Making it brighter

[Jay B]

If you want to know how to make the aluminum brighter. Send me an email or IM. I've gotton pretty good at polishing that stuff up. 8)

[Anonymous]

Brighter Aluminium.

What's your method to this labour intensive exercise.
Thanks
Roman.

[administrator]

Yeah, post it here and share. That's the idea behind this forum.

--- Frank ---

[Anonymous]

Brighter Aluminum...

You mean ther's a better way than using Mother's Mag polish?!? Please tell us!
GY

[Jay B]

Polishing

I will a post to the tips and tricks section in the next couple of days. Gonna warn you its gonna be a long one. Frank you might actually want to put it in the Garage area like the painting instructions.


UPDATE: I have received several emails requesting the HOW TO information. Since its kinda of a long post and I don't want to wear my fingers out I'm going to sit down between now and Sunday the 19th and get it all together. On Sunday I'll post it here. Thanks for the interest. I hope it helps make your rides nicer. It is labor intensive as stated above.

[Jay B]

Here it is.

OK I know I said Sunday but I was sitting here at work bored to tears. Remember folks this is the way I do it. Just cause I do it this way doesnt mean that you have to do it exactly this way. Modify it to make it work best for you.

Aluminum Polishing


Bringing out the luster in your aluminum and stainless steel parts is not that hard if you have the time, patience and equipment. My equipment is pretty simple. I use an 8? bench grinder, a quarter sheet finishing sander, a Dremel tool and a handheld sanding block/sponge.

To go with that I use 320 through 2000 grit wet-dry sandpaper, black, red, and white polishing compounds, Mothers Mag wheel polish and medium weight spiral sewn polishing wheels. Spiral sewn polishing wheels seem to me to work the best. Use ones that are sewn together with the seems approximately ? to 3/8 of an inch apart. You will need a separate polishing wheel for each color polishing compound that you use.

Here is my step by step process. By no means is it probally the best way to do it but it?s the best way I have figured out for the equipment and room that I have.

CAUTION: Always were safety glasses, a dust mask and gloves. This can get messy!

After removing the part from the bike make sure that there is nothing attached that will be affected by paint stripper. Using plenty of ventilation apply your favorite paint stripper to the piece and let it work it?s magic. You may have to do this several times depending on the stripper. If you think that you can buff the old clear coat off think again. Once you have all the clear coat off wash the part thoroughly to remove all of the paint stripper.

Inspect the piece and determine how much of the scratches, dings, dents, machine marks and casting marks you want to remove. If you have a relatively smooth piece you
may want to start with the 1200 or 1600 grit wet dry sandpaper and work up to the 2000. Machine marks and casting marks take a little more work and you may want to start with the 320 grit.

I start with the lowest number grit sandpaper I need to get the piece feeling smooth and work through to the 2000 grit. I always finish out with the 2000 grit. The red polishing compound will take out the sanding marks from 400 grit sandpaper but it takes a lot of time and effort. Working through the 2000 grit saves both time and effort. After I get it as smooth as I can with the sandpaper I start with the polishing wheel on the grinder and the black (sometimes called emory) polishing compound.

(NOTE: A drill can be used instead of a bench grinder. Take a 2 X 4 and make a hole in one end slightly bigger than the hand grip of the drill so you can put the hand grip into it. Using very large screw type hose clamps or wire ties secure the drill to the 2 X 4 and then clamp the 2 X 4 to something solid like your workbench.)

Continue to use the black until it seems like the piece can get no shinier and then switch wheels and begin using the red. Do this until the red seems not to be working and then change wheels and use the white. I usually use 8 inch wheels for the big stuff and smaller 6 and 4 inch wheels to get into some of the nooks and crannies. I use the Dremel with polishing and buffing wheels to get into the really small spots. If your going to be doing fork tubes its much easier to polish them if they are off the bike.

Once you have the piece as shiny as you can get it clean the polishing compound off with either soap and water and a very soft cloth or some type of cleaner. I use mineral spirits and then soap and water. Dry the piece with a very soft cloth and then apply your favorite wax. Keep it nice with Mothers Mag Polish (which you?ll notice by the way is white) I don?t clear coat my pieces because I haven?t found a clear coat that I like yet.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine had me help him take the silver anodizing of his pipe and we sanded down to 2000.Then he came up with a product
called wizard it looks like pink insulation with some thing in it ,it works awsome you have some hand rubbing but it looks like a mirror. just let you know Jim ps/ it's only 13.00 a can and you can do a lot of bikes

[Anonymous]

polishing

Thanks JIm!
Cheers,
Dan

[Motorcyclemodeller]

Polished Aluminum Care

I used to use Mothers Calafornia Gold Metal Polish, then some one let me try 2 differnt kinds and I find them far superior to the Mothers. They are Autosol available at Canadian Tire up here in Canada and Flitz Metal polish usally available at car shows and such. It seems to get in deeper and leave a higher polished affect. 8)

[mcycle-nut]

You should be able to find Autosol in the US. It's German. 8)

[Anonymous]

guess theres no other ex-navy guys out there
its called NEVER-DULL get it at home depot.
been around for decades. workes woderfull for final shining.

NAVY motto Work it may, Shine it must.

[Jay B]

Never Dull

Stimpy,
Retired Army here. While Never Dull gets the shine up it doesn't stay very long because theres no wax or sealer in it. Besides you have to do it by hand which is OK for small spots.

[Anonymous]

cheaper way....crumpled up tin foil and a whole lot of rubbin.

[Anonymous]

Hard work.

Hi there Jay.

Thanks so much for your time in posting your method to a bright and happy motorcycle.
Roman