aluminum polish?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Wle
this may start a firestorm. but.. here it is. [i've heard that polishing aluminum is hard and
usually doesn;t do come out right..]

i have a gt bike, unpainted raw aluminum. would like to polish it up. what products and/or
procedures should i use?

wle.

I used the stuff called Magic Mix and am happy with the results.
It depends what you start with and what you expect.
Google "Aluminum Polish" and you will get plenty of hits.
That's how I found Magic Mix at URL:
http://www.topoftheline.com/magmixalpol.html
This site also has some other products you may find useful.
I also used a product that I bought at my local True Value hardware store, in a blue can, with cotton wadding material.
I can't find the can now, but it really works, but it has some volatile and smelly active ingredient. "Never Dulz" or something like it is the name. There are some things it just doesn't remove.
I have no connection to any of the products, stores, or site listed.

I've heard Mother's Alloy Wheel polish works well on bicycle parts. You can get great polishing
results with Semichrome but it's expensive and takes some practice to master the technique. Go one
direction for a while, then go perpendicular that, and vice versa, using finer a finer grit with
each iteration.

Generally speaking, the better the polishing job is/looks, the more delicate and easy to scratch the
surface will be.

-Bruce-

"wle" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

this may start a firestorm. but.. here it is. [i've heard that polishing aluminum is hard and
usually doesn;t do come out right..]

i have a gt bike, unpainted raw aluminum. would like to polish it up. what products and/or
procedures should i use?

wle.

On Wed, 24 Dec 2003 20:56:00 GMT, daveornee

may have said:

... I also used a product that I bought at my local True Value hardware store, in a blue can, with
cotton wadding material. I can't find the can now, but it really works, but it has some volatile
and smelly active ingredient. "Never Dulz" or something like it is the name. There are some things
it just doesn't remove.

Nevr-Dull is the stuff. Years ago, I used it a lot to polish the pushrod tubes on aircraft engines.
Simichrome was popular in the motorcyle market in those days; I didn't think that it worked as well
as Nevr-Dull, and it was much more expensive.

I generally used a spray-on silicone-based clear high-temp coating on those pushrod tubes after
polishing. We'd see them come back after 1500 to 2500 running hours in service with the shine still
in pretty good shape. I wouldn't have any idea where to get that spray coating anymore, but a good
clear automotive topcoat would probably work as well.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Quoted message said:

I've heard Mother's Alloy Wheel polish works well on bicycle parts.

I used Mother's Mag Wheel polish on a bike frame this past summer, came out really nice.

C.Q.C.

Never dull is the stuff in the can ,with cotton wading .I just did my buddies GT frame while we were
tuning it .He tried like hell for me to sell him the can NOT? So he went and found his own ,I have
used this stuff on anything from Brass to crome and it works wonders,

--
J/O TrailBlazer at Large

(wle) said:

this may start a firestorm. but.. here it is. [i've heard that polishing aluminum is hard and
usually doesn;t do come out right..]

i have a gt bike, unpainted raw aluminum. would like to polish it up. what products and/or
procedures should i use?

A lot depends upon the condition of the surface you're starting with. If it's dinged, scratched, or
otherwise damaged you might want to start with an abrasive paper. I use wet-or-dry paper and wet
sand marred areas. Depending upon the severity of the damage I might even start with 200 grit,
progressing to 320, 600, and finally to 1500.

I'm fortunate enough to have a large buffing wheel and jewelers rouge which will give a really good
polish. I finish up with Happich Simichrome.

I notice some others have recommended Mother's. I did a side-by-side comparison of Mother's
and Simichrome and liked the results with Simichrome better. I've never tried Nevr-Dull so
can't comment.

Simichrome is somewhat hard to find. The last tube I bought was from a motorcycle shop.

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

wle said:

this may start a firestorm. but.. here it is. [i've heard that polishing aluminum is hard and
usually doesn;t do come out right..]

i have a gt bike, unpainted raw aluminum. would like to polish it up. what products and/or
procedures should i use?

Wet and dry paper, working towards the finest grade, then T-Cut for the mirror finish. All very
tedious and makes your hands black.