No I would just polish them up with mothers polish, If you get all the finger prints off before you put everything back together, they won't tarnish bad.
No I would just polish them up with mothers polish, If you get all the finger prints off before you put everything back together, they won't tarnish bad.
So it won't oxidize? Do you think I might be able to get away with not clear coating the aluminum? I have one of those vintage copper fire extinguishers and...well, actually I have 2. One of them is polished and clear coated and flawless. the other one is polished but not clear coated and it needs to be polished every now and then or else it starts to turn dull and green.
It will 50 years from now. but a good coating of polish will last years, especially since once you put it all back together you won't be touching them and adding any contaminant from cleaners or oils off of your fingers. I would put them back in the lathe.....spin them up to 2000-3000 RPM polish with mothers mag wheel polish and a soft cloth (will look like chrome) and wipe off with thinner after assembly.
Will look good for years.
Randy
Last edited by Randy Ray; 7th November 2009 at 06:05.
It will 50 years from now. but a good coating of polish will last years, especially since once you put it all back together you won't be touching them and adding any contaminant from cleaners or oils off of your fingers. I would put them back in the lathe.....spin them up to 2000-3000 RPM polish with mothers mag wheel polish and a soft cloth (will look like chrome) and wipe off with thinner after assembly.
Will look good for years.
Randy
Will that only work with mirror-finishes? I want the brushed look that I have going on. can I use the same treatment or will the brushed look give me trouble?
For a brush finish you use scotch brite (I like the maroon\purple grade) and leave it just raw metal, once again clean it with thinner last step to remove oils ect. If your are really worried about it shoot a light coat of krylon clear from a spray can usually seals it pretty well......but getting things to stick to raw aluminum is difficult without a zinc primer first......I would just leave them raw.
Randy
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For a brush finish you use scotch brite (I like the maroon\purple grade) and leave it just raw metal, once again clean it with thinner last step to remove oils ect. If your are really worried about it shoot a light coat of krylon clear from a spray can usually seals it pretty well......but getting things to stick to raw aluminum is difficult without a zinc primer first......I would just leave them raw.
Randy
That is good to know. I'll give them a run with the scotch brite before cutting them off the main piece in the lathe.
Polish them up and deburr them with the lathe.....but for a brush finish it will look better if you apply the finish so to speak by hand
with the scotch brite on a table and kind of swirl the part in a circular direction. Keep playing until you get the finish you desire, brushed
finish really means you are not getting rid of all the scratches. You also might try pin pointing a small piece of scotch brite and spinning it with a pencil eraser in small circles right next to each other.....this will give you the multi swirl look you see on dashes and such. Just keep playing until you get the look you desire, if up you screw up put it back in the lathe for a quick polish.....and try again.
Hope this helps, and you understand my ramblings...
Randy
Last edited by Randy Ray; 7th November 2009 at 16:56.
Yes this will give you the most uniform finish.....I know putting scratches back on the part.....that's why mine will be mirror finished, and I don't think I will put any spot drill points on mine, just a pretty shinny ring.
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