polishing aluminum

[twitch101]

ive been doing a little research on polishing aluminum so i can do my rims and triple tree. does anyone have any experience they can add? everything i have come up with leads to using mag wheel cleaner which is an etching cleaner. my concern here is that it will take away the shine completely and ill have to use different grades of buffers to bring it back (like sanding to a mirror finish). things i have at my disposal are dremels drills and pneumatics so i have all the rotational speed i need. its just the technique i need help on.

when i do this i can do a step by step tutorial to help others with the process.

[Thorpe]

For the amount of work it is, and its a dirty old project, I would send the to gkingpolishing here on the forum... His prices are great, honest guy, and work is top notch... (just my honest opinion)

[twitch101]

does he have a website. his last activity here was 11/16

[daledozer]

You can get a buffing wheel for a die grinder and they sometimes come in a kit with the polishing compounds with it. You wont need to sand if there are no scratches, but if you do need to sand work to a 2000 grit wet sand, then do your buffing. I did this on some douglas wheels that the sand took the shine away, time consuming work.

[badass350x]

Gking "Greg" will respond asap! Just shoot him a pm or email.

[badass350x]

There is alot too polishing and depends on what your wanting to polish! Is it smooth aluminum? Does it still have casting pits? Etc, shoot me a pm I will give you my number and will explain what you need too do so I don't have too type it all lol. I do alot of my own but when it comes too cylinders or cases I leave it to the pro's.

Dean

[TatTooL23]

mothers aluminum wheel polish is amazing. the more u work it the more shine u will get. but as stead above, its a lot of work and can be a pain. what usually happens is u get the main, larger flat surfaces nice and shiny and then give up on the creases and corners, lol.

i would also send to GKing

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Well, I just ordered some Mothers Billet Polish. I hear its a higher grade polish than the standard Mag Polish. When My billet polish gets here I'm gonna go to town on mt stator and clutch covers with my Powerball. If I can't get into the nooks with the ball, I have been looking into getting a Dremel kit and some polishing attachments. I'm sure there's a way for the do-it-yourselfer.... I have nothing better to do whilst I wait for my engine......

I'll post up some pics of the results after the Billet polish is applied. Here's how my stator cover came out after about a half hour with regular Mothers and a powerball... Then we can see if there's a difference... The billet polish should be here by the end of next week...

[murfman]

GKing all the way:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x205/murfman_photo/ATCs/DSC02610.jpg
http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x205/murfman_photo/ATCs/DSC02604.jpg

[twitch101]

jesus how much did all the polishing cost? ive been debating polishing my side covers too.

[Yamaha_Rules69]

The best method is sanding by hand, starting with about 400 grit, and working your way up to 2000 grit, you need every grit in between, and dont skip any. Sand one direction, like left to right, and on the next grit sand the other, like up and down. You know when you have done it enough when the lines from the previous grit dissapear. Use only WET sand paper, and keep it wet, and wash it off often. I use a bucket with water, and just dip the sand paper in there. For best results, change the water often, like after every grit. After you have gotten all the way up to 2000, it will already be very shiney, but if you hit it with a buffer and soft cloth buffing wheel with buffing compound, it will really bring out the shine. You then use a polish like mothers to protect the shine, and must be very careful how you wash it and keep it polished often. Start with a smaller, more flat piece to see how it will go. The tripples will deffinatly take a lot more work than say a clutch cover, because its bigger obviously, and it has a lot of crappy casting defects. Good luck, and thats it in a nutshell. Its really a lot of hard work, and you must be dedicated.

[GeoD]

WOW!!! Now that is on beautiful 350X motor. Not to mention that has to be one of the best looking Goki starters I've seen! Nice job Gking!!

Oh my. I almost missed the polished front brake caliper. Those pics are definitely trike porn!!

Twitch. Here is Gking's info:

text 24/7 to 812-801-3683 email addy gkingpolishing@hotmail.com or you can follow me on face/book search greg king gking polishing or fan page gking custom metal polishing,and don;t forget to ''like''

[userj8670]

Gking! I wouldnt waste time trying to do it yourself. Send it to him and save yourself the hastle. He is fast, fair and friendly!

[blkstangman88]

Green bar and a white bar. U can get from sears and a white wheel for trailprotrailpro Dre mel or drill. Ten min all done

[GeoD]

If you want to DIY checkout Harbor Freight. They have everything needed for polishing metal. If you need high end products try Eastwood Company.

[murfman]

WOW!!! Now that is on beautiful 350X motor. Not to mention that has to be one of the best looking Goki starters I've seen! Nice job Gking!!

Oh my. I almost missed the polished front brake caliper. Those pics are definitely trike porn!!

Twitch. Here is Gking's info:

text 24/7 to 812-801-3683 email addy gkingpolishing@hotmail.com or you can follow me on face/book search greg king gking polishing or fan page gking custom metal polishing,and don;t forget to ''like''

The Pics don't even do it justice, first of all my grubby fingerprints are all over it, I gave up trying to keep it clean while putting it all together. I will detail it once it is done, take a bunch of pictures then go get it all muddy.. I figure it will at least look REAL good for 2 or 3 days lol.

[GeoD]

Well let me tell you. I wanted to show my 350X's those pics but I think they would have prematurely spurted oil all over the place!! LOL!!

I look forward seeing more pictures!!!

[69-ss-396]

Greg King all the way!!

[bucko]

Can the case's on a 200x be polished even though they are black outside?

[Thorpe]

^^^ Yes they can...

[bucko]

awesome!I'll be sending mine off soon!

[murfman]

Greg King all the way!!

Hmmm Not sure if I like the polished/red combo lol

[murfman]

Well let me tell you. I wanted to show my 350X's those pics but I think they would have prematurely spurted oil all over the place!! LOL!!

I look forward seeing more pictures!!!

Build thread here:
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/136240-350-Xtreme-build-with-a-250sx-Chaser

[twitch101]

Does he require the engine broken down or can i send the whole engine in? How well does the shine hold up to mud?

[Micahdogg]

Nothing looks worse than a neglected polished finish. So anyone that thinks they want a nice shiny piece of aluminum should be prepared to polish it often. It won't just dull, it will oxidize, then you will have to sand it again or paint over it.

Yamaha Rules has it right on the sanding - though you don't need to go over 800 grit to get an "acceptable" polish job - especially on something that will be off-roaded and scratched up anyway. I would suggest for the polishing, get a bench grinder and install a spiral sewn buff on it. You can get a cheap bench grinder at Lowe's for $30. Then use Tripoli polishing compound.

Don't polish in the cold either - cold metal won't polish as well as hot. Get that piece scortching hot to where you can barely hold onto it - then it'll shine.

[dirtbag]

Nothing looks worse than a neglected polished finish. So anyone that thinks they want a nice shiny piece of aluminum should be prepared to polish it often. It won't just dull, it will oxidize, then you will have to sand it again or paint over it.

Yamaha Rules has it right on the sanding - though you don't need to go over 800 grit to get an "acceptable" polish job - especially on something that will be off-roaded and scratched up anyway. I would suggest for the polishing, get a bench grinder and install a spiral sewn buff on it. You can get a cheap bench grinder at Lowe's for $30. Then use Tripoli polishing compound.

Don't polish in the cold either - cold metal won't polish as well as hot. Get that piece scortching hot to where you can barely hold onto it - then it'll shine.so I dont post here much but much of this is wrong,I polished my triz engine and aluminum parts,once you get a good shine on them they are easy to clean up,I didnt wash mine all summer driveing in the mud,it cleans up nice,the only way to bother polishing is buffing,and lastly I polish outside in -10 weather,I polish all my toys, my trike,a few motorcycles,4snowmachines,skids, engines,tunnels ect. And it holds up for years,A key is washing with a heavy mix of carnuba wax soap..

[Micahdogg]

If you have a good grade of aluminum that you can neglect and it resists oxidation well - that doesn't make it a standard. I would still not advise someone to go ahead and neglect their polished finish because it will clean up easily.

And yes, you can polish in the cold weather. You will get better results in the warm weather. Everyone wants the best shine possible, so I would not advise polishing in the cold. I've just polished too much aluminum over the past 12 years to tell someone otherwise.

And anything over 800 grit gets into the diminishing returns column where the amount of time you spend on the piece IMO will not reward you with a finish that was worth the effort.

[Mr. Clean]

I have never learned anything from peeps arguing on the Internetz for any kind of a "how to"

Start Here:

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/buffman.htm

Excellent introduction to polishing and buffing metals. At the bottom of this page is a PDF download that has more tips and tricks. To me the satisfaction of doing something myself far outweighs how much money I can pay someone to do the work. However, to do the job correctly requires a number of specialized pads, tools, and equipment that a "pro" outfit will already have invested in. I would recommend you learn and understand what you can do with various grits of sandpaper, a basic buffing wheel and some compounds. Then items like fork legs and basic shapes can be polished to a mirror finish, then decide if you have the patience to do it yourself or the deep pockets to pay someone.