The Secrets to Polishing Aluminium
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- After my first attempt at polishing my aluminium gs850 engine one year ago: • How To: Polish Your Di...
I have finally learned the correct way to polish oxidized aluminium.
Watch this video to learn my method to polishing aluminium! (this is the best, easiest and fastest way to do this, trust me)
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Age has no bearing on a great idea. I'm 70, but if a 10 y/o kid has a great way of fixing my problem, I'd be stupid not to listen to him. WISH I WAS YOUR AGE AGAIN !! Great video.
Lol Not that far behind ya Nickel...totally agree with ya.
Just an observation but it seems like you buffed all the ages off the casing. The sharp edges are critical to making it look right once you're done.
A few suggestions to further improve from the perspective of someone who polishes a lot of precious metal.
Only use one wheel per compound mixing compounds will not give you the very best finish.
Polish in different directions for each compound and mop combo.
Clean between stages ideally
Best to various grades of paper on the case in different directions to avoid drag marks and heavy directional graining.
Don't use too much pressure with the case as it builds heat and renders the polish useless and takes the edges off too.
Finally use a soft mop with fine compounds and course mops with cutting compound.
"You can go as far as your OCD goes."
Nice one
You should use a rubbing block when sanding so that you rub away at the surface and it will be a flatter finish! You should also use heat resistant clear lacquer for metal, after you have polished the surface and that way things would remain nice and shiny.. simple!
I commend you for your efforts. Without offence I'd like to give you a little advice. I've been doing this for decades and my way is much less labour intensive. First remove all scratches and nicks with a scotchbrite (coarse) 3 inch pad on your angle grinder. This is a super quick and effective method. Then use a sisal polishing pad on your bench grinder with a polishing compound that comes in a bar called "Fast cut". Next use a loose leaf pad on the bench grinder with "Green rouge" polishing compound. Afterwards clean up leftover compound on the alloy with kerosene or paraffin and hose off with water. you can then give it a quick go over by hand with Autosol metal polish and I guarantee you will have a flawless mirror finish that will require very little maintenance. No hand sanding involved and much quicker for probably a better result. Cheers, Gert Roewer from Jindera Australia.
Orrrrrr........skip all that jazz and spray some carpet or fabric glue on the part and chuck a drag queen sized handful of glitter on it. Blow off the excess and boom, looks shiny, 1 minute worth of work
How to prevent aluminum Oxidation on engine? WD-40? Marvel Mystery?
Gert Roewer I’m gonna have to try your method of removing the rouge. I just left a comment about using flower to remove it I’ve been doing this type of work for some time now myself. Flower helps at least I think it does less rubbing to get it off. Thanks I’ll gonna try your method.
@@jesseward2552 Flour? Like what the old lady bakes with? Ok then.
SoulDaddy33
Yes that flower I’ve found that it works pretty good. Some guy told me about it I tried it and it does.
pffft what would a gold guy know about aluminum! 😤 loll jk man, thanks for the video!
Never use a wire brush ever . Onli sand paper because the wire make deep scraches hard to see but ruin your work a good mirror finish never oxidace sand Wit 800 grit and 1000 1200 until 3000 and then polish Wit the weel has to look like Chrome .sorry my inglish iam from Uruguay
bronze brush is the only way to reveal pitting without serious abrasion from the surface, its always my first step in doing aluminium, otherwise you can end up polishing the to a finish only to have the part mottle almost immediately.
what impressed me the most and the fact you are saving lives,is the mask,i knew a professional buffer,he was about 53 years old had copd and then it turned to lung cancer,wear your respirators and live,LIVE,no one is immune,buffing is dangerous business,now, the finish you attained is wonderful,there are clears now that will hold the coat for about 10 years then they yellow,good job,thanks for caring and showing the correct way to buff,the clears are polyurethane and contain isocyanates and they require a respirator to spray them also,,thank you
Yes! Awesome comment
I was a jeweler for 25 years, good video and agree with most of your process. One word of caution: I would never put a cloth up to a spinning wheel. That cloth could catch in the wheel if you’re not as experienced as you are doing that. Since there may be some real beginners checking your videos, I think you might want to mention that as a safety tip. Also, if you’re going to use a buffing wheel and white rouge, you could ignore the Mothers and use a jeweler’s compound called Tripoli as the first course. Cheaper and available at any supply house/online. Nice work overall. Thanks for posting.
Hey Mick, what would take that cloudy mess off? I'm not familiar with white rouge. Dose Tripoli not leave that cloudy, unfinished look?
Agree, I use a hack saw blade to clean a buffing wheel.
@@kirbylee57 all metal compositions are variable, so, can’t peg a yes here with certainty. If I could put a sandpaper value to Tripoli, I’d say a course 220. That should clear any fogging. There’s also a stainless steel compound that should fly through any aluminum. Use that one with caution. Good luck with your projects.
Dude I’m an old guy and your vids are awesome. You are a very talented young man. If you can teach an older dude your doing good. Cb900c fixing to drill some jets.
We used to use solvo AUTOSOL years ago, regular use, worked for us, black and gold tube, spot on, not cheep but the best.
Amen to that!!! Just bought another tube last week for doing my goldwing 1100 restore
Bling Master Aluminator is the best metal polish on he planet. Nothing is better, faster or lasts as long. Watch the BlingMaster videos and you will be amazed.
6:17 NEVER, EVER, EVER HOLD A RAG OF ANY KIND TO A BUFFING WHEEL! If that rag catches the wheel, you could be SERIOUSLY INJURED! ALWAYS Clean the wheel with a buffing rake. I'm sorry, but in my four decades of shop experience, I've seen too many accidents resulting injury and death to not speak up about this. So please young man, be safe!
So true
I'm like you, 43 years of polishing aluminum. This boy is an idiot
Machines are unforgiving, and they dont hear or care about your screams.
@phil current I wasn't to kind to him either, I've polished aluminum all my life. This boys instructions are going to get someone hurt real bad. No disrespect aimed at your comment. Be safe😎
30 + years polishing nonferrous metals and I don't think you have the eye for the craft. Better results without the proper equipment and supervision would be metal deposition or "chrome paint" you can brush it on and it levels out no skill needed to spray paint correctly. Stop making videos as this is or can be dangerous process and you scare me and I am fearless.
By the way you have to do a video how to polish and clean a sink😫😁
Bahhh ha ha heeee!
You read my mind bro , lol .
You will look back at this video in a decade and realize you were doing things the hard way.
Give Wenol metal polish a shot. Best I've found.
Thanks! great video! what if you want to polish aluminium but first have to remove paint? how would you remove the paint without having to sand it?
Simply use a chemical paint stripper first. Thanks for watching!
polished an alloy gixer frame 10 years ago, to protect the finish a mate told me to use MAAS metal polish protector, the guy was right, 10 years later it still only needs a wipe over to look like new, great stuff, really does stop the alloy furring up
I purchased this 2 months ago and have been putting it through some tests since then- I have a lot of polished parts on a few bikes. I have a polished gas cap on a Honda Cbr that no matter how mirror like I get it the finish always turns gray in a matter of a few weeks and been Repolishing this cap for 10 years. But this stuff really works great, the cap looks like I just polished it even after 2 months. Thanks for the tip mate! I have been putting this shit on everything lol!
@@EddieErion929 i recommend it to all my mates who polish alloy now, great stuff that really works, use it on my Fazer as i've polished a good few parts on it. Glad i could help mate, ride safe mate
next video!!
How to clean your kitchen sink lol
Going to have to disagree
FLITZ is by far the best.
yeah, while you're there you might wanna give that sink a bit of a wipe over
Red Rouge, all purpose blue then mothers. Then you have a mirror finish on your aluminum.
Abrasive pads (Scotchbrite, and their ilk) come in abrasive/hardness grades differentiated by colour. The classic "greenie" pad is hard enough to scratch a haze into window glass, so maybe stick to the brown grade. That's the colour safely used for dinner plates and glassware, so you won't be hazing the finish on the aluminium you're trying to turn into a mirror.
I was pleased to see you had come upon many the same truths as I've found, and for many the same reasons. You have a good, no-bullshit, always-learning head on your shoulders. We should be glad for a world of grown-ups as grown-up as you. Mind those safety tips from the various other commenters, and never stop learning. Good video. You're getting a subscription out of me, and I hardly every subscribe to anything. Cheers.
Try Jewelers rouge on your buffing wheel. The aluminum will look like a mirror. It only works on surfaces that aren't deeply scratched. Deep scratches need to be lightly sanded or bead blasted, then polished.
Use file for scratches
I found using Nevr-Dull wadding polish before Mother’s works really well for crusty engines!
Good job man, yer age is not important. Yer passion/ interest in them old bikes really shows. Most of us started out the same way. I'm 55 and been riding since I was 14. In fact, I learned to ride on a 1977 GS750! Nobody knows it all, yer vids help me for sure and I've been fixing on them old bikes for a long time. Scott in Detroit
lol far from polished its the first step of 3 thats only cleaned it.... far from a mirror finish also buy some polishing rouge for the wheel
All well and good if there is no pitting but if you want a perfect mirror finish you have to sand it 🤷♂️
Lol this sucked. You should have used sandpaper
Very nicely done, really appreciate the way you presented the steps in a manner that is Lear and concise. Also thanks for presenting mistakes you made and what the solution was that you took.
Kid knows his stuff. I like his attitude, his humility, and results. I’m an old road dog, factory trained tech.
Your cleaning info is great. The step you missed prior to that, will save tons of time and give better results. Vintage aluminum on Japanese bikes is originally poorly polished and clear coated or painted silver. Whether it's fork legs or engine covers, I use paint stripper to remove the coating before doing anything. Once the old finish is removed and the surface is cleaned, you will often find aluminum that is ready to refinish on my buffing wheel unless it has road rash or other damage. Everyone has their own ideas about buffing, compounds and wheels so I won't go there, but keep in mind that anything abrasive used to clean the aluminum leaves damage/marks that you'll have to polish out later. Paint and varnish stripper from the local hardware store gives you bare aluminum without hard work or damage to the surface that has been covered for years with clearcoat.
Does naval jelly work for this step?
@@youtube.youtube.01 I use automotive paint stripper. I would think that any paint remover should work fine. Once the clear coat has been removed, polishing the part is easy.
Semi- chrome aluminum polish
I don't understand why you didn't wanna sand that. I would have sanded all the imperfections out of it it would have came out looking like new.
Nice work dude! Always better to restore than replace :)
Wash with scotch Brite fine and water. Then wash with scotch Brite fine and WD-40. Then polish with microfiber and Mothers. Then buff.
You are sanding both of those engiene cases!! Scotch brigte Sands it!!
This is true, but one thing the scotch bright doesn't do is get sand particles embedded in the aluminum which creates micro-pitting that requires more surface removal in total to achieve a uniform surface. You use finer and finer sandpaper and the smaller sand particles make shallower pits, but you're still working your way down to infinitely small grit polish. Plus, "scotch brite" is not just one product, they make several different abrasive levels, some of which even scratch glass.
You saved me so much time man! I was getting ready to decide what grit papers to use when I found your video. My bike looks a lot better too 😊
Yea, a rag to the buffing wheel can be very dangerous to your fingers!
The only thing you need to worry about is polishing that sink!
@all4dh8rz.....Pay attention; he said his OCD doesn't go that far
@@bhaggen if that's true well I would like to see how his bathroom looks!... but it's OK because polishing a motorcycle engine cover is more important than your laundry or bathroom...ocd at it's best.
@all4dh8rz.....I have a shop and my sink looks like shit, his is "hospital" quality compared to mine. And my bathroom is not much better. But my work is impeccable.
Don't lay into your grinder like that ...youll burn up its life ...yea its only a H.F. one ...but just the same ...
Nice video..
I used 0000 steal wool then Mothers ..I keep on the shine ..mine looks nice in the sun..👍👏👍
What a load of uneccessary hard work.
With Japanese parts, they are factory coated with a laquer.
Just apply Gel paintstipper, wash off then mirror polish autosol.
Simple as that.
Yep, I agree.
It was a loooong time ago now, but I always used WD40 to clean the crap off first, then paint stripper, and then autosol metal polish and a polishing wheel for a mirror finish (no wire brush scratches to polish out).
My 1970s-1980s have never been lucky enough to have kept all their laquer!
Think I'll stick to my brushed aluminium chassis! Haven't got time for the maintenance but great video mate
Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish also clears up the foggy old yellowing head light covers for about 6 months...with very little effort.
Have you ever tried autosol metal polish with abit of kerosene on a rag before does amazing job on oxidized aluminium wheels then finish it of with mothers metal polish youll be very amazed how it looks.....
I'm with you man... I've been using autosol now for 40 odd years. I've tried a lot of others... Keep coming back to autosol... They are the original metal polish...
After your all done, Put a new Pad ( maybe 2 more) on that wheel and Buff the Dog piss out of it for your end result.
Your just spreading the Oxidation back on your covers.
Dudes spreading the simplex around all the while.
I polished metals for 40 years. When you go to the final high shine stage I would use a new wheel. Take a sharpe blade and cut threw about 2 or 3 rows of the stitching on the wheel, pull off the thread. Then take something like a stiff putty knife and with the wheel spinning rub it firmly against the wheel in a back and forth motion to fluff it. Wear a mask because it will produce a lot of wheel dust. When I got ready to polish I would use a slower speed if possilbe. I would do the final high shine with either tripoli (good) or rouge (best). Or tripoli first then rouge. Refluff your wheel occasionally and especially between application of the different polishing compounds.
One tip I found that works is dump that Harbor Freight polsih in the garbage and buy some good stuff!! Try it one time just to compare, spend some money on expensive polish. ...you wont go back to teh HF crap...
You didnt finish polishing those pieces, or did you mean to leave them cloudy looking. Years ago had a carlot, buffed alot of cars. After buffing I would hand wax that cloudy look off with a commercial grade polish. I also had an airplane I buffed to a chrome mirror finish. Mirror Glaze may have been the name of it.
You should try MAAS polishing cream
You have wet or dry sandpaper in your hand, why not use wet sanding especially if you are going to take it down to 400 and then 600 to 1000 and then rub out? If you are going to use high temp clear coat then you wouldn't buff the part but wipe it with solvent after the 1000 grit phase and then shoot the clear. That way it will make the metal shine and stick. You can then rub out the clear coat like you would on your automobile.
Type in mirror finish casing Royal Enfield interceptor if you want to see what it’s really suppose to look like when your done
You should do a video on how to make sure your bike is ready to ride. Like “unwinterizing your bike”
Mother's is not the best.
White diamond blows it away. And if you want to get a real mirror finish you have to use dry polishing compounds and a wheel
Electric cable directly behind the grinder/buffer. Asking for an accident.
Well, I cannot remove all the aluminium parts from my old Commando every time i polish them. So I do it by hand, and it shines.
There is a great way to seal up your polished Aluminum. Its called zoop seal. It works very well. No repolish 5 times a year
Zoop Seal is no longer but now Shine Seal is out to improve and replace it.
this must be the most dangerous workshop in the world the way he goes about it makes my blood run cold and the results are mediocre as others have suggested autosolvol is the way to go
was surprised to see how good you got that piece with the deep scratches... Nice job.. Good video!
Thank you young man. So many of us are just to lazy to share what they have learned in life with others, I commend you.
I don't care if you're young if you.know what you're doing!!!
The one you sanded looks better than the one you didn't. I think sanding first then polishing has better results
try corn flour and water buff first when finish by hand polish but go in one direction only ,corn flour will not turn black like mothers and leave the haze . its cheaper and the end resole will look like chrome - thats how the experts do it
I paint in the HONDA lettering with black nail polish on my bikes...
I never thought of that 👍
Age has no bearing in Knowledge, experience does and you sound like you have the experience of doing this so your word is good with me.
Tx! Mothers alum mag polish also restores fuzzy, hazy headlight covers in about 5 min with adrill and buffing wheel! Excellent.
But how to avoid ruining the name Honda written in black on the piece, or how to renew the name afterwards?
Perfect brother,
Plus 1 subscriber, serious young man, ty sir
Luv your sink.....will it ever shine again........?
Dude says, don’t sand. Grabs scotch brite pads..
Nice. No need to oil or grease or something like that when you're completely done?
What the fuck ever happened to useing good ol fashioned elbow grease
I love mothers for buffing, but try using a Never Dull pad with Mothers mag and aluminum that works great.
This is awesome!
Your after doesn't look much better than the before. Get a scotchbrite wheel and a buffer and do it right.
I’m willing to be bet this was a long video to make. Polishing aluminum can be super tedious but it’s super rewarding. Good work man
Honestly, it didn't take that long. The bench grinder with a buffing pad combined with the mother's polish (not my mom) polished the case in under 45 minutes. Give it a try sometime!
Oh absolutely
Meh...
Ive found that using some scotchbrite after cleaning to remove the oxidation gives a good starting point for the polish. There are some rust protection oil i use on my polished cases and they have Held up for about a year now. Like once a month i get a cloth and spray som rust protection oil in it then i wipe it down and leave it for about 24 hours to dry.
I find solvol autosol with news paper works just fine and it’s a great way to upkeep the casings
Never put a cloth on the wheel.
Green Rouge is super high finish.White is not>
what is the name of the block compound to really polish nice the metal thanks
Keep the shine for longer, on my Classic Bikes alloy components I wipe them over frequently with Kerosene ,Alloy loves it, like a Sun Screen Barrier for Alloy. 🇳🇿😎👍
Never heard this before, gonna have to try it...👍
carb cleaner works good to clean the polish residue
When I use this polish to polish some aluminum, it really makes me dizzy and spins my head. I thought I got aluminum poising, but I was wearing an N95 mask and nitrile gloves and 3M protective goggles. So I thought I should've been safe, but I guess I need a P95 respirator for vapors. But I've seen people just rubbing this on aluminum without any protection at all. Is this stuff safe to use?
id still use steelwool and sanding
its outcome is much better than yours
Last time I used a glove like that I ended up on Maury.
You have any tricks for getting in between spokes ?I'm trying to do double spoked wheels for a Schwinn that I built for my daughter my hands are so f***** up from the motorcycle I can't even barely hold anything
Use a polisher bit that fits in a hand drill, one of the cylindrical spindles, find one that fits in between the spokes and polish away my friend.
Ever try vapor blasting?
I would suggest using a sanding block (hard rubber) with the sandpaper to get "flatter surfaces and more consistency, but great video!
Palm sander. Especially for a wide-open part like that stator cover.
@@consubandon A smart feller I know told me to use a good old Pink Pearl eraser as a sanding block for smaller curved surfaces as it conforms nicely but still keeps a plane. Works a treat.
@@SoulDaddy33 Smart, indeed! And as it happens I was a trained draughtsman in the era before CAD, soooooo... BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD! ;^)
Great vid, but love you comments and sense of humor 🤘
Next , work out how to clean your filthy sink ..
Hi there, thank you for your great posts & your knowledge on how to get a great shine to the Aluminium pieces, thank you friend....
Do you look young because you are young? Or is it the drugs?
I am young.
How can it be no videos show how to paint the letters up in black again?
here’s the issue. Polishing easy to get at engine side covers makes them look fantastic ,but that makes the rest of the bike , and engine look like crap.. unless you polish and paint the rest of the engine, and the rest of the bike, the beautiful side cover is only going to point out just how bad the bike looks. I have seen this many times especially on Suzuki’s from the 70s and 80s, and Yamaha 650 twins from the 60s and 70s and others... I use those types of bikes as examples because, the engine and gas tank were the center of attraction. more and more, engines are not that visible because of fairings and water cooling. In the air cold days, the engine had to be out there where everyone could see it
You can use 600 grit wet sandpaper
Aluminum is a known neurotoxin. Always wear a mask when grinding, sanding or polishing it.
Really, I been polishing aluminum for 43 years. Never used a mask. The oxygen level of my blood is 98%. I have no cancer or anything associated with polishing aluminum. Yes I would suggest wearing a mask but I don't
Red Clark I never said anything about cancer or COPD. I said neurotoxin. As in Alzheimer’s or other brain damage thirty years down the road. I was an ASE master tech for thirty years. I’m sure I’ve breathed in asbestos and aluminum particles as well as exposed the skin on my hands to many dangerous chemicals. It’s what we did years ago. We’re more knowledgeable now. If I could go back in time I would do things differently but that’s an old saw. We can’t go back but we can tell the young people how to protect themselves from possible injury.
@@gwynnromano5881 my bad, misunderstood what you were saying. peace 👽👽
Red Clark I wasn’t getting pissy I just wanted to clarify what I meant. We know a lot more today and we should use that knowledge, that’s all I was saying. Peace and be well.
Use a wire brush to clean your buffing wheel.
Won't last just paint or better yet powder coat