Polishing aluminum

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Beavinator

Gone - bye bye.
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I just started polishing the plate that goes under my bulkhead because I have to get rid of that purple color and its a very simple concept but it sure is one hell of a lot of work!!! To get to a point where the results look professional is going to take a lot of time and sweat! Up until now I thought it was stupid for guys to pay to have their items polished but now I think its worth every penny! This is not something that you would want to do if you have a pile of parts! If anyone who has experience doing this job has any time saving tips I would love to hear them! Thanks.
 
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It will be a lot easier to remove the purple anodizing first. I soaked my parts in drain cleaner (has to have sulfuric acid) for about 5-10 minutes. Just be sure to keep an eye on it, leave it in too long and it will pit the aluminum. After all the ano was removed I wet sanded the part, starting with 100 grit and ending with 400 grit. Wasn't quite a mirror finish but was damn close.
 
Get in touch with ree ree. He has a thread in the nitro talk section called guaging interest he does polishing and is looking at becoming a vendor he does really good work.
 
I removed my anodizing with oven cleaner same idea as drain cleaner. After i got done with the wet sanding i used steel wool to polished it up pretty well. I did my head the same way it was a lot of elbow grease.
 
The oven cleaner and drain cleaner produce some nasty, toxic fumes, and can permanently pit the aluminum if left for too long so be careful if you go that route. I used undiluted greased lightning cleaner to do the shocks on my project pede. Worked great, very little if any fumes compared to the other way. It will leave an oxidized finish any way you go that will have to be polished out.

before

_MG_5367Large.jpg


During

_MG_5371Large.jpg


After

_MG_5374Large.jpg
 
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Like HPIguy said if you use oven or drain cleaner watch close and don't breath the fumes. I think ill try the greased lightning next time. Nice shocks!!
 
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