49 pm

OK, I'm getting good results for the most part using flitz and nevrdull - kinda randomly switching based on the part.

One thing I'm not clear on: I polish and get the black stuff all over the cloth. It's also in the polish on the metal and very hard to get all off the metal when buffing. I've tried wiping with clean polish on clean cloth but it doesn't seem to help much. I'm missing something basic it seems.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Tue Apr 15, 2014 7:34 pm

If you're getting black stuff stuck caked on from the buffing wheel then the wheel is overloaded with compound and it needs to be cleaned off.

To get the black stuff of your part to be cleaned, use a stiff nylon brush and patience, then polish.

For buffing compounds, as a general rule, apply a little bit of compound to the wheel often rather than a lot ever.

Too much compound on the wheel just makes a mess. I use an old sawzall blade to help scrape the built up compound off of the wheel.

It may take some effort depending on how loaded the wheel is. I recently threw an entire wheel out as it was too loaded to effectively clean. Not worth the $10 or so to just buy a new wheel.